Hunting is one of those areas the drones have become huge game-changers – for better or for worse.
For one, it does give an advantage to how hunters scout and stalk their game. However, some purists claim it provides too much of an advantage that it ruins the spirit of the sport.
At its core, drones are just mere tools in the hunter’s arsenal. But the question is – is it right for you?
So let’s look at the ways, legal and not, that you can exploit drones to enhance your hunting game. Then we’ll take a look at the best hunting drones you can get in the market today.
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How To Use A Drone For Hunting
Drones help hunters by giving them an eye in the sky to further enhance their ability to hunt. This provides a significant advantage over game, and some would say it gives too much of it.
But when done within ethical and legal means (depending on your country or city), using a drone is actually an acceptable addition to the sport.
Here are some legit ways drones can help you when out on the hunt
Scouting an area
Preparation is key to a successful hunt, and a lot of it happens way before hunting season begins.
One of these is picking the right location. All the hunting skills in the world will not do you any good if there aren’t a lot of animals in the area. That’s why assessing if your target location has a sizable game population is crucial to your success.
Getting the right location, however, is very tricky. Animals rarely stay in one area for too long, as they are always in search of food. Populations also tend to drop right after the hunting season. Hence, an exceptional hunting ground this month might be a poor choice for the next few months or so.
Traditionally, assessing an area’s potential for hunting used to be done through tracking animal prints. This gives you clues on the general movement and presence of animals in the vicinity. Of course, this takes a lot of experience and judgment to pull off, which still gives you a margin for error.
Drones simplify this process. You now merely have to fly over an area and visually note the distribution of animals. You can even track them regularly over a certain period to get an accurate pattern. You then use this data to predict when and where the animal population is the largest come hunting season rolls in.
Using drones also allow you to see the geography of the area. Maps are useful, yes, but nothing beats actually seeing the features of the location yourself. You can scout for potential problem areas and either avoid them or work through them. Either way, you come prepared.
Looking for potential game off-season
Aside from scouting the general area, drones are also used to spot unusually large prey.
Using drones to track animals this way is probably the best use of hunting drones, but it’s also the most controversial. It eliminates the tedious stalking and blind luck involved in encountering prized game, which you see as either excellent or cheating.
Purists, though, would argue that this is acceptable provided it’s done off-season. At most, you’ll have to wait 24 hours after you’ve scouted an area before you can begin to hunt. If done during the day of hunting itself, it makes tracking the game almost too easy to the point of laziness.
Chasing after wounded prey
A lot of times, a hunter would manage to wound an animal, but not enough to disable it. Even an injured animal can be surprisingly fast and may escape out in the woods. When that happens, there’s a risk of losing the animal altogether – a wasted opportunity, indeed.
Drones can be used to stalk the wounded animal if it ever escapes. Chances are that it’ll stop at some point, especially if the injuries are severe. The hunter can then approach the animal slowly to avoid startling it, confident about its exact location.
Using drones this way is where hunting enthusiasts are divided. Practitioners would claim that it’s acceptable as long as the initial encounter with the animal was done through traditional tracking skills without the help of a drone. Naysayers would say otherwise, that it’s still a form of cheating.
Support hunters with physical disabilities or conditions
For hunters who are physically handicapped or limited, drones offer a fantastic solution. Older people with health problems, for instance, might not have the endurance and durability to survive long treks out in the woods. Or they might not be physically capable of doing a particular movement.
Drones level the playing field for these people. They give them extended range and visibility that they otherwise couldn’t on their own. It allows more people to enjoy the sport despite physical conditions.
Is It Acceptable To Use A Drone For Hunting?
Drone use is a big issue among hunting enthusiasts. On the one hand, it can help you land that big kill faster and much easier, which can be awfully satisfying.
On the other hand, some claim it ruins the nature of the sport. As a hunter, you’re supposed to rely on your senses and skill to catch game out in the wild. Using a drone eliminates that and makes hunting too easy to the point of cheating.
From an animal rights perspective, it also robs animals of a fighting chance to escape. It certainly goes against the spirit of the hunter that should always respect wildlife.
Some countries and states have recognized this and actively ban the use of any drones while hunting, whether ethical or not.
Generally speaking, it’s acceptable to use drones for hunting provided it’s for enhancing your hunting skills rather than replacing it. But of course, even if you’re using it ethically, hunting purists will still frown upon it.
Illegal / Unethical Drone Hunting Methods to Avoid
Drive animals to the desired area
This is probably one of the most common and most unethical ways to hunt using drones.
This involves flying a drone to spot a group of game in the hunting grounds. Once found, the drone is then used to disturb the animals and have them directed towards the desired area. This is usually out in the open where the hunter is waiting. Then it’s a simple matter of shooting at the animals.
This method of “herding” the animals is considered an extremely lazy way of hunting.
Same day hunting
Same day hunting involves using a drone to track game while you’re out on the field. You simply fly your drone, find the animal, and slowly approach your way there to make the kill.
The method is controversial because it, too, is considered a lazy way to hunt. There are no hunting skills involved, save for aiming and shooting your rifle. Animals don’t get a chance to escape.
Harassing other hunters
Drones aren’t just a nuisance to animals out in the wild – it’s also used to harass other hunters, too. Spying on other hunters, or going after their game, is both unethical and unfair. It ruins the nature of the sport and puts an unfair advantage to those who chose to play by the rules.
Animal rights activists also use drones themselves to spy on hunters using drones. While they have noble intentions, it’s still a breach on the hunter’s privacy in some countries and is therefore illegal.
Drone hunting in places where it’s prohibited
Not all countries and states are receptive to the idea of drone hunting. In fact, quite a lot of them have already put bans in place, prohibiting drone use even during the off-season. British Columbia is one such area that implements this rule.
A lot of governments also heavily regulate drone use for hunting. Examples include Alaska, which makes it illegal to hunt in an area where you used a drone for the past 24 hours.
We highly recommend checking with your local authorities first if you have plans of using drones on your next hunt.
Using an unregistered drone
Some countries regulate drones even for personal use. Most would require you to register any drone past a certain weight. If you live in the US, for example, you would need to disclose any drone above 250g with the Federal Aviation Administration or FAA.
Using an unregistered for hunting, even when done within legal means, is a surefire way to get fined.
Using the drone itself to hunt
Many progressive countries ban hunting from an aerial vehicle, such as an airplane or helicopter. The reason is the same – it makes hunting too easy and, therefore, unsafe for animal populations.
Some nations have extended this law to include drones, but some haven’t. But the truth is that using a drone to make the kill – be it with onboard weapons or some other means – is downright wrong on so many levels.
What To Look For In A Hunting Drone
To be useful in the field, drones need to be able to silent operators. They need to be able to scout the area without disturbing the environment. To do that, here are some things you need to look out for.
FPV
Drones are mostly your eyes in the sky, so you would need one with a good FPV feature. It’s also vital for navigating the drone out in the field since you most likely won’t always have a line of sight with the drone.
Some animals can blend in with their surroundings, such as deer and elk. The camera used, therefore, needs to be clear and crisp, so you can easily spot game. Look for a live feed resolution of at least 720p, with 1080p and 4K being the ideal options.
Getting an FPV camera with a wide Field of View (FOV) is essential as well. This allows you to see more of the environment, making spotting animals, and seeing the landscape easier.
Make sure as well that the FPV is as real-time and lag-free as possible.
Range
To maximize the area you can scout, you need to get a drone with a long-range. This allows you to fly your drone as far away as possible. The performance and quality of your FPV also depend on the transmission power of your drone.
For starters, a range of at least 1 km is the absolute minimum requirement for a hunting drone. This would give you a decent area to work with. If you plan to chase after wounded prey, however, then you need all the extra range you can get. 5 km and above is ideal and won’t severely limit your chasing potential.
Quiet Operation
One of the most essential features your drone must possess is having a silent operation. Remember, your goal is to scout as discreetly as possible. If your flyer is too noisy, it will alert animals of your presence, and they would most likely run away.
You’d do well to choose a drone with brushless motors since these produce a minimal amount of noise. They’re also much more durable than a typical motor.
Zoom and Adjustable Tilt
Being that your drone must be as discreet as possible, they should stay as far away as they can from wildlife. Having the ability to zoom in is especially useful to achieve this. It enables your drone to maintain a safe distance while still being able to see your target clearly.
Having a camera with an adjustable tilt also allows you to adjust your FPV viewpoint without having to move your drone around excessively.
Portability
Hunting out in the wild already entails with it a lot of equipment and gear. If you plan on using a drone for hunting, you want it to be as portable as possible. Portable drones are also easy to deploy, crucial when you’re in the thick of things.
This would most likely involve a foldable drone and is the preferred option. These types of drones usually combine portability with functionality. Compact mini or nano drones are also acceptable, but they’re generally simpler in terms of features.
Battery Life
Hunting is a game of endurance and patience. Your drone thus has to have the longevity necessary to keep up with you.
For prolonged scouting runs, having a long battery life is essential. It allows you to fly for more extended periods. To be effective, a flight time of around 20+ minutes is ideal. Anything shorter and you’ll have to continually return the drone back to base to charge or swap batteries.
Visual Tracking
Some of the more advanced drones have visual tracking technology. This allows the drone to visually lock on to a moving object autonomously. It does this by isolating the subject from the background through contrast.
Using this feature, you can have a drone follow an animal without you having to control it manually. The only drawback is that, depending on the drone and brand, it doesn’t always work as advertised. Animals that blend in with their surroundings are especially hard to track with this technology.
Obstacle Avoidance
Flying a drone around a forest can be a risky proposition since there are so many trees it can bump into it. You can rely on manual skill and dexterity to help avoid these obstacles, or you can make use of obstacle avoidance technology.
More advanced drones will have sensors equipped in the front and, optionally, along the sides. If these sensors detect incoming obstacles, the drone reacts accordingly. Some try to fly higher to avoid it, while some just stop and hover in place.
When you’re using a drone’s autonomous flight modes in thick forests, obstacle avoidance almost becomes a necessity to avoid crashes.
Weatherproof
Hunting is an outdoor activity. That means the weather cant turn without warning in an instant. Having a drone to withstand the elements can give you better flexibility when out hunting.
You’re looking for something we like to call weatherproof – that’s resistant to both wind and rain. This is also useful if you continuously hunt around in areas with bodies of water like lakes or streams.
Speed
Although not as crucial, the drone’s speed is essential if you want to catch up with a running animal. It will make it less likely that you’ll lose track of your target.
Speed is also useful if you’re planning to scout vast distances. With a fast drone, you’ll be able to sweep your location sooner rather than later.
Do I Need To Get A License to Hunt with a Drone?
The laws regarding drone licensing vary from country to country. But the general rule of thumb is that if a drone would be used for commercial purposes, then the drone pilot needs a license.
However, hunting is a recreational activity. It’s not done for any commercial purposes; therefore, a license is not required to use a hunting drone. This is assuming, of course, that you’re legally allowed to use drones while hunting in your country, and that you already have the required licenses for actually hunting in the first place.
What you also need to be aware of is the laws governing regarding drone use in your country or state, regardless if it’s used for hunting or something else. Be sure you’re always complying to avoid unnecessary and costly offenses.
