Anybody using drones to survey their ranches? I'm wondering if that would be cheaper than flying a helicopter

I've thought about doing it for our lease. It's leased by a timber company, so it would be nice to get some aerial shots as they cut between every season. It would also be kind of a fun side gig.

Edit: Realizing I missed the point of your question. Disregard.

No problem, I meant for deer surveys

Discussed recently.
https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/3355545/

Average Joe said:

---

I've thought about doing it for our lease. It's leased by a timber company, so it would be nice to get some aerial shots as they cut between every season. It would also be kind of a fun side gig.

Edit: Realizing I missed the point of your question. Disregard.

---

What would you be interested in getting out of a drone survey of a deer lease?

Orthophoto, elevation, year over year timber cover change, something else?

Thx for sharing

A few years ago if you didn't have a commercial license you were suposed to be within visual line of sight to your drone. Not sure if this is still the case.

When it comes to drone surveys, everybody wants precise measurements. For accurate mapping and surveying, you should use GCPs(Ground Control Points). It will surely help you out to get ideal results.

RCR06 said:

---

A few years ago if you didn't have a commercial license you were suposed to be within visual line of sight to your drone. Not sure if this is still the case.

---

Even with a FAA part 107 license you're still supposed to be within line of sight. Limited to 400' flight above ground level.

As mentioned above, you will need specialized software to create an mosaic image and preset flight paths to make it all work and use ground control points that are GPSd to get everything to fit correctly.