Took the drone out today to help reunite a calf with its mom. Worked like a charm. Pic attached:
That’s awesome! The M30T is a serious piece of gear. Great to see it being used for something like this.
What are those lights on the drone? Are they part of it, or did you add them?
Taliesin said:
What are those lights on the drone? Are they part of it, or did you add them?
It’s a JZ T-60 Search Light. It mounts on a slide bracket on top of the drone.
Taliesin said:
What are those lights on the drone? Are they part of it, or did you add them?
It’s a JZ T-60 Search Light. It mounts on a slide bracket on top of the drone.
Just looked it up… wow, you’ve got some serious equipment. That setup costs more than my car! Maybe someday I’ll get there.
This is so cool. I love seeing posts like this where lost animals get reunited!
Have you ever thought about adding a drop system to the drone? Could be handy if there are predators around. You could drop noisemakers or something to scare them off and keep the animal safe.
Josie said:
Have you ever thought about adding a drop system to the drone? Could be handy if there are predators around. You could drop noisemakers or something to scare them off and keep the animal safe.
That might also scare the animal and make it run toward the predators. Could backfire badly.
Josie said:
Have you ever thought about adding a drop system to the drone? Could be handy if there are predators around. You could drop noisemakers or something to scare them off and keep the animal safe.
Yeah, it’s something I’ve thought about, but I’m careful about not adding stress to an already scared animal.
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what exactly is deer recovery? Are you looking for injured animals, or is it something else?
Martin1 said:
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what exactly is deer recovery? Are you looking for injured animals, or is it something else?
It’s usually for finding deer that have been shot but ran off before the hunter could get to them.
@Niko
I wish that was legal in Texas. Here it’s against the law to use drones for anything related to hunting, even just recovery.
Zephyr said:
@Niko
I wish that was legal in Texas. Here it’s against the law to use drones for anything related to hunting, even just recovery.
Yeah, Texas seems to have some really outdated laws on this stuff. Other states are way more flexible.
Are those mounts on top just lights, or is it something like night vision equipment?
Beck said:
Are those mounts on top just lights, or is it something like night vision equipment?
They’re JZ-T60 Search Lights. They work with the gimbal. At night, I use the thermal camera to locate something, then switch to the spotlight for a clearer look.
@Niko
Got it. Thanks for explaining!
What else do you use this drone for? It seems like a lot for just finding lost animals.
Carmine said:
What else do you use this drone for? It seems like a lot for just finding lost animals.
Why do you think it’s too much?
Carmine said:
What else do you use this drone for? It seems like a lot for just finding lost animals.
Why do you think it’s too much?
Well, a $10,000 drone seems like overkill if you’re just finding calves. How often does this kind of thing happen?
@Carmine
My whole setup is worth about $20,000—drone, batteries, charger case, lights, a generator, and more. I made that back three times in my first year doing deer recoveries during hunting season and pet recoveries the rest of the year. There’s a lot of money in this if you know how to work it.