Drone Deer Surveys in Texas

Counting wildlife from the air in Texas runs through a TPWD permit system — and that works in your favor as a landowner.

We fly Texas under a TPWD Aerial Wildlife Management permit, issued through TWIMS, with an approved Landowner Authorization on file for your specific tract before we launch. See TPWD's Aerial Wildlife Management page for how the program works.

Ask any operator quoting you a Texas thermal survey to show you their AWM permit and confirm your tract is on their Landowner Authorization. Those are fair questions, and a legitimate operator will answer them without flinching.

TPWD reported roughly 251 active AWM permits in early 2025, 102 of them specifically for drones. This is a routine, established program — and asking for the paperwork is the easiest way to separate professionals from everyone else.

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MLDP, and getting the structure right

Texas's Managed Lands Deer Program is the largest private-land deer program in the country, and it is widely described wrong.

It is two options, not tiers. Anyone describing MLDP as "tiered" is describing the pre-2016 program.

• Harvest Option (HO) — the lighter path. Liberalized season and harvest flexibility with a lower documentation burden.
• Conservation Option (CO) — the deeper path. Requires a wildlife management plan, habitat management practices, and survey and harvest data, with a TPWD biologist involved.

Current requirements and enrollment: TPWD — Managed Lands Deer Program

The Conservation Option is where a census earns its keep. Survey data is part of the deal, and TPWD's biologists are the audience. A dataset that shows every deer detected with a location attached — rather than a spotlight index or a hunter observation log — is something a biologist can actually interrogate.

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Texas terrain is not one thing, and neither is the price

Rolling Plains and Cross Timbers — mesquite, shinnery, and open rangeland cut by draws. Good thermal ground. Mesquite is thin enough overhead that detection stays high.

Edwards Plateau / Hill Country — cedar and live oak over limestone, with real relief. Ashe juniper is the problem: it is evergreen, it is dense, and heavy cedar is some of the toughest thermal cover there is. Cleared and grazed pastures between cedar breaks fly well. Thick cedar does not, and we will say so before quoting.

South Texas Brush Country — the famous ground. Dense thornscrub, and the honest answer is that it is harder than open country. Senderos and open flats give you good detection; heavy brush blocks degrade it. We will tell you what percentage of your ranch we can realistically see.

Post Oak Savannah and Blackland Prairie — the east-central belt. Ag mosaic with oak mottes. Straightforward, and leaf-off makes it better.

Pineywoods — east Texas. Loblolly plantation country, and it flies better than most people expect — thermal reads through pine canopy well in every season. A dense block may slow us down some, but it is workable ground.

High fence versus low fence changes the meaning of the number, not the method. On a high-fenced property a census is close to a true population count, because the population is bounded. On low fence you are counting the deer standing on your ground that day, which is still far more than a camera survey gives you — but it is a snapshot of a herd that crosses your line.

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CWD in Texas

Texas maintains CWD zones with containment and surveillance designations, and the boundaries have expanded repeatedly. Movement restrictions and carcass rules apply inside them.

Current zones and rules: TPWD — Chronic Wasting Disease

Texas CWD zone boundaries change more often than most. Verify your county before planning.

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What we deliver

Full buck, doe and fawn count. Thermal and visual imagery on every detection. An interactive web map with each animal pinned where it stood. Delivered in whatever format your biologist or consultant works in.

We fly November through March, in overcast daylight, at 400 feet — the maximum altitude FAA Part 107 permits. We do not drop to spotlight altitude, we do not make repeat passes to move deer, and we do not relay deer locations to anyone hunting.

Up to eight drones flying at once with multiple Part 107 pilots means a large Texas ranch gets covered in a single day rather than a week — which on a property where deer move a long way overnight is the difference between a count and a composite.

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Get on the Texas schedule

Tell us the county, the acreage, whether you are high or low fence, and whether you are MLDP Harvest Option or Conservation Option.

Call or text (205) 394-6256.

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Where to verify

Seasons and regulations: TPWD Outdoor Annual · MLDP: TPWD · Aerial Wildlife Management permits: TPWD · CWD: TPWD