Drop Tine Drone Services

06/18/2024

An 11-year-old girl who was reported missing in Genesee County has been found, according to Genesee County 911.

03/23/2024

Happy dog reunited with owner!

03/23/2024

Recent search for two Huskies.

08/23/2023

Great read!

The last few days I decided to set up realistic scenarios where a hunter needs help locating their deer. Utilizing the latest electronic technology the THERMAL DRONE or one of the oldest tools known to man THE TRACKING DOG!!

If you know anything about me “Rob Miller” you know I’m a straight shooter and very direct.
If you don’t know anything about me I’ll share a little more info about myself.
I’m a blue collar worker that’s happily married to my HS girlfriend and we have 4 amazing children.

I live paycheck to paycheck so I understand how it can be difficult to PAY FOR A TRACKING DOG SERVICE OR A DRONE SERVICE!!! On average tracking dogs cost $150-$200. I’ve been told drone services are $300-$500.

Many times I wouldn’t be able to hire myself!

So when I write up educational information I do so with your best interest first so if you find yourself needing help locating your deer you can make the educated decision that will help you find your deer and hopefully save you some money!!! I always give free advice and many hunters have found their deer without needing a dog. This is wisdom I’ve acquired of the past 15 seasons tracking OVER 1,000 whitetails.
It’s interesting the kickback I’m receiving the last few days from hunters. Losing over 100’s of followers because the content goes against the grain or their ideology. This doesn’t bother me because I don’t want anyone to follow my page if they don’t enjoy my content or find it helpful.

I’m not chasing followers I’m chasing information so we all can be better hunters and trackers so more deer are recovered.

Drones have their place in the big game recovery world and I feel it’s wrong that the state of Michigan has banned them.
It’s also wrong to say they are superior over a trained dog!! Trust me a drone isn’t the overall best option for locating your wounded/dead big game.

One advantage of a drone would be any deer that hasn’t been pushed by the hunter and is still alive and be located in its first or second bed. Flying over the wounded deer and educating yourself that the deer will survive the superficial wound is a better choice. A dog will find this deer however odds of seeing it is minimal and sometimes we can’t prove that it’s your deer because the deer has stopped bleeding and has licked its wound clean.

Any deer that has ran 50-1,000 yards that’s dead should be recovered by a dog or a drone. Yes the drone might find it faster if the conditions allowed it however if it’s early season with the tree foliage being full the thermal may not be able to pe*****te the leaves. A skilled pilot might be able to position the drone correctly while using the zoom features to locate your deer. It will obviously take the drone pilot a long time to process all the heat sources.
Also if it’s hot out the thermal is useless.
Hot and dry and windy scenting conditions can be very difficult for a dog to problem solve resulting in a dog taking a lot longer than normal.
Nothing is perfect and any given day one can fail you.

If your deer has a broken leg a drone isn’t going to help you. Yes the drone locates your crippled deer however you can’t immediately go in and try and end suffering because your now hunting deer with a drone. However a tracking dog off leash can catch up to the deer and bark at the deer distracting it and then the hunter can make a follow up shot DAY/NIGHT with the weapon of season to end suffering. This is very crucial during gun season.
It’s also very important that the drone pilot is able to identify your deer to know for sure your deer is actually still alive. So searching for does or bucks your not familiar with can make the drone search very difficult.

If your deer has been chased by coyotes or accidentally pushed by hunter’s your deer can be 1 or more miles away.
Not sure how well a drone will do especially if the pilot obeys the FFA laws and keeps the drone in VLOS. (Visual line of sight). The pilot would have to keep walking while flying to maintain vlos or drive their vehicle around to cover a 1-3 mile radius. All flights are logged so if invested the FFA will know.
Same with tracking dogs, they must be on a gps system so the DNR will know if your dog is trespassing. If asked you better have the map ready to prove you’re not in violation.
Deer don’t alway go straight. I’ve seen them go 1/2 mile north then turn and go 2 miles south. Odds are a drone pilot wouldn’t know this!!

Can dogs track after rain and snow?
For the most part yes! Especially if the deer is hit good leaving a ton of scent and it’s obviously mortally shot.
If the deer wound is superficial and not leaving much scent then it can be very difficult for a dog to track after 1-2” of rain or 6” of snow.
Just as it will be difficult for the thermals to pick up heat from a deer that’s been floating in the lake!
A comment that’s being pushed from drone pilots is the dog and handler will be spooking all the deer out of your sanctuary.
First of all deer deal with coyotes every day of their life!! Our dogs DON’T SPOOK YOUR DEER!!
The next point is the humans are spreading scent all over the area spooking Deer and this is why you should use a drone over a dog.
Educational point that needs to be clarified.

Direct scent vs indirect scent
Scent pool vs passing scent

Direct scent “Scent pool” is when a hunter is sitting for a long period of time. The area is saturated with human breath and body odor and deer have learned this is a dangerous HUMAN ODOR.

Indirect scent “passing scent”
Is when a human is walking through an area and the deer comes in contact with the human odor. The deer can smell the exact time you have passed through the area and the direction your traveling . Now this is alarming however it’s a low threat alarm and worst case scenario the deer changes it routine at that given time, however the deer will resume its normal activity. So a dog and handler tracking across your property will not have a major negative impact. Yes it may impact your property for 1-3 days. Believe it or not our clients typically see the deer they wounded with in 1 week and many have killed the same deer the very next day.

Across the board dog will be your best overall choice. The most affordable option, Again I’m not anti drone and if it becomes legal in Michigan I would consider purchasing one so I can do everything I can to help my followers.

Leave your comments and questions and if I missed something please share with the group.

Droptine drone services is a new business in Michigan and it’s owned and operated by my life long friend Tim Ross. He will be in Ohio for the 2023 season helping hunters.

08/23/2023

During a recent client scouting trip, we found a doe that thought she was being sneaky in the corn. Can’t hide from the eye in the sky!

04/07/2023

Chelsea and her team are the best!! Easy to work with and quick turn around times!

03/15/2023

Check us out on the Generations To Hunt Podcast that dropped today!

03/03/2023

Thermal drone finds lost cats hours before Michigan snow storm!!