Has anyone successfully used drones for deer counts?

We do our preseason counts with cameras, but I would like to find a more reliable way to get an accurate count. I'm just looking for an accurate ratio really. I think we still need the trail cams to identify individual bucks, but I feel like we are not getting accurate doe & fawn numbers due to bucks keeping them out of the pens, and that is keeping us from getting an accurate buck/doe ratio.

We don't have the budget for a helicopter survey, but we do have a couple of small drones

thought?

I think most drones will survey 160 acres of cultivation on one battery charge.

I haven't tried to survey deer with my thermal drone yet in wheat fields at night.

I asked a similar question a few years ago. I'm thinking some guy who is in that business found it and replied to it a couple months ago trying to drum up some biz. I think it was a new account, not a regular poster.

VaultingChemist said:

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I think most drones will survey 160 acres of cultivation on one battery charge.

I haven't tried to survey deer with my thermal drone yet in wheat fields at night.

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I figured it would be a weekend job with multiple drones & batteries

I assume military tech is already working drones to navigate dense forest and apply thermal object recognition to map out enemies. At some point, that ability will be commercialized and deer hunting will never be the same. It'll be a real shame when a "survey" done swarm scares up a nocturnal wise old buck right to your stand…

VaultingChemist said:

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I think most drones will survey 160 acres of cultivation on one battery charge.

I haven't tried to survey deer with my thermal drone yet in wheat fields at night.

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So, if we did a grid in 160 acre chunks, do you think we could get good enough video to count deer and distinguish bucks from doe?

Not all drones are created equal. It really depends on the drone for flight time and battery life.

I fly a Phantom 4 that has about a 20 minute flight time on a single charge in normal conditions. And then an M300 that can do about 30-40 minutes in the same conditions depending on payload.

Also keep in mind if your flying for commercial purposes (you hired a pilot to do the survey), they are subject to Part 107 rules. Meaning you are restricted to 400ft AGL or lower, and required to get a waiver to fly at night (if you're using thermal imaging). That really limits the ability to cover a lot of ground and ability to distinguish animals in the thermal imagery.

Maybe we'll just do a trial run in one pasture. Its as good an excuse as any to spend a day in the woods.

hellapark said:

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Not all drones are created equal. It really depends on the drone for flight time and battery life.

I fly a Phantom 4 that has about a 20 minute flight time on a single charge in normal conditions. And then an M300 that can do about 30-40 minutes in the same conditions depending on payload.

Also keep in mind if your flying for commercial purposes (you hired a pilot to do the survey), they are subject to Part 107 rules. Meaning you are restricted to 400ft AGL or lower, and required to get a waiver to fly at night (if you're using thermal imaging). That really limits the ability to cover a lot of ground and ability to distinguish animals in the thermal imagery.

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Bolded part is no longer true. The regulations on night operations changed last year.

hellapark said:

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Not all drones are created equal. It really depends on the drone for flight time and battery life.

I fly a Phantom 4 that has about a 20 minute flight time on a single charge in normal conditions. And then an M300 that can do about 30-40 minutes in the same conditions depending on payload.

Also keep in mind if your flying for commercial purposes (you hired a pilot to do the survey), they are subject to Part 107 rules. Meaning you are restricted to 400ft AGL or lower, and required to get a waiver to fly at night (if you're using thermal imaging). That really limits the ability to cover a lot of ground and ability to distinguish animals in the thermal imagery.

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Who the heck is going to enforce part107? Especially if your not in a major city or near airport.

agAngeldad said:

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hellapark said:

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Not all drones are created equal. It really depends on the drone for flight time and battery life.

I fly a Phantom 4 that has about a 20 minute flight time on a single charge in normal conditions. And then an M300 that can do about 30-40 minutes in the same conditions depending on payload.

Also keep in mind if your flying for commercial purposes (you hired a pilot to do the survey), they are subject to Part 107 rules. Meaning you are restricted to 400ft AGL or lower, and required to get a waiver to fly at night (if you're using thermal imaging). That really limits the ability to cover a lot of ground and ability to distinguish animals in the thermal imagery.

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Who the heck is going to enforce part107? Especially if your not in a major city or near airport.

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Nobody really, the FAA is pretty toothless when it comes to this type of thing. But hiring someone and then asking them to break the rules is a pretty crappy thing to do imo. Especially if they are trying to run a reputable business using drones.

Right, but 400 feet is too high for wildlife surveys based on my experience and you can fly at night with lights and a recent recertification course.

That is not a high bar.

I haven't taken the refresher since the night time rules changed. I never needed to fly at night so didn't pay much attention to that change.

What altitude are wildlife surveys flown? Flying higher covers more ground and gets more out of limited flight time from your batteries. At some point it's got to be more practical to hire a helo?