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Thermal Drones

Jamie

Senior Member
5,952
177
Ohio
The hit was a little high. Probably barely got one lung and no major blood vessels. That deer surely died, eventually. I have shot two deer that were definitely one lung hits. One I finished off 15 hours later by stalking and killing her in her bed in the middle of a cow pasture while my buddy banged around on a gate 100 yards away to distract her while I got up close for the shot. The other I finished off 8 hours later, but only because I knew exactly where it laid down and I sat in my stand all day watching until I had to make a move before dark. This deer leapt out of its bed after my buddy who was easing up on it to push him but almost stepped on it instead. That deer nearly ran me over where I was waiting with a nocked arrow in briars over my head about 30 yards from it's bed, tried to jump a 7 strand wire fence onto the neighbors property but (lucky for me) did not clear it, bounced off, laid down and shot it from about 15 feet and killed it. One lung hits can take a very long time to kill a deer.
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
25,122
261
Pretty cool! Are you able to see upland game? I always thought it’d be cool to see how many pheasants we walked by in the field. Not with the intent to go hunt them again but for info only.

I understand that page 42 in the book states: “drones are prohibited in hunt-ing or the aid of hunting for all game.”

just would be neat to see where the pheasants started, how they acted with pressure from the dogs and silent hunters vs guys yelling for their dogs 😜
DJI_20231015162151_0005_Z.JPG

Cole, I thought you would like this. I was super excited to find them. Interestingly there was a feral cat about 100 yards from the covey.
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
25,122
261
…and the state would rather spend $15/pheasant for releases instead of putting that money into habitat or land acquisition
I gotta give some credit where it’s due: the new crp mix is amazing stuff. Far superior to the old switch grass plantings. The problem is not with govt spending but with land stewardship. It’s now common thinking to believe the very little land that is not planted must be mowed or cleared entirely. Land not supporting a row crop
should never be called “waste land” but it is and then it’s mowed. Enough of that… it was good to find this covey. Hopefully we will find some pheasants once we spread out search’s. I’ve never seen one close to where I’ve been looking.
 

OO2

Well-Known Member
2,625
121
In the Uplands
I gotta give some credit where it’s due: the new crp mix is amazing stuff. Far superior to the old switch grass plantings. The problem is not with govt spending but with land stewardship. It’s now common thinking to believe the very little land that is not planted must be mowed or cleared entirely. Land not supporting a row crop
should never be called “waste land” but it is and then it’s mowed. Enough of that… it was good to find this covey. Hopefully we will find some pheasants once we spread out search’s. I’ve never seen one close to where I’ve been looking.
Looking forward to seeing the results of your searches!
 
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brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
25,122
261
I went over to Preble County yesterday to search for a buck a fella shot Saturday. We covered the area really well. Found a lot of critters but not the deer he had shot. We did find a couple of nice bucks that got us excited until we looked em over closer. Was fortunate enough to hang with Stump while there. Hadn’t seen him in several years. I got home about 11. Headed out immediately to fly around Masons buddy’s farm. Found a buck he ahot last night but it was still alive across the highway from where he had lost blood. Heading out to relocate now. It should be in the same spot unless coyotes got him up.
 
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Sgt Fury

Sgt. Spellchecker
The boy tried to put a sneak on him at 2 for a finishing shot. Tan him clear out of the country. I don’t know if he will live or not but I am 100% sure he won’t recover him now.
Would’ve been nice to watch it unfold with the drone and see how the buck reacted in regards to distance/direction of travel (Sometimes they’ll run in a big circle).…also to see how far he ran before settling down.