Anybody ever used a drone to find lost cattle, hourses, etc?

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Hey all! I've seen a few agricultural threads on here but not many. Just wondering if anybody has done that kind of work. I'm mostly thinking about finding lost livestock on BLM land. I live in western colorado and most my neighbors have cattle. During the summer they graze on public lands. My closest neighbor has about 500 head. There are always a couple that don't get rounded up. They hire helicopters to go look for them but that is $500 an hour and up. So basically just looking for thoughts or experience with this.
 
I like to do things the right way, and in my opinion the absolute best way to do what you are wanting to is use a infrared setup. It doesn't matter the time of the day if using the good equipment. This can be costly depending on how you look at it. You can be taken back a little if it's something that you have never looked into. But the fact is everyone pays the price. If you have never considered something like this, you should. It's worth checking into.
 
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I have a acquaintance that uses his highly modified P3S to check his cows, stock tanks, fences and gates every morning. He has extra batteries, upgraded antennas, and a wifi booster. He makes a 40 minute loop covering about 8 miles. It has helped out finding sick cows, new calves, and strangers that don't belong on his land. He flies from a high mesa so he has excellent range. His only complaint is that he has to be careful descending as the motors are over revving and he can descend too fast to recover from. He tries to make a down sloping approach to the landing pad rather than drop from above. He has been doing this for about 2 years with only one slight crash.
 
I have a acquaintance that uses his highly modified P3S to check his cows, stock tanks, fences and gates every morning. He has extra batteries, upgraded antennas, and a wifi booster. He makes a 40 minute loop covering about 8 miles. It has helped out finding sick cows, new calves, and strangers that don't belong on his land. He flies from a high mesa so he has excellent range. His only complaint is that he has to be careful descending as the motors are over revving and he can descend too fast to recover from. He tries to make a down sloping approach to the landing pad rather than drop from above. He has been doing this for about 2 years with only one slight crash.

his setup sounds ideal for the desert. Do you have details?
 
I like to do things the right way, and in my opinion the absolute best way to do what you are wanting to is use a infrared setup. It doesn't matter the time of the day if using the good equipment. This can be costly depending on how you look at it. You can be taken back a little if it's something that you have never looked into. But the fact is everyone pays the price. If you have never considered something like this, you should. It's worth checking into.
I like the idea of infrared camera, thanks I'll look into it. Like I said pretty much just getting started with this. Spit balling some ideas around.
 
I like the idea of infrared camera, thanks I'll look into it. Like I said pretty much just getting started with this. Spit balling some ideas around.

I got our local sheriffs department setup with using a Inspire1/flir setup which is very impressive. If you do any research on this I'm sure you will see the many benefits.
 
I have brought the horses in from pasture back to the barn with my P3P. Some of the horses can be a pain some days and it is a long walk. The drone runs them right to the gate. I do not do it often as I feel like it could affect their demeanor in a negative way over time.
 
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I have brought the horses in from pasture back to the barn with my P3P. Some of the horses can be a pain some days and it is a long walk. The drone runs them right to the gate. I do not do it often as I feel like it could affect their demeanor in a negative way over time.

There are many out there that will read your post and be in total disagreement using the aircraft in that manner with animals in general. Most in your situation have dogs trained for that purpose.
 
Hey all! I've seen a few agricultural threads on here but not many. Just wondering if anybody has done that kind of work. I'm mostly thinking about finding lost livestock on BLM land. I live in western colorado and most my neighbors have cattle. During the summer they graze on public lands. My closest neighbor has about 500 head. There are always a couple that don't get rounded up. They hire helicopters to go look for them but that is $500 an hour and up. So basically just looking for thoughts or experience with this.

Drone King:

We have Phantom 4s for this purpose. Our customers are in Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas. We have a siren that we herd cattle with. And a specialized tablet which you can actually see in the sun. That doesn't cost $700+ like a Crystal Sky.

Check out our cattle management Phantom packages at bargerdrone.com. Contact me with any specific questions. My phone is 308-224-2234.

Russ Barger
 
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Whats a HOURSE ? ;)

We've used various FPV and DJI AC to locate lost models - including other drones !!

Its amazing how bad human depth perception is - 99.9999% of time - the model is nowhere the distance imagined (it can be further or nearer - doesn't seem to be standard) .... but it often is significantly different.

Nigel
 

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