BSK
Well-Known Member
Fascinating use of a drone:
Looking forward to following this guy's personal research
- Thread starter BSK
- Start date
I watched it too. Very interesting!
I'd like to know more about how many hours he is able to do drone observations. I know battery time is somewhat limited. I'm also curious about how he identifies and locates bucks for repeated observation.
I'd like to know more about how many hours he is able to do drone observations. I know battery time is somewhat limited. I'm also curious about how he identifies and locates bucks for repeated observation.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Agree with the above. Not necessarily research level stuff, but very, very interesting.
Wrangler95
Well-Known Member
I'm pretty sure it's illegal in Tennessee to use a drone for wildlife observation but the video was very interesting
Here is a story about it written a couple of years ago by (I believe) our forum member @rsimms, and a post he created.
https://fox17.com/news/local/drones-and-wildlife-observation-what-does-the-law-say
ADR
Well-Known Member
I watched that the other day. I was questioning who "deer rabbi" was on his phone? He has a photo of Bill Winki? for his wallpaper. Didn't know if they were associated.
Super interesting. Im really looking forward to his research on major wind shifts.
Very interesting!
Hopefully that stays illegal. The thermal trash in the street reconning other people's property, stalking, stealing, vandalizing, harassing landowners and ratting out the law enforcement is why we have psychopaths in the street firing high powered rifles. This technology while interesting will continue to destroy hunting. It has in our area.
Where I live in the mountains, the drone is a useful tool especially from around march through October. We send it up everyday, checking for fires in the near vicinity of our home. Where we live there is one way in and only one way out. Very remote.
I use one as well, handy tool. I do not however use it for crime or to spy on or harass others against their wish. Very populated where I live
BSK
Well-Known Member
I don't see the harm in flying a drone over your own property, as long as it isn't being used for illegal activity.
Like I said previously we do send it out daily to check for fire nearby. Also in the mountains here, neighbors are few and far between. We make it a habit to know people within a few miles radius of us and keep an eye out for riff raff looking for a quick score. Haven't encountered any yet.
Yep drones are already being used here to take out the biggest bucks before the legal hunters get a chance. The research possibilities are great but as with anything, hunters take it way to far and can't be trusted to maintain fair chase.
Wrangler95
Well-Known Member
It is totally unethical to spot wildlife from the air. That takes away from hunting and is piss poor sportsmanship. Colorado sucks, however, when it comes to hunting, it's illegal to use any type of electronics. You do? You lose your firearm, your atv/utv, and your vehicle, plus you get to pay the state a great amount of money.
Wrangler95
Well-Known Member
I agree, some hunters take the easy way to hunting.BPhunter,I saw a video from a drone flying over a field and the deer started running from the sound it made, so I know the sound scares them!I have nothing at all against drones if it is not used to take advantage of wildlife!
BSK
Well-Known Member
With a decent camera, the drone can be so high the deer can't even hear it.
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2020
- Messages
- 6,672
I have always wanted one, but I just want to look at my neighbors sunbathing topless. 
BSK
Well-Known Member
I have the itch to try one, but have no idea if it would have any management benefits.I have always wanted one, but I just want to look at my neighbors sunbathing topless.
I think having one could be useful for up close high resolution aerial photos of a property for purpose of mapping and monitoring habitat projects.
It would also be a useful study tool the way he's doing it. Every researcher has their own specific criteria they're looking for so each person doing it would glean different data, collectively painting a more detailed picture of what deer are doing.
But I don't think i could justify the price. A good rig capable of getting clear photography from high altitude isn't cheap. It would have to be an income generating tool for me to spend what they cost, and my interest in them just doesn't extend that far so I doubt ill ever have one. But I'll certainly watch videos of others using them!
It would also be a useful study tool the way he's doing it. Every researcher has their own specific criteria they're looking for so each person doing it would glean different data, collectively painting a more detailed picture of what deer are doing.
But I don't think i could justify the price. A good rig capable of getting clear photography from high altitude isn't cheap. It would have to be an income generating tool for me to spend what they cost, and my interest in them just doesn't extend that far so I doubt ill ever have one. But I'll certainly watch videos of others using them!
BSK
Well-Known Member
Thermal cameras that'll fit on a drone are horrendously expensive. Thousands… "Tens of" if you want great resolution…
That's not bad at all really. Do they get high enough altitude in that price range? I'd love getting detailed aerial photos of my projects for a real time bird's eye view of things.
The young man in the video is collecting some good data. First thing that really caught my attention is when he mentioned bucks moving at wind shifts. Ive noted the exact same thing from trail cams except from the perspective of scrapes. Daylight scraping often coincides with a major shift in wind direction, to the tune of minutes. It's uncanny. Now it appears he has noticed the same movement pattern but from a drone in real time. I'll be interested to see a more detailed video where he describes what the bucks are doing during that time, as I suspect it may be scraping as they travel to a different bedding area. That kind of stuff is valuable for a hunter. Being able to predict midday movement and scraping would be huge.
DoubleRidge
Well-Known Member
This is my thought. Mapping and getting a different view of various habitat projects.
As for the harassing wildlife comments,
not sure who would have any interest in doing that on their own property?
Heck...I'd like to fly a drone over a few areas on our place where I can see the habitat progression without walking into the areas and harassing the wildlife.
But I guess a drone is like any tool...in the wrong hands it could be used the wrong way.
I just wonder how good his data can be since it relies on him having his drone in the air and him actually watching the behavior. Whereas gps studies are pretty much 24/7/365. I think his observations are very interesting, but there's a lot of time in the day when you know he's not flying/observing.
I also wonder how he captures his wind data. Wouldn't he almost have to have weather stations at each location recording wind direction and speed to really know. We all know how different wind can be at any given spot based on terrain and other factors.
Again, I think that first video is very interesting and I'm not doubting his conclusions. I'm looking forward to future videos. However, I'd love to know more about how he's coming up with some of his findings. I think he might be making a lot of assumptions to fill in gaps.
I also wonder how he captures his wind data. Wouldn't he almost have to have weather stations at each location recording wind direction and speed to really know. We all know how different wind can be at any given spot based on terrain and other factors.
Again, I think that first video is very interesting and I'm not doubting his conclusions. I'm looking forward to future videos. However, I'd love to know more about how he's coming up with some of his findings. I think he might be making a lot of assumptions to fill in gaps.
