Drone use for sheds?

[windymtnman]

Just wondering if anyone on here ever heard of anyone using a drone to fly over more open country looking for sheds? I don't have a drone, but in reading an article about them, it came to mind that you might be able to see sheds laying in open areas that would take a person a lot of time to hike over.

 

[Carnage2011]

I think it would be incredibly hard to spot one from a drone.

 

[nhn2a]

I think it would be incredibly hard to spot one from a drone.

I use a drone to take aerial photos of some of my hunting areas and food plots mainly. They do come in handy as you can see travel corridors and game trails from the sky. As for shed, I would have to agree with the post above. Unless you are flying really low, it would be very hard to spot a shed. Even to fly low enough would take a fair amount of skill as they aren't as easy to fly around terrain as you would expect unless you get one of the expensive ones with obstacle avoidance. Lastly the clarity of what you see on your phone or viewer is not as good as the video playback on a larger screen so even if you did spot a shed on the video when watching the video later, you'd have to go back out and hope its still there.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Honestly I would refrain from using one on public lands. Drones are certainly a fun new piece of technology and can be a great way to film your hunts, that being said public lands are meant to be multi-use and are our land not just yours so I think it's important to refrain from activities that take away from other people experience. If I was spring bear hunting or mountain biking or hiking or riding a horse and someone was flying a drone all over the place that would diminish my experience. Further, while I don't shed hunt, I'm sure if I had hiked in 5 miles and was working a mountain side I would be a bit peeved if a drone came buzzing over my shoulder and then a dude started racing up to beat me to an antler. That's the kinda thing that starts fist fights on a mountain.

Similarly, if someone is taking a photo of an animal I'm not going to shoot it even if it was legal and safe to do so. That person is "using" that resource and I don't want to diminish their experience.

If you are on private land with sparse vegetation it might be a viable means of finding them.

 

[npaden]

Using a spotting scope would give you more of an advantage than using a drone by a large factor. Spotting scopes have been around for a long time though so no one is going to freak out if they see you out in the woods with a spotting scope even if you beat someone to “their” shed.

 

[windymtnman]

Regarding your concerns about ruining another public land user's experience by flying a Drone, I totally get that. I also have zero interest in violating a game law with one. Thing is, where I live, and shed hunt, I'm fortunate that hardly a soul ever is in that country unless big game season is open. I know, because not only don't I ever see anyone, or their ATV tracks on a Forest trail accessing it, but I can put a stick on a trail 10" off the ground, and it's still as I left it next time I go back!