Cheapest and most effective way to kill a small drone

[ColbyBruce]

A friend’s teenage daughter ran over a rather expensive drone with a Yamaha Rhino UTV. It was on the ground in a turn along a horse trail and it got smashed to pieces. They turned it into the game warden. I have a neighbor who has used a Hatsun (?) compressed air .25 pellet rifle to disable two drones flying over his hunting property. He claimed poachers were using the drones to chase deer off his property onto a gas line right of way.

 

[wood714]

This is absolutely correct. Drones of greater than a certain weight are required to be registered as aircraft, just like manned airplanes of any type. The law does not differentiate between shooting at drones or any other type of aircraft. People have been prosecuted for shooting at drones already so be warned, it is a federal felony!

And that weight is 0.55 lbs wet.
Those under this threshold are too small to be a legitimate problem

The technology of drones has advanced. My little DJI Mini 3 Pro has sensors so it can't hit anything in front, behind, below, or above it. It will slam into anything when flying sideways. The new 4 version has sensors to fix that.

If I loose is, I can press the return home button and it will land within 2 feet from where it took off. This also applies if the battery gets too low in the drone or controller, or if I loose satellite connection. Plus it's so quiet, I can't hear it till its around 20 feet above me.

I'm not sure what constitutes a legitimate problem, but it shoots 4K video, and the zoom and picture quality is near perfect.

 

[ColbyBruce]

My friend’s daughter ran over a DJI Maverick, I think. I guess the Rhino and three teens must have weighed 1,500 pounds and proved to be more than the drone could tolerate.

 

[Doug M.]

I thought I read somewhere that some states (Texas comes to mind) allow for shooting down drones over private property????

*
All that means is that the STATE will not prosecute you. The feds still might. My distaste for the invasions of privacy that drones often create is pretty strong, and I doubt my office would file. I know a neighboring county did file on one such incident and the jury refused to convict. How much of that was related to the fact that the drone operator was from the west side of the state is an interesting question.

A friend who was a Sergeant in his SO in another state had a heck of a time with drones getting in the way of fire fighting resources; the choppers and planes use for air-drop of water and flame retardant would not fly when the drones were up. That's a BFHD, and I advocated using their issue shotgun with 00 to solve the problem. I would also charge the operator with whatever crime involves interfering with the operation. 60 days in jail might help with their attitude problem, most of which is entitled spoiled brat garbage.

In general, despite my distaste for drones and their owners, I cannot advocate shooting at them.

 

[Rudi]

I've been thinking of some type of "Bat Gun". A big air gun shooting a weighted net to bring one down. Then finish it off with an axe on the ground.

 

[glenwolde]

The military is working on it..

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb5qMvie9sU[/ame]

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

A garden hose, if they are low enough.

John

 

[Breakaway500]

After watching that video..a believe a 12 gauge 3.5" magnum which can throw 2.25 oz of payload (BBs..#4 buckshot etc) would be quite effective at UFOs even beyond 100 yards. It's not like they have any armor on them..and #4 buckshot is 24 caliber and there is about 65 of them moving along at 1400fps out the barrel. May have to scout down a Benelli Super Black Eagle for the gun locker. Oh the possibilities..

 

[Bald1]

A friend’s teenage daughter ran over a rather expensive drone with a Yamaha Rhino UTV. It was on the ground in a turn along a horse trail and it got smashed to pieces. They turned it into the game warden. I have a neighbor who has used a Hatsun (?) compressed air .25 pellet rifle to disable two drones flying over his hunting property. He claimed poachers were using the drones to chase deer off his property onto a gas line right of way.

A little off topic but this subject drives me nuts. A utility ROW is not open to the public to hunt. The utility company does not own it. They simply have a ROW. Somebody owns the property.

 

[cmj8591]

I don't bother shooting them down. My tin foil hat keeps me safe.

 

[Onomea]

Trampoline and a baseball bat.

 

[Naphtali]

The FAA forced drone operators to register, and apply an FAA number to all our RC aircraft.

To the letter of the law, what you propose is the same as firing on a maned aircraft due to that FAA " tail number" and a relative lack of differentiation in the law.

Perhaps, conflating your reply with another - and yes, I'm kind've serious - were the person who downs a drone to claim in court that he believed he was combatting a a UFO, whatever is current jargon, would that be a reasonable defense? I'm thinking of the "I was in fear for my life" as being comparable.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Some clarity:

Can You Shoot Drones Over Your Property? (Complete 2024 Guide)

 

[glenwolde]

I think this application is screaming for the old Ithaca 10ga autoloader.

 

[venomballistics]

Perhaps, conflating your reply with another - and yes, I'm kind've serious - were the person who downs a drone to claim in court that he believed he was combatting a a UFO, whatever is current jargon, would that be a reasonable defense? I'm thinking of the "I was in fear for my life" as being comparable.

Long story short, a LOT went down between RC hobbies and the FAA in recent years.
It's better to just shoot down your plan A, and start a discussion of plan B.
Rather than playing skeet for prizes, and bringing the law down on yourself, bring the law down on the operator.

 

[Kanewpadle]

Trampoline and a baseball bat.

I’d like to see that.

 

[Rustyt1953]

I’d like to see that.

Shades of "The Man Show".

 

[Ματθιας]

Shades of "The Man Show".

Only if VanessaKay is involved. If you know, you know...

 

[Rustyt1953]

Only if VanessaKay is involved. If you know, you know...

"ziggy, zoggy, ziggy, zoggy, oy, oy, oy!"

 

[lihpster]

Shooting down a drone with a firearm could get you in trouble with the law. "Accidently" having a midair collision between your drone and the other? Oops.