Drones in research

[Baker]

I bought a top end thermal drone and while it's taking me some time to become proficient with it I'm totally jazzed with the possibilities it presents . One thing I've learned so far with thermal though, is in La. it's been too hot all summer for it to be effective. The camera and zoom are amazing though. My suspicion is once leaves fall and it's cooler I'll be able to get the best census I have ever had on my property. A novel idea I may play with as season progresses is to use the drone to scare deer out of hunting plots when it's time to get out of stand.

 

[BenA]

I bought a top end thermal drone and while it's taking me some time to become proficient with it I'm totally jazzed with the possibilities it presents . One thing I've learned so far with thermal though, is in La. it's been too hot all summer for it to be effective. The camera and zoom are amazing though. My suspicion is once leaves fall and it's cooler I'll be able to get the best census I have ever had on my property. A novel idea I may play with as season progresses is to use the drone to scare deer out of hunting plots when it's time to get out of stand.

I've seen that mentioned a few times about the effectiveness of thermal being greatly diminished in warmer temps or significant canopy. Hopefully, the technology will advance to overcome that limitation. It would be really nice to be able to survey deer populations at any time of year to get ideas of what the population looks like year round or what habitat components they might be using at all times of the year. Camera, spotlight, helicopter, etc. surveys could become a thing of the past.

 

[Baker]

I've done numerous helicopter surveys . While they are a blast after couple years deer get smart to it and can hide from the chopper when you think a rabbit couldn't hide. Agree , I think drone surveys will take over the census business.

 

[SwampCat]

Can you estimate the age of bucks using a thermal drone? And can you differentiate between different eight points, etc?

 

[Baker]

I'm still a novice but what I've seen is you find deer with thermal then switch to camera and you can count the ticks on their back. Points etc easy. Aging might have more to do with familiarity with a deer herd for specifics but if you are looking for young, middle age or old should be accurate. For property owners that can hold deer on their property I think you can establish a baseline then over the years get really accurate with most metrics. I'll know a lot more by coming spring. ( Also helps to have someone raised on the video game generation to help)

 

[Telemark]

Can you estimate the age of bucks using a thermal drone? And can you differentiate between different eight points, etc?

In the daytime you can switch to a normal camera, and they generally have very good zoom.

It takes a very advanced thermal to see cold antlers, but antlers that are still in velvet show up well on thermal.