Nighthawk Drone Services

12/23/2024

It's been a wild ride,
and I've been hanging on.
Full time job.
Family.
Drone Services.
And I just got back from another run to WNC.

Sometimes push,
comes to violent shove, 😂🫣
but our goal was to provide the gift of a "home" for two more families, just in time for Christmas.

With the help of others,
we were able to purchase two more campers,
stock a family's needs list, gift a man with replacement power tools and haul them down early Sunday morning.
Special thanks to my buddy Brent Miller for going above and beyond for me and helping me haul this one down. And for my parents hauling the other one down, despite everything they had on their plate.

One camper went to a couple whose property was swiped clean. They also lost their daughter/son-in-law and two grand boys.
(same age as my own boys)
One of those members was found 40 miles downstream. 😭
The other camper went to a couple and their daughter whose house was washed away in the flood.

Every time I come home,
I'm hit with a hard reality check.
Pictures will never do justice to the loss,
and words fail.

Life isn't back to normal,
not even close.
We're not finished yet.
there is still lots to do.
My wife and I are only two people,
but when we all rally together,
we have the capacity to make even a bigger impact.

12/10/2024

When a good shot yields no blood,
what do you do?
Drone Recovery=No Waste.

This one was found in under a minute,
and yet another deer found,
for another happy hunter.

12/06/2024

Camper Storytime.
Hanover, PA ➡️- Weaverville, NC 📍
She's in her new home, at the top of a bluff.

↩️After the storm, a friend and I went down to WNC and under Savage Freedom, I flew my thermal drone working recovery for about half a week.
Since then, my wife and I have felt a connection and calling to help in some way.
My wife had been keeping tabs on things with local FB groups, and as time passed, the need for preferably campers started growing.

I had made some local connections with some solid, good men, with a heart for their community, and so the vision of being the footwork of getting a camper to a family in need was born.
Coincidentally, my wife and I were in charge of our church's Thanksgiving service, and that's when my wife came up with the idea of involving the children of our church to join us, and do a Thanksgiving act of service; providing a camper to a family.
"Expressing our thankfulness to God, by extending what we've been given to others that are in need."

We gave them homework.
Invest some of their time and labor that week, to raise money and then the following Sunday we would have a special offering just for the camper.
Pretty little envelopes were put into the offering that Sunday, and with the help of others in our church we raised enough money for the first camper.
After getting the camper ready for her voyage south, we grabbed our five children and hit the road .
Met my local buddy on location, and also the family who would call the camper home.
Got it all set up, then my wife excitedly gave her a little tour of everything inside. We talked for awhile, hearing the variety of huge needs and stories that broke my heart.
We ate lunch together, exchanged more hugs, phone numbers and then we headed over to Swannonea, to show the family some of the areas that I flew.
Children had a reality check,
it's really hard to fathom with your own eyes, what is actually happening in the "backyard" of our country.

So grateful for the opportunity to show love in action, by using the connection I've been given, and for all the pieces of PA children's hearts that were invested in this first camper. 🧩💜🧍

Getting ready for round 2.
Look for a post tomorrow,
for details on how you can join us in this. 🤝

12/04/2024

Dallas, let's start with:
One Camper.
One Family.
The Lord impressed this vision upon my wife, and she and our children poured their hearts into making this camper a home.

We're packing up and headed out soon.
We'll meet up with a guy I met when I flew search and recovery down there, and get this all set up for the family who will call her home.
There are 100s of displaced families on a waiting list for a camper. The need is heartbreaking, but we can make a difference one family at a time.

I will most likely be in and out of service,
but I'll be back to servicing calls hopefully by tomorrow night.






❤️

12/02/2024

Drone Storytime with Dallas.

This buck was a legend, an old warrior.
He made a name for himself on the mountain.
Every season, with every trail camera picture they got and every sighting they had, he built anticipation in the heart of the hunters.

Some things are meant to be.
Sometimes it's all about being at the right place, at the right time.
And some experiences in nature,
feel like a gift straight from God.
Every hunt has a story, and sometimes the hunt allows us to experience the presence of our loved ones who have passed on. It feels like they're right there with us.
So excited to have played a small part in this story, and watching the excitement as friends and family come together to celebrate the hunt and also the memories!
🦌
In the heart of every passionate and ethical hunter, is a deep respect for the creatures of the wild, a respect that non-hunters/anti hunters will ever understand.
An emotion that can't always be put to words.

Hunting is our heritage.
Every early culture relied on it for survival.
Today, it gives us the opportunity to ethically source our own food to feed our families and our communities.
Through hunting, we've forged a connection to the land and have learned how to couple good stewardship of the land, while maintaining healthy wildlife.

Hunting is a way of life.

11/28/2024

Short Thanksgiving Story. 🍂

Yesterday, I got a call from a lady whose dog had escaped from the house.
Her and her husband had spent time walking and calling for him, but he didn't turn up.
When I got there, they had just gotten back from handing out flyers to their community.

With the possibility of Thanksgiving plans changing, due to their dog being gone, my heart really wanted to find this dog and get home to his owners.

Got the drone in the air, and found him in under 5 minutes. He was running around, living his best life, blissfully unaware of the emotions his family was currently experiencing because of his absence.

His family walked over to him, calling and squeaking his little toy, and he came running.

Todd and is family are now able to experience a happy Thanksgiving together.

2 lost dogs in under 24 hours, back safely home with their families!!! 🐾🐕

Always thankful for the opportunity I have to use this technology and my expertise, to serve those around me in a variety of different ways!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving and weekend to all of you! May you be surrounded by those you love and be ever mindful of the many blessings we've been gifted!!!

11/28/2024

Let me tell you what, the last 24 hours have been one for the books.

Drone Story Time with Dallas.

Since coming home from NC after flying the drone and working recovery, my wife and I have had a desire to serve in some capacity down there. The need is great for getting families into campers, and that's where my wife's vision for service started. With my connections made down there, we decided to start with one camper, one family and involve our church family in our idea. And from there see what happens. Our friends at the were selling a camper and gave it to us at a generous price.
So my wife and I ran up and grabbed the camper and came back home.

I was about home, when I got a call from a relative of my wife's friend.
Both dogs had escaped from the residence. They were able to catch the one, but in the meantime, the other one got hit by a car and ran. The family and friends spent hours looking, but the dog didn't turn up, so they gave me a call.
I packed up, and headed back up north from whence I came.

We talked and had an idea of where we wanted to start searching, and within 10-15 we found him, tucked all up inside some brush. Kept the drone in the air, and used the spotlight to guide the family right to their dog.

The dog will be fine, and him and his family will both have a Happy Thanksgiving.
And I will always be grateful for the opportunity I have to reunite pets back with their owners.
I crawled into bed at 5, back up for work at 6:30 AM.
But worth every little bit of lack of sleep!!!!!

🎤keep an eye out for the next post. this is another Happy Thanksgiving ending from a call I got today about a dog who had ran off.

11/25/2024

"In a civilized and cultivated country wild animals only continue to exist at all, when preserved by sportsmen. The excellent people who protest against all hunting, and consider sportsmen as enemies of wildlife, are ignorant of the fact that in reality the genuine sportsman is by all odds the most important factor in keeping the larger and more valuable wild creatures from total extermination."
- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th U.S. President

11/22/2024

Drone Storytime with Dallas.

While I was sitting in church, I got a message about a 7 year old boy who shot a beautiful buck during MD youth season.
He made an excellent shot, but the buck gave them pretty much no blood to work with, when it came to trailing him.

I got home from church, gathered my things, and headed down to meet them.

Launched the drone, found the buck around 400-500 yards from the shot.
I had the fun of letting the little hunter fly the drone and explaining to him how it works.

He had a great support team to help celebrate with him.
It's a special privilege when I get to be a part of a young hunter's hunting story, and I get excited when I see other Dad's like myself, raising their boys to have a love for the great outdoors.

After closing up shop, I headed home to celebrate my own 7 year old,
who was turning 8.

11/18/2024

Being able to help a hunter drag his buck out of the woods, after finding him with the drone,
is the cherry on top for me!

📷 Precision Drone Services - Deer Recovery and Lost Pet Search and Rescue

11/16/2024

There will be times, when you have no control over the elements, and you'll have the best blood trail to follow, but then the rain starts washing it away, until it is no more!

I flew and flew, and then slowly started widening the search area past where we thought it might be.
Finally at the hour/30 min mark, I flipped from thermal to camera and lost it, because I finally had found him.
He had made it a 1/2 mile from the shot.
🦌whitetail buck man! 😳

I had brought my buddy along to join the fun, and the hunter had a bunch of his along, so we had quite the wild night!!!!
Always the best time, when the hunter can finally get his hands on his buck!!!

11/14/2024

It's November.
The month where the deer are on their feet,
and the time when I'm flying every night, while still working my day job.
As of today I'm going on 40 hours straight, so tonight I'm crashing in my bed, and then we'll go again.

Every recovery call has its own story.
And every time, I'm once again reminded of how invaluable this tool is by helping the hunter go above and beyond his due diligence for the sake of the animal and for conservation.

It's always a wild ride this time of year,
and one that I love the opportunity to be on!!!!
Here is a snippet of what a few nights of deer recovery look like for me.

11/12/2024

What a wild night!!!!

There were aloooot of recovery needs last night, so we merged together, came up with a plan and worked them all together, so we could get to all of them.
It worked flawlessly and we had a blast doing it together.

Grateful for the opportunity to work and fly alongside a fellow drone professional/friend.
This man knows how to run his equipment and is very attentive to detail!!!
It was a blast merging our two businesses together, for the sake of servicing our hunters.
And who knows,
maybe you'll see it happen again sometime. 🔥

Special thanks to our man Bradley from Aerial Optic for joining in and capturing the iconic night on video.
Can't wait to share our night with you.

November is a grind,
and sleep is currently a luxury,
it's more like cat naps over the course of days, 😂🫣 but it's always a pleasure to use this invaluable tool to serve my fellow hunters!!!!
When human capacity ends, the drone picks up and finishes the rest.

Wow. What an iconic night tonight. It was a 4 for 4 night for locating deer doing drone deer recoveries. I teamed up with Dallas Fuhrman from Nighthawk Drone Services who is becoming a good friend and professional colleague. My drone died the night before on a search so not only did he help secure a loaner drone, but due to the backlog of cases I had from my drone being out of commission I asked him to team up with me to run through these cases with me. Between the one of his cases he did and the three we did together all the way from Cecil county, into harford county, and then finishing in northern Baltimore county we went 4 for 4 with the last deer being located in only 10 minutes. Special thanks to Bradley Baxter of Aerial Optic for filming the night for us; will be putting together a video encapsulating such a perfect night.

Need help locating your deer or lost pets? Call us at 443-982-6782 or text 717-379-1529.

11/09/2024

Drone Story Time with Dallas.

Had the fun opportunity to fly for a long time buddy of mine, and was successful in bringing his buck home.

Buck was shot in this AM, and due to the placement of the shot, I knew the buck needed at least 10-12 hours to expire.

I had a drone call prior to leaving, found that buck and then hit the road for the 3.5 hour trip to meet my buddy.

They had tracked the deer with minimal blood, found multiple beds and then the blood stopped.

Got there, put the drone up, and started grid searching the area for the deer.
After flying for an hour n a half, I finally found it, he had went around 1,000 yards from the shot.

Three things I'm constantly reminded of:
1. Whitetails are next to invincible, especially buck during the rut. That adrenaline keeps them going.
2. This technology allows the hunter to recover his deer, that otherwise wouldn't have been possible.
3. This time of year, sleep is overrated or non-existent, not sure which it is anymore. 😂

11/05/2024

A liver shot+the buck getting in the creek and sealing up the wound
=the end of a blood trail.

After giving the buck time,
I met up with him and got the drone in the air,
and found the buck within 10-15 minutes.

Hunter was ecstatic, as was I!!!
The best feeling is when you switch from thermal to zoom camera,
and the hunter spies his elusive buck on the big screen.

11/05/2024

Drone Story Time with Dallas.
🦌
Earlier this summer, I got a call about a lost dog, that I ended up searching for.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago, and I got a call from the same man, "want to help me find my buck this time?"
He had made an excellent shot with the muzzleloader, and him and his friend had trailed the deer, but unfortunately they had lost blood. With all the facts he told me, I was sure it would be a quick find.
The time I got there, the man's daughter and his friend had headed home for bed.
It was just me, and the hunter, watching the drones eyes taking in the landscape on the big screen.
I searched everrrywhere, and found close to fifty deer, but none of them were his buck. After an hour of flying, and still finding no hide or tail of him, I had one hunch, and that was that the buck was in the creek that I had seen with the drone.
I brought the drone back to the landing pad, and told the hunter my thoughts. I grabbed the ole' Milwaukee, and asked him to take me to where he last had blood. I picked it up right away and we started trailing the deer.
Being a hunter myself, I've been on pleeenty of blood trails, both for myself, and for my friends, and as strange as it sounds, I enjoy the process. Ok, maybe not the all-nighters, or the trails that have been lost, but my love for tracking has given me a lot of experience.
As I headed towards the creek, I got excited, because I felt like my hunch was right on,
and sure enough, there he was, deader then dead, submerged in the creek.
The buck was heavy from laying in the water, and the hunter was unable to get him out, so I dragged it out of the creek, back up to the truck, and loaded it up into the bed for him.
Finding this buck meant the world to him.
His ultimate goal wasn't some trophy,
but rather the rich experience of being able to get out into the woods, and enjoy the hunt and everything that comes with it.
The opportunity for success that night, made the experience all the more richer!

Every hunt has a story to tell,
and I love being able to have a small part in the big story!!!
And hopefully someday, when I'm that age, you'll still find me making my way out into the woods, with my bow in hand! 🏹🦌

10/15/2024

I'm back home.

The destruction, decay and devastation from Hurricane Helene is everywhere and it's absolutely heartbreaking as you see the loss all around you. I'm not able to put into human words, the sights from the storm's aftermath.
The effects from this storm are heavy, and there will be a huge need to help rebuild for quite some time.
Every corner in Western North Carolina has a story of destruction, loss and heartache.
As I was searching debri fields, I came upon this random guitar flipped upside down in the sediment. My son plays guitar, and it really made me pause for awhile, as I wondered the story behind the guitar and the person who played it.

What I came home with:
*the power of community and what we as people are capable of, when we link arms for the sake of our fellow citizens!
*reminded again on how fragile the gift of human life is, and to love the ones in your circle and outside your circle-HARD!

Thank you to:
Tim, for going along down with me. He pulled all-nighters, swapped out batteries, helped search ECT.
The Cajun Navy 2016 for providing our lodging and hot showers, and for everything they're doing to get people's needs met!
And to Savage Freedoms Relief Operations was thankful for the opportunity to be able to work with them. This group is full of many solid men, with a variety of SO experience and they know how to get a job done!

Both of these groups are doing an excellent job at reaching all the needs of the people, as well as searching for those unaccounted for!

If interested in serving, here are two links you can check out. There is always a financial need, so that they can make purchases, based on immediate needs.

SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER:
https://forms.gle/g3rdyTMBPBcA27Hc7

DONATE:
https://gofund.me/a7