DRONES FOR ROOS?

Let’s turn this right around and like Caractacus Potts suggested, have drones serve it up to the roos instead of hunters. This can be a R & D exercise for private contractors to test some medium scale UAVs armed with large calibre weapons. I can just imagine the geeks at the PC in the back of an unmarked black van. “Sighting target, acquiring vector data, stabilising….fire! Bogey has been eliminated, proceed to landing site Delta for re-supply and a pine scented air freshener.”

Baldy said :

Really? I was considering getting one because they look like fun. Where can I find infomation on the restrictions placed on flying them?

And indeed, they are fun.
Talk to your local hobby\model shop for more information on private and recreational flights for a model suited to your skill level, but remember rule #1: Don’t fly what you can’t afford to crash.

Depending on the purpose for which you want to fly something (ie: if its no longer for private or recreational reasons, or outside a specific flight zone, or its outside operator-line-of-sight, or you’re doing ‘work’ with it such as chasing birds, filming for non-curious, privacy-invading, or promotional purposes, herding sheep\kangaroos, attacking government contractors) you’re subject to all kinds of CASA Regulations.
The tasks described by the stupid protester in the above stupid post re: performing work, flying in such a way to harass humans, dropping projectiles onto people would invoke CASA in a Fists of Righteous Fury\Wrath of God kind of way.
A CASA Spokeperson recently had this to say on the ABC.

But if you’re flying at one of the local fields, they’ll ensure you’re flying in accordance with the various MPAA recommended procedures.
MPAA fields aren’t the only place you can fly though, but CMAC who operate out of Symonston, have something of a stern reputation that seems to discourage new players who don’t care for getting wing certification and the like.

But if you’re southside and want a recommendation of people to talk to to get started on the hobby , Nitrodude in Kambah are quite straightforward, and the local groups have flight nights at Tuggeranong every so often.
All the usual warnings come with that recommendation: they may try to sell you something, you may enjoy it, and your first three or four crashes will be both spectacular and well-deserved learning experiences.

DISAPPOINTED saw the headline and I can hand in a dead ‘roo and get a drone?

Primal said :

Hexacopter vs rifle? My money’s on the rifle.

Seeing these shooters firing off into the air would probably be a worse outcome than seeing them shoot an actual kangaroo. (For the shooters anyway)

Skidbladnir said :

And the legislative response to executing your proposed methods would only punish those existing hobbyists who operate within the (frankly very tight) legal constraints put on UAVs in Australia, and prevent further growth of a harmless hobby.

Really? I was considering getting one because they look like fun. Where can I find infomation on the restrictions placed on flying them?

Or maybe ‘Drones vs roos’! Save money on shootists, just get a bunch of nerds dropping bombs on the suckers!

Hexacopter vs rifle? My money’s on the rifle.

Ok. I have options:

Option #1:
– Shoot a roo
– Launch my dogfight RC plane.
– Knock your expensive piece of sh*t out of the sky.
– Shoot a roo.
– Find you, shove said expensive piece up you’re a*se.
– Shoot a roo.

OR

Option #2:
– Shoot a roo.
– Upload a clip of a kangaroo dying slowly of starvation and blame you.
– Shoot a roo.

Your choice, ROFLCOPTER.

Skidbladnir said :

… this is one of those shameless self-promotions for media profile, isn’t it?

That, or a thinly veiled ad for RC helicopters…I have to admit, I do have a certain inclination to buy one now…

And the activists wonder why they get treated like whacko’s.

Much as I find hunting abhorrent, I find the above idea daft. Mind you, on the CT site some lunatic is suggesting the Roos are tranquilised and sterilised!

So, your short-term solution to a legal culling of kangaroos requested by government is to respond with the promotion of common assault against humans?
Do you serious expect community support for your proposal?

And the legislative response to executing your proposed methods would only punish those existing hobbyists who operate within the (frankly very tight) legal constraints put on UAVs in Australia, and prevent further growth of a harmless hobby.

Stupid post, stupid poster, stupid protest, stupid protester.

PS: There are much larger culls happening elsewhere (and professional roo hunters throughout Australia annually kill vastly more roos than are involved in the entirety of ACT culls so far), this is one of those shameless self-promotions for media profile, isn’t it?

:/ I will never understand why kangaroo activists etc focus their efforts on a relatively small cull in Canberra. I guess it gets more media exposure than Joe Bloggs out west of Goodiwindi going roo-shooting with his mates (or macropod harvesting, as my QLD relatives inform me it’s named), but surely when you look at the actual numbers, the ACT Government is responsible for a relatively minimal percentage of kangaroo culling overall.

It’s kind of… expensive and pointless to spend a thousand dollars and prevent a few culls in Canberra when meanwhile rural NSW/QLD (actually probably all the states and territories let’s face it) are happily culling exponentially larger numbers of roos. But if it assuages someone’s middle-class guilt I suppose that’s… good?

Skippy jumped out in front of my car the other day and I am sure the end result was far more distressing and expensive for both Skippy and me than Skippy being culled by a professional. Perhaps my opinion would differ greatly if Skippy had spent more time with Hector the Road Safety Cat.