Drone thermal imaging

[Gellar]

I've been exploring thermal drones lately in my profession. From SAR, to tracking groundwater discharge, to counting birds on a Lek from a distance, to wildfire recon and more, there's a lot of utility to them.

I believe that, though they really could aid in recovery of an animal, and losing an animal is undesirable, it's a Pandora's Box. In the same way that things are getting strange in the world of AI and technology, and that strangeness is accelerating, the same weirdness is going to become true for drone technology. Really, it already is. Just keep em out of hunting, period. In the same way a computer today is not what a computer was in the year 2000, a drone 10 years from now will have far-reaching capabilities at an affordable price-point only currently on offer to militaries if that.

I don't buy the arguments that because we have implemented technology in other realms - GPS, Optics, etc - that it follows we should continue to in other arenas. It doesn't. Thresholds exist. As do real moments where folks should say enough is enough.

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Very good logic! There is no doubt drones have their benefits in everything you mentioned and beyond.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

I’m curious at what point do you think? Variable power scopes? Range finders? Range finding binoculars? Cell cams?

Guilty, but yes all of it. And it's not like I harvest animals on every hunt, so it's still tough but I could do without all that stuff. Same with apps like gohunt and onx....I hate them with a passion, but I still use it cause it's convenient.

 

[seeth07]

Fair chase totally depends on the person and culture they were raised in. Head to Argentina. Or Europe. Or Africa. I can attest to the first place at least, it's not the same fair chase as we know it here.

 

[rogerthat]

For hunting:

Drones - hard no

Thermal imagers - hard no

Drones plus thermal imagers - holy f$!$ no!!

 

[Aperventure]

I am 90% sure I experienced an unlit thermal imaging drone flying above me at night, around 10 pm the night before the Utah general elk opener. There were elk in a canyon I was camped in, and I am almost certain the operator was on the canyon rim. It was fruitlessly reported to the local warden. I know that might seem like a lot of conjecture, but there were a lot if "coincidences" around it that lined up too obviously for the motive not to have been locating elk.

I am vehemently opposed, even if it means losing or not recovering a wounded animal here or there. The people spending the money on those are not doing so to be able to break them out ONLY when they wound an animal. The net outcome is bad for wildlife, and unquestionably outside the realm of fair chase in my opinion.

You are not the only person who experienced this in utah. Sigh

 

[Flatbrimmer]

The shot looked high and forward on the side they were showing but the other side looked like it should have been fatal, quartering too shot. I thought for sure they’d show it fall over while they were filming it or at least dead at the end of the video.

Same man I’m blown away. I’ve made worse shots and found em

 

[KipCarson]

As I’ve always heard, “Locks are for honest people.” Crooks will be crooks, liars will lie, poachers will poach, etc. Taking the tool away from someone who legitimately is desperate to find a deer they shot will not keep nefariousness and shady activities at bay.

I’m a definite YES vote after the shot is made and it’s a last ditch effort to recover a hit animal. Outside of that I’m in the no crowd.

These things are just too expensive for anyone to go out and have one. And as far as making people sloppy because they know the drone will find it, that’s unlikely too imo. If I’m not mistaken, it’s around $500 just to have the drone deer recovery guys show up, whether they find your deer or not. (I’m talking about the Midwest company with all the YouTube videos, I can’t speak for anyone else doing it) Most people just do not have that kind of money laying around. My friends and I certainly don’t.

I can see why y’all are uneasy with it since it for sure can be abused, but so can all sorts of other technology.

 

[Farmerj]

I’ve had the neighbors come ask me to help find their wayward pup.

Made short work out of the task.

 

[Gellar]

Fair chase totally depends on the person and culture they were raised in. Head to Argentina. Or Europe. Or Africa. I can attest to the first place at least, it's not the same fair chase as we know it here.

That’s why they call it the North American model of wildlife management. Outside of the United States, Canada, and Mexico wildlife management is much different.

 

[Gellar]

As I’ve always heard, “Locks are for honest people.” Crooks will be crooks, liars will lie, poachers will poach, etc. Taking the tool away from someone who legitimately is desperate to find a deer they shot will not keep nefariousness and shady activities at bay.

I’m a definite YES vote after the shot is made and it’s a last ditch effort to recover a hit animal. Outside of that I’m in the no crowd.

These things are just too expensive for anyone to go out and have one. And as far as making people sloppy because they know the drone will find it, that’s unlikely too imo. If I’m not mistaken, it’s around $500 just to have the drone deer recovery guys show up, whether they find your deer or not. (I’m talking about the Midwest company with all the YouTube videos, I can’t speak for anyone else doing it) Most people just do not have that kind of money laying around. My friends and I certainly don’t.

I can see why y’all are uneasy with it since it for sure can be abused, but so can all sorts of other technology.

As the market becomes more competitive you don’t think that price will come down for both the equipment and for the people offering the service?

 

[Gellar]

I’ve had the neighbors come ask me to help find their wayward pup.

Made short work out of the task.

We lost a dog in Arizona quail hunting and my buddy works for the border patrol. He made a few calls to see who was working the area and had our dog found in short order. She was back at our truck. So, it definitely is helpful for that kind of stuff.

 

[Gellar]

I can see why y’all are uneasy with it since it for sure can be abused, but so can all sorts of other technology.

What makes me uneasy is we’ve never had technology advance this fast. A line needs to be drawn in the sand sooner, rather than later, I believe.

 

[Bowhuntrben]

I just recently randomly saw this video as well and have watched a few of their other videos. Very cool technology. For me, however, I think it's unethical for most hunting situations and personally think it should disqualify a buck from being entered into a record book (not that I enter any animals in record books). People need to have the skill to actually find the animal they've shot. Some of the guys that do this never even bother to go look for the deer before calling in the drone...

I think it just opens the door to misuse as well. Some of the videos I saw show them finding the buck still alive and well as well as other huge bucks. I wonder if those hunters had an advantage in getting another chance at that deer even though they were using it to "recover" the deer.....

In rare circumstances, I might be more OK with it. The example that comes to mind is @Khunter moose hunt where he wounded the bull and busted his ass trying to find it. Whether he would've used it is up to him, but I wouldn't feel as bad about a situation like that.....once-in-a-lifetime tag and trying to recover an animal most people will never even get the opportunity to hunt. Some regulations would probably still need to be developed..maybe no hunting X number of days after use? Not sure what, but it would require more thought if allowed.

For finding lost dogs, etc....all for it. Could also be a great aid in finding lost people from what I've seen in the videos for finding animals.

 

[KipCarson]

As the market becomes more competitive you don’t think that price will come down for both the equipment and for the people offering the service?

Sure it will come down, but I still think it will stay high enough to keep it out of reach for the majority. I don’t think it will ever be so cheap that it’s a first choice for most hunters after the shot.

 

[Nameless Range]

Sure it will come down, but I still think it will stay high enough to keep it out of reach for the majority. I don’t think it will ever be so cheap that it’s a first choice for most hunters after the shot.

I am fairly certain the drone those guys are flying is a DJI M30T, which runs about $9K. There's good thermal drones on the market in the $3k range. I'd bet in a few years, good ones will be available for less than a thousand. I'd agree that it likely will never be ubiquitous as a lot of other things.

It's an aside, but man, imagine tracking that deer without the drone. You'd find an incredible amount of blood, a location where he stood and bled for hours. You took the shot, and it looked good. Never finding him would be hard to square. I believe that deer is dead somewhere, but it was a single lung shot. Just makes me question some things - the efficacy of archery being one of them. I hunt with a bow, but jeeze things can go wrong.

 

[Jamen]

If you could tell me with 100% certainty it was only used to recover an animal then sure why not. But like many mentioned people are not buying these just for recovery " unless they have a recovery business" I am also not sure the legality of flying them over public land? i have a friend who has a blood hound and he has recovered deer with her for people he also does commercial drone work but hasnt used it for deer recovery. Is using a bloodhound to track a gut shot deer crossing the moral compass or do people give that a pass because it is an animal and not a machine doing the work.

 

[rogerthat]

Sure it will come down, but I still think it will stay high enough to keep it out of reach for the majority. I don’t think it will ever be so cheap that it’s a first choice for most hunters after the shot.

It’s not like hunters are willing to buy $4k spotting scopes and Sitka suits, $20k utvs, $60k campers and $100k pickups

 

[rogerthat]

If you could tell me with 100% certainty it was only used to recover an animal then sure why not. But like many mentioned people are not buying these just for recovery " unless they have a recovery business" I am also not sure the legality of flying them over public land? i have a friend who has a blood hound and he has recovered deer with her for people he also does commercial drone work but hasnt used it for deer recovery. Is using a bloodhound to track a gut shot deer crossing the moral compass or do people give that a pass because it is an animal and not a machine doing the work.

I’m all for a trained blood hound. If I had one it wouldn’t come out hunting with me until I hit something

 

[cgasner1]

When does it get to the point we are tracking and killing animals that would have lived? Ow I hit that bull hood let’s get a drone turns out he was hit really good in the shoulder blade with a rage

 

[KipCarson]

It’s not like hunters are willing to buy $4k spotting scopes and Sitka suits, $20k utvs, $60k campers and $100k pickups

You’re not totally wrong. I was thinking about that this morning, but out of all the people I know personally that hunt, only two of them have Swarovski glass, high priced clothing, etc. That’s just not normal for blue collar Joe in the south where I come from. Yes, many guys do have $60k trucks but they did not buy them for hunting. It’s legal here to pig hunt using thermal scopes and I only know two people who have bought into that and have night hunting set ups. The reason is the cost, and it’s not on the top of the disposable income want list. So maybe I should rephrase my statement, when it comes to peoples disposable income, I don’t think a thermal drone will be on the top of the list. But hey, I’ve been wrong before!