Stop Guessing, Start Knowing: Why Speed is Everything When Surveying Large Properties for Deer

If you own or manage a large property—say, 1,500 acres or more—you know the immense challenge of getting an accurate handle on your deer herd. You need reliable data to make harvest decisions, analyze bucks-to-does ratios, and assess the overall health of the population.

Over the last few years, thermal drone technology has revolutionized this process. We no longer have to rely on unreliable spotlight surveys or trail camera extrapolation. We can actually see what’s out there.

But here is the uncomfortable truth that many drone operators won’t tell you:

Simply having a drone isn't enough.

If you are surveying a large tract of land, the speed at which you gather the data is just as important as the technology itself.

Here is why the "one-drone-at-a-time" method is failing large landowners, and why our multi-drone "swarm" approach is the only way to guarantee accurate results.

The Problem: Deer Don't Stand Still

The fundamental challenge of any wildlife survey is movement. Deer are mobile creatures, especially at night when a lot of thermal surveys take place. They feed, they rut, they travel to water sources.

When you are surveying a large property, time is your enemy.

If a survey takes too long to complete, you introduce massive amounts of error into your data.

• The Double Count Risk: A deer counted in Sector A at 10:00 PM might walk into Sector C by 3:00 AM. If your drone doesn't get to Sector C until 3:00 AM, you just counted that same deer twice.

• The Missed Count Risk: Conversely, a deer in an un-surveyed area might walk into an area you finished hours ago, meaning it never gets counted at all.

To get truly accurate data, you need a "snapshot in time." You need to cover the entire property before the population has a chance to significantly shift its location.

The Scenario: 1,500 Acres, Two Approaches

Let’s look at a real-world scenario to see the difference in action.

Imagine you have a prime 1,500-acre property that needs a comprehensive deer survey. The average industry standard for a thorough, high-altitude thermal drone survey with experienced pilots is covering roughly 115 acres per hour, per drone.

Here is how that plays out depending on who you hire.

The Competitor’s Approach (The "Solo Pilot")

Most of our competitors operate with a single pilot and a single drone. They will arrive at your 1,500-acre property and start flying.

• The Math: 1,500 acres ÷ 115 acres/hour = approx. 13 hours of flight time.

Thirteen hours of continuous surveying is a lot for a single day, considering drone battery swaps, pilot fatigue, and the duration of darkness. This means the "Solo Pilot" sometimes even has to split your survey over two separate days and at best, does complete it in 13 hours but the deer have had plenty of time to wander around and get double counted or even missed!

The Result: The data is severely compromised. By the second night, deer have moved across borders, wind directions have changed pushing herds into different bedding areas, and your final count is merely a rough estimation littered with double counts and missed pockets.

Our Approach (The Multi-Drone Advantage)

We don't show up alone. For a 1,500-acre property, we deploy a team operating four to five thermal drones simultaneously. We grid off your property and fly five distinct sectors at the exact same time.

• The Math: With 5 drones each covering 115 acres/hour, our collective coverage rate is 575 acres per hour.

• The Total Time: 1,500 acres ÷ 575 acres/hour = approx. 2.6 hours to finish the entire property.

The Result: We capture a complete data set of your entire 1,500 acres between, for example, 7:00 AM and 9:30 AM.

In that tight two-and-a-half-hour window, deer movement is minimal across large sectors. We minimize double counting. We minimize missed deer. We provide a true "snapshot" of your herd.

Efficiency is Accuracy

When it comes to large-scale deer surveys, efficiency isn't just about saving time—it’s about ensuring accuracy.

If you are paying for a survey on a large property, you cannot afford a two-night operation or a long, drawn out survey. The margin for error is simply too high.

By utilizing multiple drones, we provide the only method capable of locking down a large acreage quickly enough to provide data you can actually trust your management plan with.

Don’t settle for a rough estimate over many hours or two nights. Get the snapshot you need in one.

Are you ready to see what’s really on your 1,500+ acres? Contact us today to schedule a multi-drone survey consultation at (205) 394-6256.