Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum Using a drone for scouting

How many people use a drone for scouting, I am thinking about getting one to use for scouting an area for hogs this Spring. Any thoughts or recommendations

Cant just go walk the area?

Yes and I have quite a bit I just thought by using a drone I might be able to cover more ground without bumping them around

A drone isn’t going to give you anything that any satellite view on google maps or onX won’t.

Check your game laws. In Miss’ippi, you can’t, legally, fly any motorized vehicle for scouting and hunt the same day. It is a fair chase issue, but pigs may be exempt.

It will give you a very up to date bird’s eye view. OnX and google is three years behind in my area.

OnX doesn’t relay a picture of animals bedded down or moving around, drone/plane fly-over will show you in real-time.

That’s gonna be one hell of a fancy drone to give you that kind of info in a wooded area or overgrown pasture or field. I doubt you’d be able to see it in the fly, probably only after you downloaded the card. Unless you’re using IR but there again that’s an expensive drone.

We have one at work with thermal capabilities and the heat signatures from both deer and hogs are very easy to see, even in heavy timber. Once you find them with the thermal, you can switch to the regular camera and get a really good look at them. It’s a cool capability but it does somewhat concern me on what it could morph into from a hunting perspective.

i thought it was illegal as well. I don't see how its much different than cellular game cams though.

I mainly use mine on new clear cuts or recently thinned pines. These areas are normally lagging by a couple of years on any aerial photography. For example: My dad bought 120 acres last year. It was in the process of being clear cut. Half of the property was cut in October of 2019 and the other half was cut in January 2020. ONX imagery only shows the first clear cut. The drone was a valuable tool in this instance. We also had a select cut this year and it has given me invaluable information without having to tromp through the woods looking.

What kind of $price$ are you talking about for that type of capability?

The setup we are running is over 30k but we have additional features and software that would be unnecessary for what you'd be using it for. I believe the camera itself was around 10k. There are some cheaper options out there in the 2-5k range from reputable manufacturers that would serve the need. It would be really cool to use as a tool to aid in recovering animals after the shot.

I can probably handle 5K.......Is there any set-ups you would recommend in that range?

I would like one for turkey season. I could drive down the road and check all the fields on either side of the road.

Game wardens going to be real fussy when normal folks have real time satellites

I’ve thought about using one for trapping. In cutover, you could park at an intersection and check traps down each road.

Just so you know what you’re going to get yourself into, it can be quite difficult to find something with aerial IR in the woods, especially if it’s not moving at a good speed.
It’ll easy to do in an open field, but it’s hard with any type of canopy. The other thing that throws you off is rocky or wet soil/terrain. Rocks hold heat differently than vegetation and soil so you image can be saturated with dark objects that will fool you. Any standing water (such as puddles) will throw you off as well. It also won’t detect a blood trail older than a few min at most

Not saying it can’t help but a lot of people really over estimate their capabilities. They are great in theory but a lot more limited in real life application.

Also, don’t forget your FAA part 107 cert.

Thanks to all for the input, given me a lot to think about.