In some states, its not, as long as you do not have a weapon in the vehicle. Combine light and weapon, and now you have poaching in most places I have been.
Funny part is when I was stationed in New Jersey, we had a huge deer problem. We had aircraft having to stop on taxiways to allow the deer to pass, aircraft having to execute go arounds because of deer on the runways, etc. The straw that broke the camel's back was one of my C-141s taking a deer strike during a touch-and-go. $90K in damage! They went looking for volunteers to solve the problem. I raised my hand first and got the job.
To make a very long story short, we worked with the state to develop our plan and would use spotlights at night combined with 12 GA 3" 00 Buck to thin the herds on base. Shot more deer in that assignment than I ever dreamed. All the meat went to enlisted families on base who signed up for free venison, which was a great option after Hunters for the Hungry couldn't handle the load out of season.
Made me sick, though. There was no game, no sport to it. Just pure killing. Needed to be done, though, for the safety of our aircraft/crews/passengers, but being an ethical hunter, it was a challenge to my conscience!
In the end, we significantly trimmed back the herds in question and stopped having problems by the time I left.