Could offending drones be shot down?

I was responding to a comment about skeet shooting. Not goose shooting, or any other kind of shotgun work. But putting that aside, why is a goose a tougher target than a drone?
Well, the basic premise of the question was, could a shotgun from the ground bring it down. The answer is yes. I doubt very seriously that if any law enforcement or other authorities decided to take such a measure, that they would limit themselves to skeet shooting gear.

Why is a goose tougher? I guess I should have said “tougher to bring down”. That certainly has just a whole lot of personal opinion on it in the absence of empirical testing, but having shot plenty of the birds myself, and knowing the basic anatomy of a drone as well as the bird, I would definitely like my chances of bringing down the drone at a hundred yards better than the goose. Hit pretty much anywhere on a Phantom and you’re likely to render it unflyable. They’re pretty fragile by comparison, and have a lot higher percentage of areas on the body that would be a “get hit here and you’re done” zone.

I’m all up for actually testing the theory, as long as it’s with your drone and not mine..

As far as “projectiles returning to earth”, that’s pretty overrated with most stuff that comes out the business end of a shotgun. I’ve been hit dozens if not hundreds of times by “falling shot” of pretty much all sizes.. it pretty rarely even warrants a verbal “ouch”.. I wouldn’t want to get hit with a falling 230gr bullet out a .45 or something similar, but shotguns are, in the real world, effectively out of that argument..

most of your “falling projectiles” that make the news are still actually on a ballistic arc, and could certainly still kill somebody: shoot a rifle at 45 degrees elevation and it’s still going to be potentially lethal when it hits the ground: Shoot straight up with it, and there’s just not a whole lot there when it goes from that ballistic arc to just falling.. is it possible that it could still kill somebody? Sure. Is it likely? Probably not. It might put a ding on your car hood or something..
 
Well, the basic premise of the question was, could a shotgun from the ground bring it down. The answer is yes. I doubt very seriously that if any law enforcement or other authorities decided to take such a measure, that they would limit themselves to skeet shooting gear.

Why is a goose tougher? I guess I should have said “tougher to bring down”. That certainly has just a whole lot of personal opinion on it in the absence of empirical testing, but having shot plenty of the birds myself, and knowing the basic anatomy of a drone as well as the bird, I would definitely like my chances of bringing down the drone at a hundred yards better than the goose. Hit pretty much anywhere on a Phantom and you’re likely to render it unflyable. They’re pretty fragile by comparison, and have a lot higher percentage of areas on the body that would be a “get hit here and you’re done” zone.

I’m all up for actually testing the theory, as long as it’s with your drone and not mine..

As far as “projectiles returning to earth”, that’s pretty overrated with most stuff that comes out the business end of a shotgun. I’ve been hit dozens if not hundreds of times by “falling shot” of pretty much all sizes.. it pretty rarely even warrants a verbal “ouch”.. I wouldn’t want to get hit with a falling 230gr bullet out a .45 or something similar, but shotguns are, in the real world, effectively out of that argument..

most of your “falling projectiles” that make the news are still actually on a ballistic arc, and could certainly still kill somebody: shoot a rifle at 45 degrees elevation and it’s still going to be potentially lethal when it hits the ground: Shoot straight up with it, and there’s just not a whole lot there when it goes from that ballistic arc to just falling.. is it possible that it could still kill somebody? Sure. Is it likely? Probably not. It might put a ding on your car hood or something..

I agree that within (probably) a few hundred feet, a shotgun could do the job - but not loaded with skeet shot. And for the most part, other than firing solid slugs or very large shot, it's not going to be much of a hazard on the ground. Whether or not that's acceptable in and around an airport is a different question.
 
I agree that within (probably) a few hundred feet, a shotgun could do the job - but not loaded with skeet shot. And for the most part, other than firing solid slugs or very large shot, it's not going to be much of a hazard on the ground. Whether or not that's acceptable in and around an airport is a different question.
I know they used to use shotguns on occasion to clear flocks of birds on airport grounds in the past, however I would imagine that the animal rights folks have them replacing that 35 cent solution with some ineffective equipment costing hundreds of thousands by now..
 
There was a discussion in the pub recently re drones flying near airports, thoughts arising were:



Would it have been possible to down a drone with a suitable fire-arm.

If that is the case, would there be danger of falliing cartridges, drones etc .to people/property.

If there was a danger could the weapons be situated to ensure that any “fall-out” dropped to a safe place.

Lastly were the offending drones reachable with a fire-arm.
Far easier to disrupt the signal
 
I know they used to use shotguns on occasion to clear flocks of birds on airport grounds in the past, however I would imagine that the animal rights folks have them replacing that 35 cent solution with some ineffective equipment costing hundreds of thousands by now..
No, that's still done. A friend has that particular job. In fact he was told by his manager to shoot down a drone if he sees one. He was also told by the FAA that he would be in serious trouble if he did.
 

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