Kentucky Man Shoots Down Drone Hovering Over His Yard

[Greybeard]

Quote; "What I do know is that it doesn't take much to knock a multirotor out of the sky; a single shotgun pellet can fracture a wooden prop and, in the case of a quadcopter, there is no redundancy to keep it aloft so it would come right down. I'd say that's well within the capabilities of a lot of shotgun loads at under 200 feet."

Yep, having killed turkey at just over 60 yards with 6s, I would agree that with even with 8s, there would still be enough energy left for at least one "golden BB" to mess up at least one propeller.

[jimlongley]

Yep, having killed turkey at just over 60 yards with 6s, I would agree that with even with 8s, there would still be enough energy left for at least one "golden BB" to mess up at least one propeller.

But I doubt your turkey shot was straight up as is claimed here. I don't doubt that there could have been a golden pellet that hit the golden spot that brought the drone down, I just suspect that it's more likely that the drone was a lot lower than claimed.

Onward, our neighbors a while back had one of those tennis ball cannon for their daughter to practice against, and that thing would develop pretty good velocity, I wonder how accurate one would be and if it could be set up to provide air defense for your yard. "Gee your honor, I was practicing for my match next week, against Serena Williams, and this thing that looked like a giant mosquito came buzzing over my yard. Sounded just as obnoxious too. And it flew right into the path of my return ground stroke and fell into the rain barrel."

[lfinsr]

Some interesting discussion on Bruce Schneier's website, including some talk of a FAA mandated 500 ft. airspace zone.

This technology is just like any other, it's great until it's abused. And it's not if, it's when. For my part, I'd have shot it down also, assuming it was hovering as described by the property owner. The #8 birdshot has little if any chance of harming anyone, particularly if it was shot into the air as claimed.

That said, I'd love to have one of them. It's not even close but I have one of the cheap sub $100 quadcopters and it's a blast to fly. It has no camera and about 150' range so I can't be blamed for spying on anyone...

Larry

[C-dub]

I do 5-stand with my 21" barrel and they set up birds as far as 50-80 yards and I even occasionally hit them with #7.5 or #8 shot. If the target was semi stationary I'd think it would be even easier. Many of m friends are much better than I am, but this still may have also just been a lucky shot.

[Greybeard]

Not that it's right, but just think back to all the times you have seen buddies "sky busting" dove. Or have even done it a time or two yaself. Yep, it certainly could have been considerably closer than stated, but the quadcopter has got far more exposed "vital area" than any dove or single clay targets.

[Greybeard]

Article here says he fired 3 shots of #8. And pic shows him holding a camo gun with fairly long barrel (with a shorter shotgun on the right). http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/kentuc ... ar-AAdGg2x" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[cb1000rider]

That said, I'd love to have one of them. It's not even close but I have one of the cheap sub $100 quadcopters and it's a blast to fly. It has no camera and about 150' range so I can't be blamed for spying on anyone...

FPV (Googles/Camera) for about $400 with RF failsafe return-to-home. $800 for GPS mission programmable.
I can't decide what's more fun.. Flying one or having the opportunity to shoot one down...

I flew RC for years and there is a skill set attached as the controls reverse when it flies towards you. The googles make it a lot easier for people that are simply used to flight simulator / video games skill sets. I've got a co-worker that picked it up in about 2 hours (after a few minor crashed).

Cool stuff.. But I'm a proponent of respecting my neighbors, even if it is perfectly legal for me to hover over their backyard.

[bmwrdr]

Shooting down a drone is SOP in OK during political events.

http://kfor.com/2015/09/12/drone-shot-d ... undraiser/

[Abraham]

Drones have no place in people's back yards.

Or, front yards for that matter...

Peeping toms are loathsome.

[JALLEN]

In 5 pages, nobody worried about what happens to all those pellets fired up in the air by a shotgun. They had to come down somewhere.

[DevilDawg]

Jallen,

They don't hurt at all. If you happened to look up just at the right time possible hurt your eyeball, but that's it. First hand knowledge from many years dove hunting on small leases.

[Pawpaw]

Jallen,

They don't hurt at all. If you happened to look up just at the right time possible hurt your eyeball, but that's it. First hand knowledge from many years dove hunting on small leases.

I've been "rained on" hundreds of times. It only stings a little. We used to stuff cotton in our ears while dove hunting. Not to reduce the noise of the shotgun blast (nobody thought about that), but to keep the hot lead shot out.

[JALLEN]

Jallen,

They don't hurt at all. If you happened to look up just at the right time possible hurt your eyeball, but that's it. First hand knowledge from many years dove hunting on small leases.

If the idiot is shooting up in the air and the person who looks up happens to be one of my granddaughters, I'm going to blame somebody. When idiots shoot in the air on New Years, or 4th of July, it often causes problems that a mere "sorry" can not resolve, and police make an arrest when they figure out who did it.

[Cowboyhockey14]

I like the idea of using a net contraption to bring the drone down. Then have the person flying it, would have to answer for why they were in your backyard.

[Pawpaw]

Jallen,

They don't hurt at all. If you happened to look up just at the right time possible hurt your eyeball, but that's it. First hand knowledge from many years dove hunting on small leases.

If the idiot is shooting up in the air and the person who looks up happens to be one of my granddaughters, I'm going to blame somebody. When idiots shoot in the air on New Years, or 4th of July, it often causes problems that a mere "sorry" can not resolve, and police make an arrest when they figure out who did it.

Then the general rule would be not to not go around where anyone is dove hunting. It's kinda hard to hunt flying birds without shooting into the air.