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Shooting a drone w/ muzzleloader?

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Skychief

69 Cal.
Joined
Dec 16, 2006
Messages
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Location
The hills of Southern Indiana
It's come to my attention that a drone has been spotted below treetops level, above my property.

I've not seen it personally but have no reason to doubt it.

So my question is, do any of you know the legalities of hunting and shooting drones above ones very rural property in Indiana?

I'm thinking a two ounce load or so of 4's over a stout load of 2f should do the trick. If not, I have other options.

If I'm successful, I only HOPE the unknown remote pilot comes up the hill asking questions regarding his downed, unwelcomed, snooping craft.

Will I be within the law? :hmm:

Best regards, Skychief
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks Spikebuck. I read the article in its entirety.

Most interesting, to me, is that a company is making shotshells specifically for shooting drones :haha: .

I don't know about other states, but, I've heard a lot of Hoosiers mention that...Some things are worth getting arrested for. :hmm: :hmm: :hmm:

Best regards, Skychief
 
3-S's Shoot ,,,,shovel,,,shut up.Ask for forgiveness, if you can not get permission. Any Questions,become a politician,,"I do not remember that"."I do not recall any of those events".
 
I thought someone was in my yard so I did like Joe Biden said, I went out on the porch and fired two rounds in the air with my old shotgun. So ya say that noise I heard was a drone :confused: Did it run off like old joe said it would :confused: I shot it down :shocked2: I would of never expected a Vice President to steer me wrong like that. . . .

:idunno:
 
I bet a falcon could be trained to snatch those gadgets out of the air.

Shooting them might get you in trouble, but you might just say; my eyes are getting bad, and it looked like a pheasant to me. Sure wasn't much meat on it?

Here's my hunting license.

IMHO it should be open season on drones snooping on private property, and operating one as such should be a crime. We do have a right to privacy in one home/property and drones are surely an intrusion on this right.
 
Is there a closed season for UFOs? Does one need a tag? :confused:

"below tree top level on my rural property" sounds like an invasion of privacy at minimum.
 
Actually the author of the article ignores VERY important points. First, the guy in Georgia fired a handgun in a neighborhood, and the author never bothered to check the laws in the states where the other drones were shot to see what actually was the law that was violated. Further, what exactly did the individuals say when asked about the event? He also uses the trite "taking the law into your own hands - dead giveaway of a leftist hack - the law IS in everybody's hands, and it's delegated but not absolutley vested into the hands of sworn law enforcement officers.
Finally, so somebody was charged, so what? What was the outcome of the charges? :shocked2:

There is a difference between somebody's drone or RC plane (essentially a drone is an RC aircraft) used for recreational flight, and the drone used for other purposes (silly photo in the linked article - Air Force drone). You want to fly your 1:100 scale Jap Zero or your futuristic drone, fine, but you don't automatically get immunity to go anywhere simply because you're using a drone, as the article suggests. Fly that sucker near an actual airfield....see what happens.

If you're in an area where hunting is allowed, you shot the drone when going for a bird near the drone...ooops sorry it was an accident. You're wearing ear protection so you couldn't hear it, and it looked like a game bird, so you shot it, ooops sorry. Are there laws against interfering with a lawful hunt where you live; there are where I am, and use of a drone could be illegal, especially if low enough to hit it with birdshot. :wink: When some schmuck tries to get you charged with destruction of property to tries to take you to small claims court..., charge them with unlawful interference with a hunt.

I suspect the neighbor has a drone flier on the property next door, scouting deer. Now scouting would be legal if the drone is high enough, BUT if it's so low that it makes the deer move, does your state allow herding of wildlife from the air? I bet not. Not all drone fliers are jerks, but I'd bet the drone is so low because the operator is trying to push deer off your property and toward him or better yet, toward the guys that paid him to be their guide. I wonder how, even if they have a video tape of the guy shooting the drone, they could prove who was the shooter, especially with birdshot and you didn't admit to the act (5th ammendment right against self incrimination folks)
:hmm:

you might not have to shoot it....,
You might check with the drone manufacturers on what frequencies are used for their control. COSTCO has, for example, camera drones for sale for Christmas, so I wonder what would happen if random signals on that frequency were transmitted by you when you saw the drone over your property? Kinda a like a jamming signal? What would happen if you got an RC unit that would work for the rogue drone over your propery, and you started messing with it's control. "Aw your drone crashed in my field or my woods...gee that's too bad. No you can't trespass to retrieve it. Come back with an officer, and maybe I'll let you onto the propery."

LD
 
Technically, the FAA considers all drones to be 'civil aircraft' and firing anything at a 'civil aircraft' is a violation of federal law. Arizona is the only state with altitude restrictions, 250 feet in this case, and the only 'legal' option is to warn the operator first (law says you have to advise an offender). The government is working on restrictive laws following one that crashed on the White House lawn and others that have over-flown the White House...all we got to do is wait out Capitol Hill's "take us forever" policy.

At present there are no specific laws concerning drones but those who have done it have all ended up being arrested or charged with 'criminal mischief' and 'destruction of property'.
 
Thanks all! I knew this would be the place for some out of the box suggestions/thinking!

Thank you to the moderators for allowing a drone "hunting" thread to stay up. Pun intended.

Some of the "techno-nonsense" I'm seeing these days makes me want to :barf: .

Best regards, Skychief
 
First you might want to find out if it is the local Sheriff looking for drug plots. Report it to them first. If it is under 500 ft and less than 50 lbs and menacing your home, livestock or endangering pets . . . SSS.

Shoot, Shovel, Shut-up.

But I wouldn't choose a muzzleloader.

Can you legally shoot one down? Probably not. Can you legally shoot someone in the back running down the street who is carrying off your screaming child? Probably not. But the jury will decide if it is fully persecuted.

I fly R/C (planes, not "drones") and I NEVER overfly homes or people. My AMA membership forbids it. Someone operating over your property without your permission is a jerk.
 
a few years ago a guy about 1/4th mile from me, the way the bird flies, shot down a drone that was spying on his daughters in their swimming pool.
he used a shot gun and was confronted by the drone owner and his 2 buddies. he promptly showed him his 357mag. pistol and they called the police and he was arrested . not for the drone shot but for discharging a fire arm in the city. he spent the night in jail and was released but the drone owner took him to court.
the judge in the case decided that he had every right to blow it to pieces.
he lived in southern louisville, ky.
 
nhmoose said:
If you have to ask if you may use a muzzleloader go home hide call the police.

That is all you are qualified to do. Sorry but that is it.

I'm not gonna ask, call the police, or hide :nono:
 
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