Drones and Air Space

walleyeman_1875

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how is the air space above posted landed categorized? If the land is posted, is the air space above also posted?

Reason I ask is this likely will become a topic as small drones become more common for recreational use.

I’ve seen pictures of people using thermals on drones to observe wild life. I can see this becoming more prominent of an issue regardless of the time of year you’re flying a drone.

If this has already been discussed, let me know and I’ll delete this thread.
 


Lycanthrope

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In North Dakota, flying drones over private property is generally allowed, but there are important restrictions to keep in mind. Specifically, it is illegal to use drones for private surveillance of individuals or their property without their consent. Doing so is considered trespassing and a breach of privacy¹².

If you're planning to fly a drone, it's always a good idea to respect people's privacy and follow any local regulations. Do you have any other questions about drone usage or anything else?

Source: Conversation with Copilot, 10/16/2024
(1) Drone Laws in North Dakota: All You Need To Know (2024) - Dronesgator.com. https://dronesgator.com/drone-laws-in-north-dakota/.
(2) Drone Laws in North Dakota (2024 Updated) - propelrc.com. https://www.propelrc.com/drone-laws-in-north-dakota/.
(3) Drone Laws in North Dakota - [Updated September 19, 2024]. https://drone-laws.com/drone-laws-in-north-dakota/.
 

Rowdie

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Wait until we are flying around in personal quad copters.
 


walleyeman_1875

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I’ll go out on a limb here and predict within 2 years there will be laws or provisions put in place to restrict air space within a certain distance above posted property for drones to fly.

Likely four years due to how slowly our elected leaders move….however, they seem to move quickly on the stupid shit so I’ll go with two years!!
 

snow2

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Well my take as a new copter drone piolet the feds have regulations for us recreational piolet's starting with said drone weight,these small light weight copter drones under 250gms are limited on range and height and are useless in strong winds,however larger full size drones (over 250gm) more stable in strong winds require a recreational piolet license and are federally restricted in drone altitude (400') and restricted from flying over hiways and residential homes and must stay certain distances from active private and commercial airports for obvious reason,get caught doing above flights results in hefty faa $ penalties


Drone pilots that use drones for commercial use such as building inspection, real estate listing properties etc must pass a commercial piolet license test and can be used to fly over hiways and neighborhood s.

Ideally drone manufacturers recommend only flying drones within line of sight but so far not law,my DJI drone (weight over 250gms) has a 16 mile range and is said to have a 1600' altitude cap but I wouldn't know,these thing are totally invisible and silent at 100' most high end copter drones that use a quality hand held controller have built in warnings is said drone enters restricted air space some controllers will shut down drone flight if warnings are not obeyed.

Chatter recently about restricting certain copter drone sales like DJI drones as these drones are made in china with a possibility of ccp spying capabilities but ive herd nothing recent regarding this issue.in the mean time these copter drones are alot of fun to use most have excellent built in micro camera's for still pictures and video's with camera zoom of 28x and night vision modes.

Ill admit ive used mine to scout my hunting area looking for active waterfowl field feeds and daily resting sloughs saving my gas $ for ammo etc.
 

Lycanthrope

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Well my take as a new copter drone piolet the feds have regulations for us recreational piolet's starting with said drone weight,these small light weight copter drones under 250gms are limited on range and height and are useless in strong winds,however larger full size drones (over 250gm) more stable in strong winds require a recreational piolet license and are federally restricted in drone altitude (400') and restricted from flying over hiways and residential homes and must stay certain distances from active private and commercial airports for obvious reason,get caught doing above flights results in hefty faa $ penalties


Drone pilots that use drones for commercial use such as building inspection, real estate listing properties etc must pass a commercial piolet license test and can be used to fly over hiways and neighborhood s.

Ideally drone manufacturers recommend only flying drones within line of sight but so far not law,my DJI drone (weight over 250gms) has a 16 mile range and is said to have a 1600' altitude cap but I wouldn't know,these thing are totally invisible and silent at 100' most high end copter drones that use a quality hand held controller have built in warnings is said drone enters restricted air space some controllers will shut down drone flight if warnings are not obeyed.

Chatter recently about restricting certain copter drone sales like DJI drones as these drones are made in china with a possibility of ccp spying capabilities but ive herd nothing recent regarding this issue.in the mean time these copter drones are alot of fun to use most have excellent built in micro camera's for still pictures and video's with camera zoom of 28x and night vision modes.

Ill admit ive used mine to scout my hunting area looking for active waterfowl field feeds and daily resting sloughs saving my gas $ for ammo etc.
I got my drone a few years ago and I thought at that time the limit was 2000ft. Sounds like they might try to regulate private drone use out of existence, which doesnt surprise me, but is unfortunate.
 

Obi-Wan

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how is the air space above posted landed categorized? If the land is posted, is the air space above also posted?

Reason I ask is this likely will become a topic as small drones become more common for recreational use.

I’ve seen pictures of people using thermals on drones to observe wild life. I can see this becoming more prominent of an issue regardless of the time of year you’re flying a drone.

If this has already been discussed, let me know and I’ll delete this thread.
I believe ND G&F considers using a drone as the same as flying in a plane, one can not hunt the same day in areas that were flown over
 


Traxion

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Deer tracking with thermal drones is a hot topic now. I see both sides but am curious to see drone laws evolve. Incredible technology.
 

Davey Crockett

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I have just a toy one for entertainment in the yard but I'm sure FAA is hearing from a lot of "authority" to change the laws and require only authority to fly them. The good and the bad that I know about them. The good thing first is how exciting it was to sit on the deck and watch my boy fly us out to the creek 3/4 mile away with his and fly up and down the creek gorge and the waterfowl haven with a beaver dam and 10 acre pond that holds about 2 or 3 feet of water. It's been that way since I was a kid.
The bad thing is.....
Last june people 20 miles downstream on the prairie were having water problems and nobody could find the beaver dam so they hired a drone and it turned out there wasn't one , just water sitting in low areas. I suppose to justify the cause they decided to fly it to the Canadian border. Well they happened to see my pond and the dam and I get a call that they want to blow the dam . I tried my best to convince them that it's been that way since I was a kid and it's on my land not hurting anyone. They were persistent and I knew the authority they have so I was in a corner with a losing battle on my hands. It's an ugly dead looking mess now compared to then.
Torqued me to no end losing the pond and knowing that my tax money was used against me in that way.

This is the small part 3/4s of it is around the bend . I'm still pissed.

1729106147576.jpeg
 

Obi-Wan

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ND game and fish website -

Wildlife Management Areas - Regulations​

  • Drones. Use of drones, or any unmanned radio-controlled aircraft, is prohibited unless authorized by the director. *Rules specific to a certain WMA, other than the previously mentions, are posted at the WMA entrances.

Aircraft, Motor-Driven Vehicles, Lights​

  • It is illegal to use all types of aircraft, manned or unmanned, for spotting game 72 hours prior to and during the hunting season. A licensee cannot hunt the same day they are airborne over their hunting unit, except on a scheduled passenger airline flight. It is illegal to drive, concentrate, rally, raise, stir up or disturb game with all types of aircraft, manned or unmanned.
 
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Lycanthrope

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I believe ND G&F considers using a drone as the same as flying in a plane, one can not hunt the same day in areas that were flown over
how long will it be before we can have our robots hunt for us?
I have just a toy one for entertainment in the yard but I'm sure FAA is hearing from a lot of "authority" to change the laws and require only authority to fly them. The good and the bad that I know about them. The good thing first is how exciting it was to sit on the deck and watch my boy fly us out to the creek 3/4 mile away with his and fly up and down the creek gorge and the waterfowl haven with a beaver dam and 10 acre pond that holds about 2 or 3 feet of water. It's been that way since I was a kid.
The bad thing is.....
Last june people 20 miles downstream on the prairie were having water problems and nobody could find the beaver dam so they hired a drone and it turned out there wasn't one , just water sitting in low areas. I suppose to justify the cause they decided to fly it to the Canadian border. Well they happened to see my pond and the dam and I get a call that they want to blow the dam . I tried my best to convince them that it's been that way since I was a kid and it's on my land not hurting anyone. They were persistent and I knew the authority they have so I was in a corner with a losing battle on my hands. It's an ugly dead looking mess now compared to then.
Torqued me to no end losing the pond and knowing that my tax money was used against me in that way.

This is the small part 3/4s of it is around the bend . I'm still pissed.

1729106147576.jpeg
who is 'they' exactly? they wouldnt have needed a drone to see that pond, google earth would have done it also. Too bad about your dam.
 


Allen

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I have just a toy one for entertainment in the yard but I'm sure FAA is hearing from a lot of "authority" to change the laws and require only authority to fly them. The good and the bad that I know about them. The good thing first is how exciting it was to sit on the deck and watch my boy fly us out to the creek 3/4 mile away with his and fly up and down the creek gorge and the waterfowl haven with a beaver dam and 10 acre pond that holds about 2 or 3 feet of water. It's been that way since I was a kid.
The bad thing is.....
Last june people 20 miles downstream on the prairie were having water problems and nobody could find the beaver dam so they hired a drone and it turned out there wasn't one , just water sitting in low areas. I suppose to justify the cause they decided to fly it to the Canadian border. Well they happened to see my pond and the dam and I get a call that they want to blow the dam . I tried my best to convince them that it's been that way since I was a kid and it's on my land not hurting anyone. They were persistent and I knew the authority they have so I was in a corner with a losing battle on my hands. It's an ugly dead looking mess now compared to then.
Torqued me to no end losing the pond and knowing that my tax money was used against me in that way.

This is the small part 3/4s of it is around the bend . I'm still pissed.

1729106147576.jpeg

I'd like more details on this. Who was the "authority", USFWS, NDGF, State Dept? (edit, I see you already answered this, I would have thought they'd be a bit more reasonable so long as it doesn't affect anyone else's land)

There are laws in place that restrict one from backing water up onto someone else's property, but you mentioned the "wet" area people were concerned about were downstream of you.

I'd have probably told them to get bent if the beaver dam was only backing water up on my own land and someone downstream insisted I remove it. Yeah, I get it...you all have beaver dams up there that create some VERY large shallow bodies of water.

Note, we do have a few small beaver dams on our land. Other than the damage to the trees, we like most of the beaver dams as they create some nice little watering holes for the cows. There is one that we have blown up a few times over the years. It creates issues on the adjacent county road, otherwise we'd be OK with that one as well.
 

Davey Crockett

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They blew dams upstream and then flew the creek and my pond had grown because of that. It was flowing over the dam as it should. Years with a lot of runoff we can hear it from the yard 3/4 mile away and it never once washed out. Not me , my ears are bad but my dad could hear it
 

Kurtr

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I have just a toy one for entertainment in the yard but I'm sure FAA is hearing from a lot of "authority" to change the laws and require only authority to fly them. The good and the bad that I know about them. The good thing first is how exciting it was to sit on the deck and watch my boy fly us out to the creek 3/4 mile away with his and fly up and down the creek gorge and the waterfowl haven with a beaver dam and 10 acre pond that holds about 2 or 3 feet of water. It's been that way since I was a kid.
The bad thing is.....
Last june people 20 miles downstream on the prairie were having water problems and nobody could find the beaver dam so they hired a drone and it turned out there wasn't one , just water sitting in low areas. I suppose to justify the cause they decided to fly it to the Canadian border. Well they happened to see my pond and the dam and I get a call that they want to blow the dam . I tried my best to convince them that it's been that way since I was a kid and it's on my land not hurting anyone. They were persistent and I knew the authority they have so I was in a corner with a losing battle on my hands. It's an ugly dead looking mess now compared to then.
Torqued me to no end losing the pond and knowing that my tax money was used against me in that way.

This is the small part 3/4s of it is around the bend . I'm still pissed.

1729106147576.jpeg
damn that sucks. I see that pond and i think dog training set ups. I would be pissed as hell if i was in your spot.
 

Davey Crockett

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That's another story. We got new neighbors to the north, good people, child of the owner who never minded seeing wildlife. They built a walking bridge over the creek right next to my land one fall when they first moved in. They have roughly 50 feet of flat ground from the property line and a gorge to the north of them. new neighbor's new bridge got flooded the next spring during normal runoff the next spring . I get a call and tried to explain his situation and he was all NO NO NO it's your dam. Well I'm working out of state with a million other things on my mind and he is bugging me about his bridge. Eventually he told me neighbors to the North are complaining about it too. I have good 2nd and 3rd generation neighbors up there so I said ok go ahead and blow the dam dam but raise your bridge. Not thinking till it was too late that there's a huge raise in elevation so that was impossible. Long story short , somebody blew the dam and almost washed Bottineau off the map. I guess it was huge boulders and trees when I get back home people are pissed at me for blowing my dam and saying we could have killed someone. after it was over and done with I saw my neighbor and reminded him of the mess and elevation change , he felt bad and couldn't look me in the eye for a few years. Big City boys I tell ya. And it will get a lot worse if measure 4 passes.


Moral of the story , Those beaver were just fine and not bothering anyone for as long as the old timers can remember , my dad could have drained and pastured it but he didn't , It was a trappers and hunters paradise. Then new neighbor moves in and messes up a good thing and blamed it on the beaver . Now 30 years later they see the beaver in the same spot again and decide to shoot all the beaver and drain the pond slowly. I got better things to do than take people to court or get called to court by people on boards. Common sense is gone, a lot of people don't understand how mother nature functions.
 

snow2

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I have just a toy one for entertainment in the yard but I'm sure FAA is hearing from a lot of "authority" to change the laws and require only authority to fly them. The good and the bad that I know about them. The good thing first is how exciting it was to sit on the deck and watch my boy fly us out to the creek 3/4 mile away with his and fly up and down the creek gorge and the waterfowl haven with a beaver dam and 10 acre pond that holds about 2 or 3 feet of water. It's been that way since I was a kid.
The bad thing is.....
Last june people 20 miles downstream on the prairie were having water problems and nobody could find the beaver dam so they hired a drone and it turned out there wasn't one , just water sitting in low areas. I suppose to justify the cause they decided to fly it to the Canadian border. Well they happened to see my pond and the dam and I get a call that they want to blow the dam . I tried my best to convince them that it's been that way since I was a kid and it's on my land not hurting anyone. They were persistent and I knew the authority they have so I was in a corner with a losing battle on my hands. It's an ugly dead looking mess now compared to then.
Torqued me to no end losing the pond and knowing that my tax money was used against me in that way.

This is the small part 3/4s of it is around the bend . I'm still pissed.

1729106147576.jpeg
Our world today destroying a wetland is a federal offense,doing so permits are required plus other restrictions today ,our wetlands are precious commodity today more so than years past.yoy had a beautiful wildlife area ,sad you lost it.
 


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