Field trips 2.0

[norseman]

8 minutes ago, BigTreeWalker said:

What was that, about 150 to 200 yds from your rig? 

probably. But I’ve flown it a mile and a half away. As long as you have decent line of sight. Get to far over a ridge and it will cut the feed. Drone will RTB if you cannot reestablish the link.

[norseman]

This old video. I fly down to my moms house about 1.5 miles away.

 

 

[BigTreeWalker]

I just found it interesting that the bear was that close to you. It sure didn't seem disturbed until you flew the drone closer to it. 

[norseman]

4 minutes ago, BigTreeWalker said:

I just found it interesting that the bear was that close to you. It sure didn't seem disturbed until you flew the drone closer to it. 

In my experiences? Bears are individuals. Most run away. Some stand their ground. And a few come right at you. I found a video where the Bear walked right at the drone! You never know what you got with a Bear.

 

 

 

[SWWASAS]

Great.   Drones probably sound like an angry nest of bees to a bear.       I wish you could get the same thing with a bigfoot. Imagine the stir that would cause!

[BigTreeWalker]

1 hour ago, norseman said:

In my experiences? Bears are individuals. Most run away. Some stand their ground. And a few come right at you. I found a video where the Bear walked right at the drone! You never know what you got with a Bear.

My experiences with bears has been pretty much the same. Most of the bears I have walked up on either ignored me or ran away as fast as they could go. The only one that walked toward me when it ran into my camp one night I scared off with a shot from my handgun. 

It's just interesting to me that we never know what's lurking around close to us in the woods. Without your drone you wouldn't have seen that bear unless he came toward you or you happened on him later. 

[norseman]

26 minutes ago, BigTreeWalker said:

My experiences with bears has been pretty much the same. Most of the bears I have walked up on either ignored me or ran away as fast as they could go. The only one that walked toward me when it ran into my camp one night I scared off with a shot from my handgun. 

It's just interesting to me that we never know what's lurking around close to us in the woods. Without your drone you wouldn't have seen that bear unless he came toward you or you happened on him later. 

Oh absolutely! And if it had a thermal camera on it? Imagine how easily you could track stuff!

It’s like having a Cessna in your pocket!

[hiflier]

They can be very expensive. Would this one do for starters? https://www.uniquephoto.com/drones-used/-opened-boxdji-zenmuse-x3-zoom/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid_search&utm_campaign=paid_search_google_pla&scid=scplpUIODJI1072&sc_intid=UIODJI1072&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIo_Gn3tuO6QIVQv_jBx2X8QmlEAQYAiABEgK93fD_BwE

[BlackRockBigfoot]

1 hour ago, norseman said:

Oh absolutely! And if it had a thermal camera on it? Imagine how easily you could track stuff!

It’s like having a Cessna in your pocket!

Give it time.  They will become more affordable and the quality will increase across all budget levels.  

 

Thermal Drone

[Kiwakwe]

We got out yesterday to an area I've spent a good bit of time poking around and camping in. I had seen from sat imagery that it had a clearcut adjacent to the location where I had a rock thrown. Upon arriving I saw the imagery wasn't quite up to date, the cut extended right down to "my" spot and almost down to the stream I'd bushwhack along.

This is just about where my truck was parked when i heard the rock go through the trees. It landed at what was once a poplar tree, now the stump visible dead ahead here:

IMG_5259 by LIght Pirate, on Flickr

 

And from further back up the old woods road:

IMG_5258 by LIght Pirate, on Flickr

 

Which we followed the remains of back to what has become a sizable pond, thanks to Castor Canadensis, finding tons of coyote and possibly cougar scat along with young moose tracks:

IMG_5234 by LIght Pirate, on Flickr

 

Passing the last remnants of Winter and some still intact 3rd or 4th growth:

IMG_5251 by LIght Pirate, on Flickr

 

At the beaver flowage, old road thoroughly flooded out by the dam:

IMG_5237 by LIght Pirate, on Flickr

 

Here we saw a partially submerged adult Bald Eagle, a soaring juvenile, a pair of Mallards, Belted Kingfisher, a troupe of Tree Swallows, a group of unidentified ducks, possibly Golden Eyes and heard Wood frogs, Spring Peepers and a lone Bullfrog:

IMG_5238 by LIght Pirate, on Flickr

 

From there down to the Lake where I've Winter camped and accessed the surrounding forest via the ice (which makes an amazing, deep groaning sound when cracking!) Nice old woods here:

IMG_5270 by LIght Pirate, on Flickr

 

IMG_5262 by LIght Pirate, on Flickr

 

And further in along a narrow spur to a small pond that is a nice camp spot with decent habitat. With telltale signs of degenerate troglodyte activity in the form of wlmart buckets of human waste and TP tossed around. Man, I find that infuriating when people do that to places like this. walmarts are for shi***ng in, not here. #failed species. Anyway:

IMG_5274 by LIght Pirate, on Flickr

 

I hadn't been up there for a couple of years and wanted to check on things. We kept an eye out for tracks, saw a young moose, a porcupine and a muskrat but no signs of our quarry. There is a good sighting report from the mid 90's IIRC not far from any of these places. It's all good habitat and almost no one gets off the logging roads.

 

 

Edited April 30, 2020 by Kiwakwe

[Twist]

Looks like a beautiful spot.   Glad you were able to share with us. 

[BC witness]

Great pictures and writeup, Kiwakwe.

 

I managed to get out today, with another member from this forum. We convoyed in 2 vehicles, to maintain social distancing, but got to share some time in the high country together. Campfire was a failure, as it had bucketed rain just a couple of hours before we got there, and even logs that he split were still too wet to light. He had heard a report from a relative who had recently camped in the target area, of some deep sounding howls, so he felt a recce was in order. The road in was 10 km of good gravel, then 10 km of bone jarring potholes and washboard, followed with another 5km of broken rock on steep grades, that required real concentration to avoid shredding a tire or two. The reward at the end was a high ridge a mile above 2 large lakes that could both be seen from the same spot, one to the east and the other to the west. The rain held off, with some brief sunny periods, and enough breeze to keep the mosquitoes off until it died down about 3:45, then the bugs became a real annoyance, and I chose to head out, while he and his wife finished lunch and cleanup.

 

There were some bear tracks that he spotted in the moss where we lunched, but no other sign of any kind was found. The snow was gone from that height a little early this year, as we had a very warm and dry first 3 weeks of April. The salmon berries were already flowering, as well as the skunk cabbage in the damp hollows.

 

My pics are being stubborn about downloading from the phone again. When I get that sorted, I'll put them up here.

Edited May 1, 2020 by BC witness

[cmknight]

This is the area that BC Witness and I were in, yesterday. The altitude was almost 1 mile. Approximately 5000 feet elevation. Of course, I did have to include a picture of the Sasquatch my wife and I encountered. Who knew they drove Mitsubishi's?

 

[Kiwakwe]

Thanks BC, look forward to seeing your pics and thanks for the report. Cmknight, you guys were out in some beautiful country!

[hiflier]

Great pics guys. Kiwakwe,  your area is so beautiful. Thank you for the gorgeous imagery. Good dialogue, too