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If you have any further questions, please reach out.
At this time, we do not require any sort of payment ahead of time.
We know that no one likes surprises, especially when it means spending more money. That’s why all of our quotes are the exact price that you will pay once a survey is completed.
We will send an itemized invoice through Quickbooks along with your final report. Our preferred method of payment is a check mailed to the address we provide on your invoice.
Alternatively, you can give your pilot cash or a check in an envelope on the night of the job. The total amount will be what is reflected on your quote. We can also accept PayPal or Venmo payments. If you wish to pay via credit card, there is a 3% CC processing fee.
Unfortunately, wildlife surveys are not one of the goods or services exempt from sales tax under the Texas Agricultural or Timber Exemptions.
The cost depends on a few factors including the size of your property, the services requested, and the location of your ranch. No two properties are alike so please request a free quote to get an idea of what your survey would cost.
We fly all of our surveys at night. The thermal capabilities of our drones are significantly improved at night once the ground and plants cool off. We try to start most surveys 30-60 minutes following sunset.
The advertised range of the drones we use is 9.3 miles. However, this is assuming the flight is conducted in an environment completely free of any interference. Both the vegetation and topography of a property greatly affect the actual distance we are able to achieve between the drone and the controller. On open, flat properties, we are able to realize a much further range than hilly, densely forested ranches. Realistically, you can expect that our pilot will be able to survey 500 acres from a single spot before needing to move.
Absolutely! We welcome the property owner or any other individuals on the ranch to take part in the survey! We bring a portable case with a monitor that connects to our controllers so you can watch along as the pilot is flying. We’ve even hooked up controllers to ranch house TVs so that whole families could be a part of the survey. It’s your land and animals - you should be part of the survey.
On average, each drone is able to survey 500 acres per hour with the thermal camera. If a spotlight add-on is requested, that drops closer to 250 acres per hour. Every property is different, though, and the length of a survey depends on a few factors:
- The animal density of the property
- The topography and foliage of the property (dictate how many times our pilots will have to move to maintain signal with the drone)
- The services requested
We will send over the initial count made by the pilot(s) the morning after your survey. Depending on the size of the property, it may take 2-5 days to review all of the footage of your survey. The final report and SD card will both be sent out in no more than a week following the flight.
Our final report includes the following:
- Flight details
- The flight path followed during the survey
- The initial and reviewed counts in table and chart form
- 3-5 photos of notable animals
- A link to your game map (if add-on chosen)
View an example final report here.
There are two major advantages to using a thermal drone over a helicopter:
Thermal drone counts are both more accurate and more precise than helicopters
- Texas Parks and Wildlife believes that helicopter counts are able to identify anywhere between 30-70% of the animals on a given property
- Sky Senderos is able to locate and identify on average between 60-80% of your total population during a survey
Thermal drone counts put much less pressure on your animals
- Helicopter surveys rely on loud rotor noises to spook animals out of the brush and get them running in the open to be countedSky Senderos is able to see through the brush and identify animals even when they are bedded down
- On high fence properties, our surveys mitigate the risk of running animals into fencing, and on low fence properties, our surveys ensure you won’t have to worry about running animals off your ranch entirely.
Learn more about the advantages of drones here.
Thermal imaging has progressed rapidly over the past few years, and the cameras on our drones are some of the most advanced technology available. This means that, when we see an animal, it’s not just a bright blob, but rather a detailed outline. This outline not only shows us their body shape, but also any horns or antlers, even when they are out of velvet.
With their extensive experience flying thermal drones, our pilots have seen almost every native and exotic species in Texas. However, there are certain cases where you may have multiple species with very similar body shapes on your ranch. The most common example of this is a property with axis and whitetail deer. While we can easily distinguish bucks of those species apart thanks to their antlers, does and fawns are much more difficult.
One option you have in this case is to count all does and fawns as unidentified, and apply the ratio of whitetail bucks to axis bucks to the total number of does and fawns. We realize that landowners often want better accuracy than that, so we’ve added the capability of mounting a spotlight on our drones. This allows us to view animals through the visible camera, even in the middle of the night. While the spotlight add-on is an additional cost, it ensures correct identification of 100% of the animals we see. Learn more about the spotlight add-on here.
We fly most surveys at 125ft above the ground. For the most part, no animals are scared by this! The small drones we use are much quieter than any helicopter or even your 4x4. Unless your property is heavily hunted with a ton of pressure already on your animals, we are able to get within 25-50 feet of an animal without it running off.
This depends on what sort of brush it is. For the most part, we are able to see through any sort of low brush, no matter how thick it is. If your property is heavily wooded with tall, thick trees, it may be more difficult. If you are unsure about whether a thermal count would work on your property, please feel free to send us an email! We can take a look at the location and a google map satellite image of your property to compare it with past surveys and give you an idea of the sort of accuracy you can expect.
Yes, our drones are able to see through brush and trees to identify most animals even when they are bedded down. This is a major advantage to a thermal drone survey because they do not require scaring animals with loud rotor noises. That being said, thermal imaging is not x-ray vision, and you should never expect 100% accuracy with a survey as some animals will be in the perfect position to remain invisible even under the thermal.
Yes! Contrary to what you might expect, we are able to see antlers with the thermal camera whether the deer are in velvet or not. So, for most every species, we are able to easily determine gender. However, some species, like oryx for example, are more difficult.
While our pilots do everything in their power to prevent double counting, it is inevitable on most properties. Our drones fly transects back and forth across your property, and there’s always a chance that a few animals will move from an already counted transect to one further along in the flight. With big, easily distinguishable groups, we are able to correct any double counting when reviewing the footage. Any error generally balances out as double counting is equally as likely as not counting an animal that moves from a future transect into one that has already been counted.
Using drones is perfectly legal with the correct permits. Texas law states that “except under permits issued by Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, the use of drones to hunt, drive, capture, take, count or photograph any wildlife is unlawful.” Many people only see the second part of this law and assume drone surveys are illegal. Sky Senderos, LLC. and all of our pilots possess multiple permits from both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as well as Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) which allow us to perform all the services we offer legally.
No, we do not have to report any information from the survey other than the day we flew and how long we flew for.
Yes! Our surveys are approved by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department as a valid method to collect the current deer population data for the MLDP requirement. We do suggest that you alert your local TPWD biologist who you report your data to that you are conducting a thermal drone survey since it’s a new technology. Learn more about using a drone survey for your MLD program here.
Yes! Our surveys are an approved census count method. This means that with Sky Senderos survey, you are already a third of the way to your total required annual wildlife management practices. Learn more about the program here.
All of our pilots possess their Part 107 license for commercial drone operation from the Federal Aviation Administration. In order to obtain this license, they are required to go through a rigorous training program which culminates in a proctored test. Sky Senderos as a company also holds an Aerial Wildlife Management permit from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department that allows us to fly properties specifically for the purpose of conducting population counts.
Unfortunately, it is not currently legal in Texas to use any sort of aerial technology to locate wounded or dead deer. This is due to the Texas Legislature’s interpretation of the Federal Airborne Hunting Act (AHA). While other states interpret this law differently and allow drones for the use of recovering deer, it is still illegal in Texas. We are working closely with TPWD to hopefully have this law changed soon.
The answer to this depends entirely on what you as a landowner are hoping to accomplish, as well as the characteristics of your property. Please see below for the pros and cons of different times of the year:
Winter (November - February):
Pros:
- Better accuracy of overall numbers (seeing more deer total)
- Able to get fawn recruitment numbers
- Know what survived any freezes that year
Cons:
- Antlers are more difficult to identify
- Fawns born early in the season can often already look like mature does towards the end of winter
Summer (July-October):
Pros:
- Best time to get your fawn crop numbers
- Go into hunting season with a clear idea of what you have (and what you need to cull)
- Many MLD programs require a survey in late summer/early fall before the season
- Antlers in velvet show up super bright through thermal
Cons:
- Easier to miss some deer bedded down as cover is thicker and everything is hotter
- Rocky properties retain heat from daytime sun and make things difficult
- Pilots have to start later in the night due to longer days
If you are worried about your property being too thick to see through, then we absolutely recommend waiting until after the first big freeze of the year to schedule a survey. Additionally, while we don’t typically fly between March and June, we are more than happy to if you do not care about getting a buck/doe ratio for whitetail.
You will receive an email 10 days before your survey asking for the following information:
1.) Landowner address, email, and phone number
2.) Ranch address
3.) Outline of the property (or a name we can find it under on OnX) and clearly defined pasture boundaries if you want separate counts
4.) All species you want to have counted
5.) A pin or detailed directions to the front gate as well as any necessary gate codes
6.) Vehicle requirements for accessing and getting around your property
With this information, we will be able to submit the Landowner Authorization (LOA) Form to Texas Parks and Wildlife. You will receive an automated email from their TWIMS system asking you to approve the form shortly after it is submitted. Once you have approved the LOA, you’re all done until the morning of the survey! We will have everything we need to get your property mapped out and our pilot will show up with a pre-programmed flight path already loaded onto the drone.
On the morning of the survey, we will create a group text message with the point of contact for the survey and our pilot(s) that will be flying the property that night. Because services like Google Maps struggle in rural areas, we ask that you provide an exact pin to the front gate or detailed directions on how to get there. Please also include any gate codes that the pilot(s) will need and directions on where to go to meet you once they get on the ranch.
When our pilots get on the road, they will send an ETA. Once they are an hour away, they will send an additional update.
No, a landowner is not required to be present for a survey. We record the entire survey, so you will be able to watch it back at your convenience. If you are not planning to be at the survey, we ask that you provide us with the following:
- Detailed directions to the front gate along with a pin if possible
- Any gate codes needed
- A map showing main roads that can be navigated with a 4x4 truck or SUV
All of our pilots have grown up hunting and spending time on ranches and know to close all gates behind them. As an extra precaution, you will receive a photo of the locked gate upon completion of the survey.
Before your survey, we will take the outline of your property and, using a proprietary software system, create a pre-planned flight route for the drone to follow. Accounting for the altitide of the drone and the field of view of its thermal camera, this ensures we cover 100% of your property.
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