SHARK Lauches Hovering Skeet

... Launch More Drones...

An animal rights group in South Carolina (Showing Animals Respect and Kindness – SHARK) sent up a “spycraft”/drone to film a pigeon shoot. It resulted in the spycraft being shot down.

First… the Facts:
1. The pigeon shoot was perfectly legal and being conducted on private property.
2. The drone with a video camera was also legal; though it seems (from the video) they had to keep it over the highway (public property) to remain so.
3. The pigeon shoot was called off because of the drone; which is understandable. No need in giving your enemies footage for propaganda.
4. SHARK had managed to stop the shoot but decided to send up the drone anyway. A ha-ha in-your-face kind of move.
5. Before they left, some of the hunters shot at and disabled the drone. An oh-yeah, kind of move.
6. Despite their goading, SHARK was unable to identify any shooters. Who says hunters/red necks don’t have any common sense?

Now… the Propaganda:
1. Steve Hindi of SHARK said “As an act of revenge for us shutting down the pigeon slaughter, they had shot down our copter.” Yep, Steve… that’s about the size of it.
2. Steve also said the shooters were “in tree cover” and “fled the scene on small motorized vehicles.” Well Steve, you don’t know that; it’s just conjecture on your part. The shooters could have still been in the trees hoping you would send up another target when those vehicles left.
3. Steve also said, “It is important to note how dangerous this was, as they were shooting toward and into a well-traveled highway.” Yes it is important to note how dangerous this was… and the answer is it was not dangerous at all. The angle at which the hunters were shooting at your drone posed absolutely no risk to the public or anyone driving on the road in question. If there was any danger it was from you guys camped on the side of the road and flying a drone that might accidentally hit a car. And from all the minutes of footage you shot, not one car passed on your “well-travelled” highway. In other words, you’re claim is just propaganda bull shit. Nice try though…
4. “once shot, the helicopter lost lift and crash landed on the roadway of U.S. 601.” OK, see, now here was what little danger there was. If you’re drone has a problem for whatever reason, you can’t control where it lands?
5. Hindi estimated damage to the drone at around $200 to $300. Wow… those little plastic rotors are expensive. What’s the whole shootin-match worth…

My Take:
I admit it. I would have done the same thing. As long as it could have been done safely (and it was) I would have taken the drone out. Would this be breaking the law? Maybe? Yes, according to Mr. Hindi; but who the hell is he. If it was, I’m a firm believer in “jury nullification”. And I would dare any elected official to investigate, arrest, or bring to trial anyone who did shoot down this nut’s drone. Unless you’re in an urban area (devoid of common sense); it would be a career ending move.

The hunters at Broxton Bridge Plantation made a couple of mistakes here:
1. Timing. First shoot down the drone(s) and then continue with your hunt/shoot.
2. Caliber. You guys knew he was coming and you should have been better prepared. A shotgun or two with buckshot would have done the trick if the drone was low enough. I would also recommend a full choke to get a tighter pattern for more concentrated damage. At a higher altitude you needed a high caliber rifle with a good scope should do the trick. In either case Mr. Hindi would not have been fixing what was left of his toy after it’s free-fall to the ground.

More Advise: If there’s several of you get a game plan together, like a countdown and once you hit it keep firing … See how many pieces you can get the thing to break into… As always practice good safety. Once the drone is less than a 45 degree angle, ease off the trigger. And of course don’t confront Hindi in any way… Oh OK, Yell “Send more drones!” But that’s it. You want to leave his as broke and frustrated as his prom night.

I would encourage Mr. Hindi to keep sending up the drones, it’s his right to do so after all. And I’d encourage his opponents to keep bringing them down. But let’s have a little fun with it. Put a bounty on them.

We’ll all agree to the following:
1. $50 for every drone downed (to our favorite hunting charity)
2. $100 for every drone downed and destroyed (to our favorite hunting charity)
3. A celebratory dinner featuring the meat of our choice for every drone downed
4. $100 donation to the defense fund of anyone prosecuted for hurting a drone
5. $100 donation to any opponent of a politician prosecuting said citizen