I saw my first last month. As a device, they're pretty cool.  As the one being observed, it was a little unsettling, especially since no I couldn't see who was piloting the drone. 

I like how, thanks to pop media, any kind of radio controlled aircraft is called a "drone" now.

Still, though, it's unsettling, and it's only going to get worse in coming years.  Using technology to any extent seems to also mean giving up your privacy.  Even if you're NOT using technology, somebody who is will likely be watching you.  Traffic cameras, security cameras, drones, electronic monitoring at every level.

It won't be long before we see anti-drone drones. And weaponized miniature drones. It is going to make protecting public figures very difficult, almost requiring them to live inside all the time. (yes, I know most are not true "drones" but remote piloted RC quadcopters.) The future is going to be very interesting.

 It is actually really funny to see all the idiots trying to ban guns, it is sort of like someone in the  15th century trying to ban spears or something- our firearms hobby is so low tech and inefficient compared to new tech. 
 

Now you got me thinking about aimed micro-wave burst transmissions.   Might have to tear in to a microwave  oven and see what parts I need to salvage.  I bet I could power it off of capacitors.  

I don't want to down the aircraft, just kill the camera and/or down link. 

I will admit I've always fallen into the don't care category about drones and generally anything airborn like that with a camera on it. That said I've never run into one and I don't expect to see one out here anytime soon, so I can understand the apprehension. I get a little irked by the DNR plane that seems to come over my shop every 10 minutes(it's less often but it feels frequent). And typically they are just looking for drugs etc planted on back 40's around here but it's still that sense of intrusion into my property that does bother me even when I've got nothing to hide.

That all said the technology geek in me was also pretty ho hum till recently I watched a youtube video from Adam from Mythbusters(they do a podcast/youtube show called Tested, which has some interesting geek related topics). Watching what they were doing and the level of coolness you can achieve with that camera attached is really neat. I got a real kick out of the idea of being able to get aerial photo's of things that are traditionally out of the realm of possible. I can see some serious uses for the amateur video guys or low budget video guys getting shots that were traditionally quite high budget. I can also see some serious applications in sports video like paintball, football, baseball etc. Being able to have a camera above the action but still get a good stable shot is honestly amazing to me. That ability really sparked some curiosity that wasn't there before about the whole concept. That said it's not enough to overcome the pricetag for myself right now, but if they drop down even further I could see myself playing with one as a hobby. It would make checking out some of the property myself a little easier to be able to do an aerial run over the whole area and see if there are any new hunting blinds popping up where they shouldn't etc. And just for the fun of it;) I'd love to be able to get some video of some of my favorite spots out in the woods from unique perspectives things like that just would be very cool.

Than falling back to the point, the idea of it watching myself or my family over my property I'd agree 100% with your theory, I'm pretty sure a shotgun blast would make short work of it in most cases.

Take care!

Luke

I'm not recommending shooting them down by any stretch. Here where I live it would be really unlikely to see one since I'm so rural and off the beaten path. But I am suggesting that if one became a problem and there wasn't an Avenue it would cross my mind;) I understand the cost of the equipment and that it would be something terribly upsetting to the operator but if they are legitimate reasons then maybe it is an option. Realistically it's going to require some legislation of some sort likely to handle the new reality of a normal person being able to buy and operate something that has this many privacy concerns.

Luke

I would definitely use the Mossberg SPX with Federal Flite Control 00 on one with no apologies if it were hovering over my property.

I think this is the defining action for me - hovering.  Something simply flying over my property...  I may be pissed, but their is no definite intent to photograph or harass me or mine.  Hovering over the property, close enough that I can see it...  Different story.



Kaso

It's better to be able to talk to them and find out why they thought it was a good idea to invade your privacy. At our family reunion in Montana last summer one of my uncles brought his shiny new quadcopter. After several laps around the yard (at treetop level) a gust of wind carried it over the neighbors yard for a minute until we were able to compensate and get it back into our own yard. The elderly couple next door came steaming over just fuming that someone would want to look in on them. We tried explaining that this didn't have a camera on it (the gopro mount had been damaged in "training") but they were in a huff for over a week.

If you want something a little less obvious than a shotgun, there are plans for a homemade microwave "ray gun" to be had on the internet. I've looked into it a time or two, but there was never a good need (or excuse). Plus sides being that it is silent, and the offending piece of hardware should still be intact (other than falling damage) and the owner is much more likely to come running up indignantly without the sound of a gunshot ringing in the air.

For a long time, I was considering getting into photography on a professional level, so I looked into the legalities.  Pretty eye opening.  In the instance of the OP, sarge712 & Co. were in a public venue...  No expectation of privacy, so any photographs/video taken are perfectly legal.

Private property?  Whole different ball game.  You know how in the movies, there's a street scene, with a car driving through a neighborhood?  Every house in that scene has to have a release form, just like a model release.  Giving the photographer/Production Co. permission just to have the house in frame for a fraction of a second.

You actually own the airspace above your property, up to 32 feet above the top of your building (about the height of your average power pole), anything above that has to have aviation warning lights, has to be GPS'ed, and you're dealing with the FAA.  This I know from being a long time CB'er, and having to deal with antenna masts.

Anything within that space is yours.  You have a reasonable expectation of privacy.  A "Drone", flying into that space without your permission, is violating your airspace, and your privacy.  It is tantamount to walking up to someone's window and peering in, or standing at someone's fence and looking over into your back yard.  Most states have some kind of Peeping Tom law.  In AZ it's ARS 13-1504.A.3, Criminal Trespass in the 1st Degree, a class 1 misdemeanor.  Then there's a little thing called curtilage, having to do with an area surrounded by a fence, and not visible from the street.  Even the Cops can't look in/enter without a warrant (hot pursuit, not withstanding).

With the advent of RC mounted cameras, I see these laws being tweaked to include these devices.

I do think it's cultural to a degree, you gotta figure that my opinions are based on my location which is more than just rural I live way out in the woods. I'm sitting on my 10 acres, within my parents 120 acres, which butt's up to nearly 1000 acres of private land which I know everyone and the family's have known one another for 50+ years. And out of those we're the only full time residents out this way on this side of the bridge pretty much. So if someone wasn't trespassing on my land already to fly the thing, they would be coming in across a minimum of 10 acres of land to get to my land, and knowing the guys who own that property are elderly it's unlikely they are flying it, so that puts the range out another 40 acres further. So basically unless they are starting the flight from the bridge which is just shy of a mile from here they are probably trespassing on someone's land who doesn't want them there in between. So the likelyhood of them doing something reasonable is pretty low. In this area even the power company is the type of people who stop by the house before doing work so we know where they are and that it's them not someone else. Generally speaking anyone out this way on our property will stop by to explain themselves before stepping foot into the woods off the road and I'll admit I like it that way;) It's a matter of respect but it's also a matter of their safety. For one thing we do allot of shooting, and with known areas where your shooting into say hillsides, however sometimes those same hillsides are on power lines. Heck power lines make great areas to shoot since they are long straight and generally don't have allot of obstructions. So it's in their best interest to tell us where they are going to be;)

I think if I didn't live like this it would be a little hard to understand but space is something we've got out here, and allot of it and it's heavily wooded in most cases. Enough so that very few folks know their way around here, the local cops will typically come get me or my dad if someone get's lost this side of the bridge since no one else really knows all the trails etc on this side of the river into the next county and none of it is on a GPS and very few of those areas are accessible without at least a medium to large 4x4. A couple years back I took a local state police officer out and about looking at some camps that got broken into. We took my mini buggy out for a good 20 mile ride through rough areas to get to the camps. We got back to his cruiser and his pants and legs were soaked through just from kick up of water off the tall grass and I'm sure he was pulling ticks like crazy;) He's a good guy but he wasn't quite ready for the situation they threw him into and he certainly wasn't getting where he needed to go with his cruiser;)

Take care!

Luke

Yep my house I used to own in town had a yard about that size and it was way to small. Heck I'd love to pick up the next 2 40's from my buddy just to have a bit more room. And when the 1000 acres down the way came up for sale I was wishing I could afford it;) But that would take a heck of allot more money than I'm likely to ever see;)

Luke

If the Drone has a clearly marked paint scheme, or flashing lights I don't see a problem. I could see the metermaids driving a van down the street and sending these back to check the power meter, or gas meter. Much less sketchy than one guy with a clipboard and a comcast shirt lurking around (no van in sight anywhere up or down the street, and he beat feet when I came out into my yard). The larger quadcopters likely to be used for these tasks should have no problem bearing easily identifiable markings, letting me know who to complain to if they are a nuisance. Having an avenue for recourse really dampens the need to demolish the toy, or at least provide a warning.

Splodge, the microwave gun is ideal for those in town situations, since it won't pass through the neighbors walls (shouldn't have it cranked up that high) but should have no issues knocking down a little drone. For anything larger... maybe a paintball marker?

(And if things more than 32' about the buildings require flashing lights and FAA notification,, I might have a problem.  I've got trees that are taller than that, and they're not lit.  )

   Trees are a hell of a lot easier to see at night, than an antenna.  Power poles are at a set height, so helicopter pilots know not to fly below that level.  High tension power line towers are mapped out on aviation maps.