Thermal Drones
- Thread starter brock ratcliff
- Start date
Big_Holla
Senior Member
Fearful of abuse, as in some using them illegally before/during the actual hunting process. As I mentioned with it being so new to them (and most of us for that matter) perhaps they would only focus on negatives is what I was asking. I don't really recall drones being used much at all just a year ago. Perhaps it would be good to form an actual drone tracking group to spread good information, kind of the way United Blood Trackers and other groups did when trying to get/keep dog tracking legalized and people informed.
- 25,122
- 261
The DoW has received a number of complaints. The vast majority of which are from hunters feeling their space has been violated by drones flying over, likely searching for wounded deer.
@The Ghost of mrex could expand more so. It’s a new technology and technique for game recovery. Uncharted paths have some bumps.
@The Ghost of mrex could expand more so. It’s a new technology and technique for game recovery. Uncharted paths have some bumps.
I'm sure there's people who will cheat the system just like working around telecheck and using thermal imaging scopes at night to harvest game. Theres always going to be people who cheat the system.
Big_Holla
Senior Member
That is where education might come in handy in the near future to get out ahead of any issues, both to the ODNR and to the hunting public. You guys are doing a great job getting the word out on your capabilities that's for sure.
I honestly still believe the best part of these drones is not even the deer recovery, but the ability to know what the land holds. The real data of what the land has is amazing. Does your 100 acres hold 25 does or is it the same 5 hitting different cams? This will tell you. Do you actually have a predator problem? This will tell you. Have an invasive species starting to take over a part of the land? This will tell you. So much more to be learned from these things. It is a damn shame that the focus is on deer recovery. It really should be used by hunters for so much more. Sure finding a dead deer is cool, but the couple of times I have been around these things it was more exciting to see what all was on the land. We know these things can find dead deer, but that excitement is very short lived compared to many of the other benefits you could use these for.
Yup I agree. The above reasons are why I purchased my drone. Their survey and wildlife management potential. The deer recovery allowed me to re-coup a lot of my initial expenses of the drone, but as a business our main product will be wildlife managment focused moving toward.
at1010
*Supporting Member*
- 5,241
- 159
I am so freaking in on following this journey!! This is going to be a game changer. I have a few contacts at MSU deer lab - I’d be happy to introduce you if you’re ever interested in a discussion with them, maybe a masters student could help or something. Idk. I just am jacked cause I think this is such amazing equipment!! Kudos to you guys for going after this!
I look forward to these updates and hearing more about this process. Maybe even be part of some. It'll take you longer to get your controller running than fly my woods
. I do need to come up with a plan for here tho.
Right now is when I think they could show their worth when it comes to killing deer. Winter scouting with one is almost worth the $ to me for you guys to come fly our farm. I'd love to see a snapshot of our neighborhood with a foot of snow on the ground.
- 25,122
- 261
I’ve flown three farms in the last couple weeks just getting an idea of what is there for the landowners. I had another scheduled for the morning but the landowner had to cancel. I can tell you, personally, it’s more fun for me to observe the animals and help landowners form a plan for the future than it is to hunt them. I still have a buck on our farm I hope to hunt and believe it or not, I’ve never seen him from the drone. I’ve flown the place two times with my own and I think we looked at it once with Seth’s prior to me receiving my drone. Never saw him. These things are amazing, but this deer is proof it is possible to miss a small portion of the big picture. Even so, there is absolutely no doubt they are the best way we have ever had to get a realistic view of resident deer herds. As Seth previously stated, some areas hold none and some are packed full. And of course it’s dynamic and changes rapidly.
OO2
Well-Known Member
I’d love to see the states use them to complete pheasant and quail surveys. Go fly one in zaleski to see if the cuts are helping the grouse at all.
Habitat is where it’s at… for ALL wildlife. That’s where this technology can truly accelerate landscape changes across the country. They can tell the story, good or bad, of what an individual parcel looks like or an entire region needs to benefit wildlife and the local ecosystem. The benefits far outweigh and small negatives of people abusing them. I really hope state agencies can implement these in their plans for habitat enhancements. Lord knows it’s needed.
I'd entertain any ideas, as right now we are kind of going in blind. There will be a lot of trial and error, but I know we will be collecting data that has never been collected locally in the manner and means that we will be doing it. There's very little published peer reviewed literature about using drones to collect wildlife data, and the little that there is has been on high fenced areas and they were using sub par drones with minimal capabilities. I'm guessing this will all be changing quickly soon. I'd rather be on the front side then the back side though.
With any wildlife survey, repeatability is key. As Brock mentioned, we can't fly a farm once and expect to get a clear picture of what's actually utilizing the farm. Deer come and go constantly, and there are dozens of variables that influence this. I think the average landowner is probably just fine with getting pictures of what's on their farm while we are there, and im fine offering that as well, but id love to put a little bit more science behind it and create a long term plan that would paint a more accuate large scale picture. I'd love to incorporate habitat mapping overlaid into real time data of deer location as well. We want to create a product that could be used to actually plan long term holistic management and it all starts with collecting drone data. Its all in the works and will take time.
Last edited:
I know a place not far from you. Sounds like we have been given the go ahead. We just need to be respectful to everyone that uses the property.