Drone hunter Mike Yoder says in his Drone Deer Recovery video that he and Kirk Price were not even heading out for a confrontation that morning, and that is part of what makes the whole thing feel so wild when you watch it unfold.
According to Yoder’s own narration, they had gone out during Ohio gun season to do what he describes as a routine check of one of his hunting leases with a thermal drone, mainly to make sure nobody was trespassing, and he makes clear he did not expect to actually find anyone.
Yoder even says he had not dealt with trespassers on that property in a long time, which is why his tone in the early part of the video sounds more confused than certain, as he and Price try to figure out whether a white truck parked on the lease belongs to a hunter, a utility worker, or someone else.
That uncertainty is one of the most believable parts of the video, because instead of immediately jumping to conclusions, Yoder keeps trying to talk himself out of what he is seeing, while Price keeps pushing back and pointing out that opening day of gun season is a suspicious time for an unknown vehicle to be parked deep on private land.
As a story, it starts almost casually, with two guys checking property and talking through what they are seeing on a drone screen, but it shifts fast once they realize the truck likely does not belong there and the person associated with it may be actively hunting.
Mike Yoder And Kirk Price Start Piecing It Together
Yoder tells viewers that he was “completely caught off guard” by the situation and even explains that he was so focused on flying the drone and processing what was happening that Kirk Price ended up narrating much of the video in real time.
That actually helps the footage, because Price’s commentary gives the viewer a second set of eyes and a second voice while Yoder works the thermal camera, and the back-and-forth between them makes the discovery feel less staged and more like a genuine field reaction.
At first, both men focus on the truck, scanning for clues and debating what they are looking at, with Yoder trying to leave room for an innocent explanation while Price points out details that seem out of place for a city worker, including stickers on the truck and the timing of the visit.
Yoder repeatedly notes that nobody has permission to hunt that lease except him, and as he and Price keep scanning the area with the thermal drone, the mood in the video changes from curiosity to frustration because they now believe someone is intentionally using the property without permission.
Price also explains, in practical terms, why finding a person with thermal imaging can be harder than people think if someone is wearing heavy clothing, since insulation holds in body heat and can reduce the thermal signature, which adds a useful layer of real-world detail to what might otherwise sound like a simple “drone catches trespasser” headline.
Then comes the turning point.
Yoder and Price spot a person in a tree stand, and both react immediately when they realize the man appears to be hunting and, according to what they say on camera, is not wearing blaze orange during gun season.
That is the moment where Yoder stops sounding merely shocked and starts sounding genuinely upset, and he quickly calls a game warden while keeping the drone fixed on the person in the stand.
The No-Orange Detail And Why It Mattered So Much
In the video, Yoder and Price return again and again to one issue that they clearly see as a huge red flag: the hunter appears to have no orange on while sitting in a tree stand on opening gun season.
Yoder and Price both speculate that the lack of orange may have been an attempt to avoid being seen, and they also discuss the broader danger of that choice, with one of the game wardens later noting in conversation that it is a wonder more trespassers are not accidentally shot when they sneak onto land where they do not know who else is hunting nearby.
That part of the video stood out because it moves beyond property rights and into basic safety, and honestly, that is where the story gets even more serious than the trespass itself.
A person allegedly hunting without permission is one thing, but a person allegedly hunting without visible safety orange during gun season on land they do not control creates the kind of risk that can end in a tragedy for multiple people, including lawful hunters who may not even know someone is there.
Yoder’s frustration in the video seems to come from both sides of that issue, because he talks about the money and effort he has invested in the lease while also reacting strongly to what he sees as reckless behavior.
Price says the same thing in a different way when he notes that neither of them wanted to “do this” to anyone, but that the man’s actions looked blatant and showed bad intent, especially on opening day.
The Thermal Drone Captures The Shots In Real Time
If the video had stopped at locating the trespasser and calling a game warden, it still would have been a remarkable clip, but that is not what happened.
While the two men and the responding warden are still monitoring the suspect’s location, Yoder’s thermal drone also picks up deer moving in the area, and Price begins warning Yoder to stay on the man in the tree stand in case he raises his gun.
What happens next is the most dramatic part of the footage, because Yoder and Price watch the man appear to line up on deer, and then they hear shots while the drone remains overhead.
Price and Yoder count multiple shots in rapid succession, reacting in disbelief as they realize they may have just captured a suspected illegal hunter firing from the stand while being monitored by thermal drone and while a game warden is already on the way.
Yoder sounds furious and shaken after the shots, and he says plainly that he is “pissed,” while Price confirms he is recording and keeps narrating what they are seeing.
It is hard to overstate how unusual that footage is from a viewer’s perspective, because most poaching or trespassing stories are reconstructed later from statements and citations, but here Yoder and Price are reacting in real time while a thermal camera tracks the suspect’s movements.
The two men then scan for downed deer and signs of a hit, though they say they do not immediately see any deer go down, and the focus shifts back to keeping eyes on the suspect until officers can move in safely.
Game Wardens Respond, Coordinate, And Move In
One of the most notable parts of the video is how often Yoder and Price praise the responding Ohio game wardens and the Ohio DNR once they arrive on scene.
Yoder and Price both describe the wardens as professional and quick, and they repeatedly emphasize how fast the response was, with Price at one point saying they were there in about 12 minutes.
The video also shows why the drone mattered so much from a law-enforcement perspective, because the wardens are able to use Yoder’s live thermal feed to see where the suspect is before walking into the woods, which reduces the chance of walking blindly toward an armed person who might see them first.
That is a point one of the wardens makes directly in the video conversation, explaining that a drone helps them locate someone known to be a problem before going in, rather than allowing that person to spot officers first and disappear or create a more dangerous confrontation.
Yoder, for his part, says this is exactly why he believed drone technology would change how wardens get things done, and he shares that Ohio DNR had initially questioned whether the technology was legal when they first saw it years ago, but later became supportive after he demonstrated how it worked.
The actual contact, as shown in the video, is tense but controlled.
Once the wardens locate the man, commands are given to put the gun on the ground, and the suspect is detained without the kind of chaotic confrontation that could have happened if officers had gone in blind and without the aerial view.
From a purely reporting standpoint, this is where the video becomes more than a hunting-channel clip and starts looking like a real-time example of how civilian-owned technology and law enforcement can intersect in rural enforcement cases, for better or worse.
In this case, at least based on Yoder and Price’s footage and commentary, it appears to have helped de-escalate the uncertainty by giving officers constant visual information.
What Yoder Says This Meant For Him As A Lease Holder
After the immediate action ends, Yoder and Price spend a good portion of the video reflecting on what happened, and their comments make clear this was not just about catching someone doing something wrong “for content.”
Yoder talks openly about how much money and effort goes into a hunting lease, including the lease payments themselves and the cost of blinds, cameras, feed, and drone equipment, and Price says it plainly: this is Mike’s property arrangement, his investment, and his time.
That is an important part of the story because people who do not lease land sometimes underestimate how personal and expensive it can be, especially after years of maintaining access, managing stands, and building trust with neighboring landowners.
Yoder also says he was glad to learn he could press charges as the agent of the property, since he initially thought his status as a lessee might prevent that, and that detail gives the video a practical angle for other lease holders who may not know where they stand legally if they encounter trespassers.
Later in the video, Yoder and Price say the suspect claimed he had hunted there before, which both of them treat with skepticism, with Price joking that “I’ve always hunted here” sounds like a go-to excuse.
Whether that claim is true or not, Yoder’s response is telling, because he says he has been flying the property for years and suggests that if the man had been there before, he simply got lucky and was not caught.
A Wild Morning, A Bigger Warning
By the end of the video, Yoder says he never thought he would actually catch a trespasser on his own lease using a thermal drone, and Price says he would not have believed this kind of day was coming “in a million years.”
That reaction feels fair.
What starts as a quick property check turns into a suspected trespass investigation, a no-orange safety concern, shots fired at deer seen on thermal, a coordinated game warden response, and a detention captured on camera with drone support.
Yoder and Price are also careful, in their own rough way, to remind viewers they were not looking to create a confrontation and that they stayed back when wardens told them to stay back, which is worth noting because too many people online treat dangerous situations like they are action scenes instead of real incidents involving armed strangers.
If there is a bigger takeaway from Yoder’s and Price’s video, it is not just that drones can find deer or even trespassers, but that thermal technology is changing what can be documented in the field and how quickly authorities can respond when landowners report active violations.
And in this case, as Mike Yoder and Kirk Price tell it, that technology turned an ordinary morning check into one of the clearest real-time catches they have ever seen – not a wounded deer this time, but a suspected poacher who, by their account, picked the wrong property on the wrong day.
Gary’s love for adventure and preparedness stems from his background as a former Army medic. Having served in remote locations around the world, he knows the importance of being ready for any situation, whether in the wilderness or urban environments. Gary’s practical medical expertise blends with his passion for outdoor survival, making him an expert in both emergency medical care and rugged, off-the-grid living. He writes to equip readers with the skills needed to stay safe and resilient in any scenario.
