Answering the phone 24 hours a day
Thermal Drone Recovery
Across South Carolina
We Recover What Matters
Certified pilot · Drone Deer Recovery
Certified pilot · Drone Animal Rescue
What we do
Services
Four thermal drones, one phone number. If it's warm and it's out there, we'll find it.
Deer Recovery
Lost the blood trail? We put a thermal camera over the woods and walk you to your deer.
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Hog Recovery
Hogs run hard and die in the thick stuff. Thermal finds them in cover a ground search can't get through.
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Lost Pets
A scared dog hides and goes quiet. From the air we cover ground a search party can't.
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Herd Analysis
A real count of the deer using your property: numbers, bucks to does, where they're living.
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Wildlife Management
Coyotes and hogs hurting your herd and your fields? We find them at night so they can be dealt with.
Learn more →Recoveries
Fresh off the drone.
Every one of these was found with a thermal drone. New ones go up on our Facebook page the same night.
Straight from Facebook
3,500 hunters and families follow along. When we post a recovery at 2am, it shows up here too.
See every post on Facebook ↗What people say
Straight from the people we found for.
96% recommend on Facebook across 20 reviews, and a 5.0 out of 5 from 9 ratings on the Drone Deer Recovery network.
My wife and I have called Carolina Thermal & Recovery four different times over a year and a half. They have a 100% success rate finding deer and a pet for us. They are very knowledgeable and extremely friendly but also very professional. If you have a deer hit that you can't find immediately, do yourself a favor and call them.
Bucky went above and beyond in locating my deer. He did locate him alive and well, up and moving and verified a clean miss! Hopefully I get another chance at him!! Thanks!!
Would 100% recommend. Last season my daughter shot a doe. Was kinda low shot and we tracked her for some ways. After bumping her we backed out and I gave Bucky a call. Within about 15 minutes we found her.
Very professional and very knowledgeable. Found my deer in less then 5 mins would definitely recommend!!
Shot my personal best on my family's farm but sadly I couldn't locate blood. Having to leave to go to work, I backed out… Bucky was great and left out that even for our farm. Located the buck within 10 mins and I retrieved him the following morning.
It was great he was very professional and thorough. He located my deer very quickly after arriving and spent extra time explaining things I had questions about!
Highly recommend, he found my dog safe and sound. Very professional, would not use anyone else after working with him.
Bucky was great, went above and beyond, and was willing and eager to help, great experience!
I can't recommend them enough. Their professionalism, quick communication, and dedication helped us bring our fur baby home.
A++ service. Great customer service, friendly and walks you through the process. Bucky was just as excited as I was for my first deer!
Deer & hog recovery
Shot one and lost him?
Every hunter's been there. Good hit, bad blood, and a trail that goes quiet in the thick stuff. From a couple hundred feet up, a thermal camera sees body heat through brush, broom straw and pines, in the dark and in weather that shuts down a ground search.
Before we get there
- Back out quiet. Don't push him. A deer left alone usually lies down close.
- Mark last blood. Drop a pin where the trail stops and where you shot from.
- Keep everybody out. No grid-searching, no dogs through the area.
- Note the details. Time of the shot, where you hit him, which way he ran.
- Call or text. The sooner we're in the air, the better.
Lost pet search
Missing dog? Get a drone in the air.
A scared dog hides and goes quiet. It won't always come when called, and thermal doesn't need it to. We spot body heat in the woods, along the field line and in the brush pile, then guide you straight to them. It works at night too, when a ground search has to call it quits.
While you wait
- Call right away. Tell us where and when they were last seen.
- Have a recent photo ready. Size and color help us confirm on screen.
- Keep it calm. A crowd yelling their name can push a scared pet farther.
- Leave your scent. A shirt or their bed where they went missing.
Wildlife management
Predator & hog control.
Coyotes eat fawns. Hogs tear up fields, food plots and pasture. You can hunt them for weeks and never lay eyes on one, because they move after dark and they know your property better than you do.
A thermal drone finds them. We fly the place at night, spot every warm body on it, and put you on the ones causing the damage so they can be dealt with.
What we fly for
- Coyotes. Find the pairs working your property before fawn drop.
- Hogs. Locate the sounder, how many, and where they're bedding and rooting.
- Live guidance. We stay overhead and talk you onto them in the dark.
- Damage checks. See what's hitting your fields, plots and pasture.
Herd analysis
Know what you're hunting.
Trail cameras show you one trail at a time. A thermal drone covers the whole property in one flight, after dark when the deer are up and moving, and counts every one of them.
You get a straight answer about what's living on your place before you make decisions about it.
What you get
- A real count. Deer using the property, field by field, not a guess off one camera.
- Bucks to does. What your ratio actually looks like going into the season.
- Where they live. Bedding areas, travel, and which fields they're hitting at night.
- Year over year. Fly it again next season and compare.
How it works
Three steps, start to finish.
- DJI Matrice 30T & 4TBest-in-class thermal drones, four in rotation
- 24" live monitorWatch the search with us, right off the tailgate
- 20+ years on the groundTracking deer and hogs long before the drones
- 1
You call
Tell us what you lost, what county you're in and where you last had it. Day or night.
- 2
We launch
The drone goes up and grids the area. Body heat shows up white on the screen, through cover and in the dark.
- 3
You walk to it
We mark the spot and put you on it. No more guessing at a trail that went cold.
Coverage area
Statewide. Sumter at the center.
With four thermal drones in rotation we cover pretty much the whole state. We try to stay within about 2 hours of Sumter, and when it gets busy that drops to 1 hour.
We travel up to 100 miles, with pricing based on location and what you need. Farther out? Call anyway. If we can get there, we will.
- Busy season
- ~1 hour from Sumter
- Normal range
- ~2 hours from Sumter
Rings show rough drive time, not exact borders.
Recovery request
Tell us what you've got.
Fill this out and it lands in our texts with everything we need, including your GPS pin, so we show up already knowing the situation.
In a hurry? Skip the form and call.
Call 24/7803-847-3523Hunt. Respect. Recover. Repeat.
Ethics · Technology · Conservation · Results