Ok so I have a question about this and by no means trying to stir the pot , but wouldn't this be considered littering. Unless of course you're walking out to pick up pieces of the balloons after shooting them . I know it seems like just a few pieces of balloons but in all reality it's still trash .
Drone for dropping balloon targets
- Thread starter nealm66
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nealm66
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Yup, definitely would be. If I use it in the farmlands on the east side definitely have to retrieve. In the clearcuts I'm still thinking I might end up having to use a tomato cage that I can retrieve but I have considered the latex balloons that are supposedly biodegradable and some sort of harmless string but still probably looking at trouble if I'm not picking them up. Damit lol
Texas Speed Bump
Well-Known Member
Is it just me or does the idea of attaching helium balloons to a rotor-driven drone sound crazy? How do you keep them from floating up into the rotors? Let's assume you can safety get your balloon out where you want to shoot it. Now you're going to shoot a high power rifle round indiscriminately into the air with no idea where it's going to land? What am I missing here?
nealm66
Well-Known Member
Ya, there is actually a road but it's gated.
The X-Star Premium in orange color
nealm66
Well-Known Member
I think if you have a couple weights and some leader it will keep the balloons away.
What you would need is a drone that has a strong enough signal to not only get strong GPS but a strong connection between the drone and receiver. To maximize your flight time it would be best to also be able to set your RTH setting below the area you want to shoot the balloons from. Your distance between the balloons and the drone should be a minimum of 6-12 feet and you better be sure of your background
Zen Archery
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Been wrestling with this idea in my head also popping and rotor tangle was the only thing I could come up with.
I tried to think of an arm you could attach on the drone to keep balloon away from rotor but couldn't figure out how to drop the balloon without arm still holding balloon.
I'm gonna take my drone out and play with this idea now.
nealm66
Well-Known Member
If you watch a video of them surf fishing with the swellpro it will give a pretty good idea how to fly and drop a balloon
Took a good look at the Swellpro and while I think it is more than you need to do this, it fits the waterproof bill and what you want to do.
Before I ran off and spent $3.2k on a drone, having never flown one or even theory to practiced any of this, I would buy a much cheaper model that I wasn't afraid to crash so that I could get up to speed on my flying skills -ESPECIALLY if I was going to carry payloads and drop them in tight places.
Note: The Autel drone that @Bear62041 was offering up is an older drone that you could cut your teeth on and it's a good model at a great price point before you go spend a whack and find out drones isn't your game. Drone resell is a finicky market and new models seem to come out faster than Iphones. You will never get close to what you paid for your drone back when you go to sell it.
Before I ran off and spent $3.2k on a drone, having never flown one or even theory to practiced any of this, I would buy a much cheaper model that I wasn't afraid to crash so that I could get up to speed on my flying skills -ESPECIALLY if I was going to carry payloads and drop them in tight places.
Note: The Autel drone that @Bear62041 was offering up is an older drone that you could cut your teeth on and it's a good model at a great price point before you go spend a whack and find out drones isn't your game. Drone resell is a finicky market and new models seem to come out faster than Iphones. You will never get close to what you paid for your drone back when you go to sell it.
Gated Roads, but sometimes, just to get to said gate is twelve miles and forty five minutes of driving.
Not only that, in most places it's illegal to shoot alongside or over road, and really bad ju-ju to place your target on a road.
At the cost I'm seeing in drones, I'd buy a dirt bike and get muddy.
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Stonyman88
Well-Known Member
Use my drone to check my long range targets, just land it on a platform by the target at 500-600++ yds, can see the holes on my display,,works great
Yeah I know, sometimes it's 10 minutes to get around to place a target sometimes 30. I like the ones with a road on a Ridgeline and there are short spurs coming off the road on the ridge. Usually has a nice tall dirt bank to shoot into. Drive down to the spur, place target, drive back to shooting position.
Watched a video by Vaughn precision where they were shooting across canyon at a steel target that somebody humped down from the top of ridge to below the tree line.
