Drone Aerial Surveys: Welcome to The New Age

Maybe you’ve seen the clips on social media. Perhaps you’ve talked with a family member, neighbor, or friend who had one done at their property. It’s possible you’re either buying or selling a ranch and want to know exactly what’s on it. There are multiple reasons that you may be considering using a drone to conduct your next wildlife survey. Whatever your reason may be, this article will help you understand how a drone survey works and what to look for when choosing a company to provide the service. 

How Does a Drone Survey Work?

At its simplest level, a drone wildlife survey involves flying an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) above your property and counting the number of animals observed. Drones originally came about as an alternative to the traditional method of conducting aerial surveys using helicopters. In the early stages of this technology, drone surveys simply replaced visual observers in a helicopter with a drone-mounted camera that searched for animals in the daylight. However, an important aspect of helicopter surveys is that the loud rotors scare animals into running, which makes them easier to observe. Without the benefit of noise to get animals up and moving, drones struggled to find and identify them through thick brush.

This major limitation was soon erased with the addition of thermal cameras. By searching for heat signatures, drones are able to identify animals through thick brush, even while they stay bedded down. 

What are the Advantages to Drone Surveys?

‍Safer for Animals

With thermal, the quietness of a drone that was once a weakness becomes a massive advantage. Drones equipped with thermal cameras can detect animals even in dense brush, operating quietly and allowing for extended observation as animals remain undisturbed. This approach minimizes stress on the wildlife and enhances the accuracy of observations. In contrast, helicopter surveys rely on loud rotor noises to startle animals out of the brush, which negatively impacts survey quality and jeopardizes animal safety. Spooked, fast moving deer are difficult to see clearly, making accurate counts challenging. Helicopters also place significant stress on deer.  This can lead to difficulty conceiving for does, increased fetal mortality, and higher fawn mortality. For bucks, stress can hinder antler development. On low fence properties, helicopter surveys can push animals off your land. At high-fenced ranches, loud rotor noises regularly cause animal injury and death due to fence collisions. Over time, these surveys become less effective as animals on properties subject to repeated helicopter surveys become accustomed to the disturbance, merely choosing to bed down upon hearing the rotors overhead. 

Improved Accuracy

The second major advantage to drone surveys is improved accuracy. The ability to capture video from entire surveys allows for multiple reviews, minimizing human error and offering a more reliable approach to deer population assessment. At Sky Senderos, we typically identify between 60-90% of the total population on a given property. Compared to the most popular alternative, helicopters, which vary from 30-70% accuracy (according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department), our drone surveys are significantly more accurate in estimating total population and come with a smaller margin of error. More accurate, precise counts help you avoid the mistake of culling too many animals or maintaining a bloated population. At Sky Senderos, our pre-planned flight routes also allow for easily replicable surveys, ensuring the ability to gain valuable insights into your population trends over time.

Cost Effective

Finally, drone surveys are more cost-effective than any other survey method both monetarily and when it comes to time required. In just a few hours, drones are able to give you a more accurate count of what’s on your property. At Sky Senderos, we even handle the review for you and put all of your property’s data into an easily analyzed final report. Drones are also small and lightweight, meaning companies can charge less for transportation and eliminate the expensive minimums that come with helicopter rental. Compared to spotlight surveys or blind counts, the manpower cost is much less with a drone that only requires one operator. 

How Much Does a Drone Survey Cost?

Now that you’re sold on conducting a drone survey after seeing all of the advantages, the logical next question is: “how much will this cost me?” Because pricing is dependent on multiple factors such as the location of the property, the services requested, etc. it is difficult to give an exact idea of pricing. At Sky Senderos, our average property survey size is 1000 acres. At this acreage, our thermal drone survey base offering is $1/acre to cover 100% of your property. As the acreage increases, this rate gets cheaper, and as that acreage decreases, the rate gets higher. To get an exact idea of what the pricing would look like for your property, you can click here to request your free quote.

Are There Cheaper Options for Drone Surveys?

While we strongly believe our pricing is competitive at Sky Senderos, we recognize that there may be other operators who offer to fly your property for less, or try to undercut our quote. In these instances, the old adage of “you get what you pay for” rings especially true. With a Sky Senderos thermal drone wildlife survey, you’re not just paying for the time it takes to fly your property, but also our experience, knowledge, and post-flight support. 

Unlike other companies, Sky Senderos takes the time to review all of the footage from your survey and give you a polished final report that contains both the initial and this reviewed count, photos of notable animals, and all the details from the night of the flight. Harnessing our experience from flying over 250 surveys across Texas, Sky Senderos is also able to provide an estimate on the percentage of your total population we identified based on these topography, temperature, and density details. 

So, while you may be able to find someone who will fly your property for cheaper, remember there is a reason so many landowners trust Sky Senderos to make us the largest drone survey provider in Texas. We’re always willing to work with you to stay within your budget. 

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