Drone Stalking - A Modern Option?

[T.eddie]

I wouldn't use one to stalk with, but would be a very handy tool for teaching how deer operate, move, eat, numbers etc
If someone did want to use one, wouldn't bother me its up to them how they spend their time/money
I wonder what sort of debate this would have cause say 20/30 years ago with someone saying "Ive just got a thermal what do you think about using it for deer stalking"? (20/30 years may be the wrong timeline but you get my point)

 

[Heym SR20]

I wouldn't use one to stalk with, but would be a very handy tool for teaching how deer operate, move, eat, numbers etc
If someone did want to use one, wouldn't bother me its up to them how they spend their time/money
I wonder what sort of debate this would have cause say 20/30 years ago with someone saying "Ive just got a thermal what do you think about using it for deer stalking"? (20/30 years may be the wrong timeline but you get my point)

You would get a lot more information by quietly moving across the ground, sitting and watching and looking for sign of deer, droppings, tracks and browse damage.

 

[NickJ]

I know one or two people in the Highlands who are using them with (and without) Thermal for counts. Byron Pace did some work for the German Game Conservancy with a drone and Thermal I gather. I can see NatureScot (was SNH) using them more for counts given what they spend on chopper hire currently.

Beyond counts and surveying ground (looking for clearings etc) I agree there is an ethics issue in my opinion. Possible exception with professionals in high pressure forestry restock areas where they are already using night/out of season/thermal..

As BowiJohn says they are being used to great effect in Africa in Anti Poaching operations I have read.

 

[Dazb1967]

I wouldn't use one to stalk with, but would be a very handy tool for teaching how deer operate, move, eat, numbers etc
If someone did want to use one, wouldn't bother me its up to them how they spend their time/money
I wonder what sort of debate this would have cause say 20/30 years ago with someone saying "Ive just got a thermal what do you think about using it for deer stalking"? (20/30 years may be the wrong timeline but you get my point)

Yeh I get you point, How many people use Trail cameras etc which would have been frowned upon a few years ago, It's all about technology moving on and wether we like it or not times change its just up to the individual if they want to use it and also of course if it's legal.

 

[sikamalc]

Here's a fact.
I was fortunate last year to pick up 400 acres of good stalking in a neighbouring county. One of the so called previous stalkers used to launch a drone from the top of the farm to look for deer.
I couldnt believe it when the owner told me. And this is where all this modern stuff, to my mind is out of order. Your not a deer stalker, your a joker!

 

[Tazz]

This is where this is going, just need to sort your variation out with your Local firearms officer

 

[Sonicdmb73]

View attachment 194453This is where this is going, just need to sort your variation out with your Local firearms officer

That’s just showing off

 

[bgb]

View attachment 194453This is where this is going, just need to sort your variation out with your Local firearms officer

 

[sikamalc]

Would stop poaching and illegal trespass though

 

[bfltd0]

This idea just depresses me. Perhaps you could fit a rifle to a large drone and then you could murder deer from the comfort of your armchair?

No sooner said than done:



And if you can imagine exchanging the assault rifle with a 6.5mm Creedmoor...................

 

[Foxyboy43]

Having read through the many and varied responses to this very interesting thread I have thought the concept through a bit more since my original post. I still think drones lend themselves well to information gathering on deer whether for surveying or (regretably) forestry culling purposes but the thought of using a drone to spot and then target a deer leaves me quite cold. IMHO it devalues our sport and even worse our respect for these wonderful animals, whatever species they may be. This practice would also leave our sport wide open to (justified) criticism on a par with that rightly aimed at “game farms” stocked with animals purely for commercial shooting purposes.
As someone who came to stalking in their mid-forties but who had shot game since a 10 year old, the vast majority of the raw pleasure I first experienced was being out, at one with nature - in all its glory. To see a group of reds or a single roe from afar were, and still are, experiences I treasure and to then be able to take part in a difficult stalk over perhaps many hundreds of yards made these cherished memories. I will never forget being “challenged” with more foot stamping, head shaking and roaring than I thought possible for perhaps 20 minutes only last year by the best looking stag I have ever met on the hill. It was an absolute pleasure to just stand there and drink in the experience and I hope he is there for years to come.
I have shot my share of deer but equally I have declined and will continue to decline a shot simply because the often long search, and the stalking experience itself, provided all the thrills and excitement I could ever ask for and it is this I feel that the use of a drone for a one or two hour “outing” rather than a day on the hill will never provIde. Please god we will never turn our cherished sport into “dial-a-deer” - they deserve so much better.

 

[bowji john]

Having read through the many and varied responses to this very interesting thread I have thought the concept through a bit more since my original post. I still think drones lend themselves well to information gathering on deer whether for surveying or (regretably) forestry culling purposes but the thought of using a drone to spot and then target a deer leaves me quite cold. IMHO it devalues our sport and even worse our respect for these wonderful animals, whatever species they may be. This practice would also leave our sport wide open to (justified) criticism on a par with that rightly aimed at “game farms” stocked with animals purely for commercial shooting purposes.
As someone who came to stalking in their mid-forties but who had shot game since a 10 year old, the vast majority of the raw pleasure I first experienced was being out, at one with nature - in all its glory. To see a group of reds or a single roe from afar were, and still are, experiences I treasure and to then be able to take part in a difficult stalk over perhaps many hundreds of yards made these cherished memories. I will never forget being “challenged” with more foot stamping, head shaking and roaring than I thought possible for perhaps 20 minutes only last year by the best looking stag I have ever met on the hill. It was an absolute pleasure to just stand there and drink in the experience and I hope he is there for years to come.
I have shot my share of deer but equally I have declined and will continue to decline a shot simply because the often long search for, and the stalking experience itself, provided all the thrills and excitement I could ever ask for and it is this I feel that the use of a drone for a one or two hour “outing” rather than a day on the hill will never provIde. Please god we will never turn our cherished sport into “dial-a-deer” - they deserve so much better.

I know it is the wrong use of this emoji - but that gets a double thumbs up from me

 

[bfltd0]

For recreational shooters, stalking is a sport. There is no challenge if the quarry does not have a sporting chance. There is much more to any form of sporting shooting than pulling the trigger on a "dead cert".

Everyone will have their own view on what level of technology they are willing to employ to assist them and that is fine.

But if I want to kill a beast that has no chance of escape, I can always find work in an abattoir.

 

[sikamalc]

I am not saying drones do not have a place.
For deer counts on the open hill or in a large park, fine. For catching poachers, whether its in Africa or in the UK, fine. I am sure there are other uses, but I am not going to go through them all.

Using a drone to spot deer on land that you are stalking, NO. If you are this kind of lazy stalker, in my opinion you have no right to own a rifle and call yourself a deer stalker. If you cant be bothered to walk the ground and learn where your deer are, and their movements you need to go and find another interest. Stamp collecting or train spotting maybe. Being a hunter is showing respect for what you hunt, and learning whilst in the field. Try playing one of those computer games at home and stick to that. Because in my book you are not a deer stalker, and never will be.

 

[User00025]

How many are there on here who shot their first fifty deer with open sights on a nowadays illegal rifle ( too small calibre)?
That was a way to start stalking and taught you a lot very quickly, especially how to get in quite close to shoot.

 

[Tim.243]

Not really sure what you are saying here Tim?

I have lamped foxes and rabbits for a long while before I invested in NV.


I get drones for surveying (just about to buy one at work for this abs get a couple of lads their commercial licences) but to save yourself the effort of stalking over a ridge?! It’s called deer stalking for a reason!

In two replies you said that a youngster yanik101 has to start some were which is fine.
Then some time later you told the OP he needs to get a new hobby.........!!

"I think you need to find a new hobby" was your reply to the OP!!

Hence my reply you need to make your mind up.

My point is that you have moved on from the 12v lamp to NV

So should the op be left to carry on with out being told to get a new hobby?

Quite simple.

Drone Stalking - A Modern Option?

Hello All - I`ve recently started to use a drone to locate deer both for stalking and for observation/census purposes. I can quickly check the land out almost silently without disturbance to the deer who generally are completely unaware I am observing and recording them in stunning 4k. Scenario...

www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk

 

[Tim.243]

How many are there on here who shot their first fifty deer with open sights on a nowadays illegal rifle ( too small calibre)?
That was a way to start stalking and taught you a lot very quickly, especially how to get in quite close to shoot.

How many were given a tractor licence by only driving it up the headland and back

how many tried to turn with out lifting the 2 leg plough and went straight on?

third how many people on here skip the days of air rifles, pugs, first .410 few pigeons walked up rabbit etc
Know get a fac on paid stalks and do nothing else but go with a guide.

 

[bfltd0]

third how many people on here skip the days of air rifles, pugs, first .410 few pigeons walked up rabbit etc
Know get a fac on paid stalks and do nothing else but go with a guide.

Agreed. Without realising it at the time, I was being taught fieldcraft, camouflage, concealment, woodcraft, counter-surveillance and marksmanship when I was taken out as a young teenager to shoot woodpigeon, rabbits and the occasional fox. These were really useful skills that are directly transferable to deer stalking. Being a townie, stalking didn't appear on my shooting agenda for a few years, so target shooting (rifle, pistol) and clay and game shotgun shooting honed my marksmanship and gun safety skills.

It is a fact that not everyone has the chance to get this training while young, and you can still have a successful stalk on your first time out at any age with a good guide - but it doesn't make you an experienced or good stalker.

 

[Erik Hamburger]

Great idea for counting/research etc and call me old fashioned but I really do not think it is ethical to use a drone on recreational stalking. As an aside I wonder if the contractors are using them?

It is as ethical as firearms once were, when they started to be used for deer hunting.
And as unethical as rifle scopes once were, when they started to be used for Stalking.
And as unethical as Thermal viewers once were, when they started to be used for Stalking....

I wish you good luck, in particular when you try to manoeuvre that tricky to control Drone into deep cover under high tree cover when you try to find the deer... - but seriously if it adds another element to your deer management and you enjoy it, and it works for you, why not!

 

[Tim.243]

Agreed. Without realising it at the time, I was being taught fieldcraft, camouflage, concealment, woodcraft, counter-surveillance and marksmanship when I was taken out as a young teenager to shooting woodpigeon, rabbits and the occasional fox. These were really useful skills that are directly transferable to deer stalking. Being a townie, stalking didn't appear on my shooting agenda for a few years, so target shooting (rifle, pistol) and clay and game shotgun shooting honed my marksmanship and gun safety skills.

It is a fact that not everyone has the chance to get this training while young, and you can still have a successful stalk on your first time out at any age with a good guide - but it doesn't make you an experienced or good stalker.

Adding a bit more from what I read a good number of people would not be bothered to back pedal as going with a guide is enough. Even fishing for little rudd roach perch taught you something when to strike etc....