Find your deer tonight.
Spray the fields your tractor can't.
Sparrow Aerial is a new family-run drone service coming to Southeast Tennessee in 2027: thermal deer recovery the same night you call, and spray application for the steep pastures, wet bottoms and small fields a boom rig skips. Put your name down now and you're first in line when we fly.
The deer that walks off and the field you can't drive on.
Two problems, one answer. We're starting Sparrow Aerial because in this part of Tennessee the hunter gives up at midnight and the cattleman skips the hillside every spring. A drone with the right camera, or the right tank, fixes both.
The deer you can't find
You made a good shot, tracked blood for an hour, and lost it in the dark. A thermal camera sees body heat through the brush from 300 feet up.
Steep pasture
Buttercup and thistle on the hillside you won't put a tractor on. The drone doesn't care about the grade.
A wet spring
Fertilizer and clover need to go out when the ground is soft. No ruts, no compaction, no waiting a week for it to dry.
Armyworms this week
When the hay field turns brown in August you need it sprayed in 48 hours, not when the custom rig gets around to it.
Aircraft ordered, FAA agricultural exemption filed, Tennessee applicator licensing and TWRA registration underway. We'll be at the co-op counters and the farm show with the rig.
Demo days on three host farms across Bradley, McMinn and North Georgia, then paid broadleaf and fertilizer passes from April. Pre-book now for 5% off a spring + fall program.
Thermal recovery flights from opening weekend. Save the number now; you won't want to be searching for it at 9 p.m. with a wounded deer in the woods.
Call by dark. We fly that night.
Tennessee now allows registered drone operators to help hunters recover a mortally wounded deer on private land. Starting with the fall 2027 season, here is how a recovery night with us will run.
Call or text
Tell us where and when the deer was hit, what you shot it with, and whose land it's on. We confirm the price and the rules by text so you're covered too.
We drive to you
Same night, anywhere within our radius. We file the TWRA pre-recovery notice on the way. You put the weapons in the truck.
Twenty minutes in the air
The thermal camera scans the woods from above without walking on your property or pushing the deer. Most recoveries are located in the first flight.
Walk straight to it
We guide you to the animal with a light and the GPS pin. If the deer is alive and not mortally wounded, we stop; that's the law and the right thing.
We spray the fields your tractor can't.
A spray drone carries the product you or your co-op already bought and puts it on the acres a boom rig can't reach, with no soil compaction, no crop damage and no tractor time in a wet spring. You set the program with your agronomist or Extension; we apply exactly what the label allows.
- Pasture and hay broadleaf herbicide, spring and fall
- Liquid fertilizer and foliar feeds
- Fungicide on corn, soybeans and hay at the timing a ground rig would crush
- Clover, cover-crop and food-plot seeding with the dry spreader
- Armyworm and insecticide response within 48 hours
- Ponds, right-of-way, solar sites and spot work a truck can't get to
25-acre minimum. Your 60-acre cattle farm is a real job to us, not a nuisance. The co-ops and the 20,000-acre outfits are welcome to the big flat ground.
Not one sparrow falls unnoticed.
Sparrows are small, quick and everywhere, and the Scripture says not one of them falls to the ground apart from the Father. That is a good description of a little aircraft that notices things from the air, and a better description of how we want to treat the people who call us.
We're a family business out of Cleveland and Georgetown, opening in 2027. We work honestly, rest on Sundays, and give a tenth. You'll get a straight price, a text when we're on the way, and a pilot who flies strictly by the book.
"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care… So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."Matthew 10:29–31
Launch pricing, published early. No surprises at the tailgate.
These are our 2027 launch prices. Pre-book a spray program before February 2027 and they're locked in writing.
Deer recovery
Tennessee only, from the fall 2027 season, 30 minutes after sunset to 3 a.m.
| Dispatch feeWe come and fly. Includes 60 round-trip miles from Cleveland; $1/mile after. | $400 |
| Recovery bonusOnly when you walk out with the deer. | +$100 |
| Cancelled after dispatchYou found it before we arrived. Good news. | $125 |
| Second-night re-flySame deer, at our discretion. | $200 |
| Property deer surveyOff-season thermal herd counts, 2-hour minimum. | $150/hr |
Spray application
Per acre, product supplied by you or your co-op. 25-acre / $450 minimum.
| Pasture & hay broadleaf herbicide | $18 |
| Liquid fertilizer / foliar | $18 |
| Fungicide: corn, soybeans, hay | $20 |
| Clover, cover-crop & food-plot seedingDry spreader | $16 |
| Armyworm / insecticide, 48-hour response | $22 |
| Pond, aquatic, spot & right-of-way2–20 acres | $35 |
Steep or obstructed ground may carry a terrain adder we'll quote in writing before we fly. We never recommend or sell chemicals; your co-op agronomist or UT Extension sets the program.
Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia.
Based in Cleveland and Georgetown, about 75 miles in any direction for spraying. Deer recovery is Tennessee only: Georgia hasn't authorized drone recovery yet, and we won't fly where the law isn't clear.
Straight answers.
When do you open?
Spray application starts spring 2027, as soon as the FAA agricultural exemption and the Tennessee applicator license are in hand; we expect first paid passes in April. Thermal deer recovery starts with the fall 2027 deer season. Until then this page is where you can get on the list, and we'll text you the day we're cleared to fly.
Is drone deer recovery legal in Tennessee?
Yes, as of the 2026–27 season, under TWRA rule 1660-01-33. It's limited to recovering a deer you reasonably believe is mortally wounded, on private land with the landowner's permission, after you've tried to track it the normal way. The flight has to happen between 30 minutes after sunset and 3 a.m., with a Part 107 pilot and a registered thermal aircraft. Nobody, pilot or hunter, may have a hunting weapon on them during the flight. We'll be registered with TWRA as a commercial operator before our first flight, and we'll file the before-and-after notice for every search.
What if you find the deer and it's still alive?
We stop. The rule doesn't allow a drone to be used to locate live game, and we don't bend it. If the animal is clearly mortally wounded and down, we guide you to it. If it's up and moving, we'll share the last location with you after 30 minutes past sunrise the next morning so you can resume a legal track on foot. You still owe the dispatch fee; the $100 bonus only applies when you walk out with the deer.
How fast can you get here?
Once we're flying, usually within an hour or two of your call anywhere in Bradley, Hamilton, McMinn, Meigs, Polk or Rhea counties, and we'll give you an honest ETA before you commit. On the busiest nights of gun season we run calls in the order they come in. The best thing you can do is call the minute you lose the blood trail rather than at 1 a.m. after searching for four hours.
Do I have to pay if you don't find my deer?
The $400 dispatch fee covers driving to you and flying the search whether or not the deer turns up; that's the time, fuel and the $10,000 aircraft. The $100 recovery bonus is only charged if you recover the animal. If you find it yourself before we arrive, text us and it's a $125 cancellation instead.
Can you spray my field if I only have 30 acres?
Yes. Our minimum is 25 acres or $450, and most of our customers run 40 to 150 acres of pasture and hay. Small, steep and odd-shaped is exactly what the drone is good at.
Who supplies the chemical, and what do you spray?
You do, or your co-op does. We're licensed applicators, not agronomists: we apply what the label allows at the rate your agronomist or UT Extension sets. Herbicides, liquid fertilizer, fungicides, insecticides and dry seed or granular products are all within what the aircraft can do. We'll tell you if something isn't a good fit for drone application.
How does a drone compare to a tractor boom sprayer?
On big, flat, dry fields the tractor still wins on cost per acre, and we'll tell you so. On hillsides, wet ground, fields with no gate wide enough for a boom, hay you can't drive on after rain, and late-season crops a ground rig would crush, the drone wins because it never touches the ground. You also get an as-applied map with every invoice showing exactly where the product went.
How many acres can you do in a day?
Around 150 to 250 acres a day with one aircraft on typical pasture, depending on terrain, water access and the product rate. We bring our own water and a generator; a spot to park the trailer near the field is all we need from you.
What does it cost, exactly?
The prices on this page are the prices. Spray work is quoted per acre from the table above, in writing, before we fly, with any terrain adder stated up front. Recovery is $400 to dispatch plus $100 if you recover the deer, plus $1 a mile beyond 60 round-trip miles from Cleveland.
Will you be licensed and insured?
We won't fly a paid job without it. Before launch: FAA Part 107 remote pilot certificate, FAA registration on every aircraft, the FAA agricultural aircraft operator exemption for the spray drone, a Tennessee commercial pesticide applicator license and charter, TWRA commercial operator registration, and liability insurance with an aerial application endorsement. License numbers will be on every invoice and we're happy to send copies.
Will you post my deer or my farm on social media?
Only if you say yes. We never post a property name or location, a live or suffering animal, or anything that would identify your land without your permission. A recovery photo with a grin is the best advertising we have, so we'll ask, but no is a fine answer.
Do you work on Sundays?
No. We're a family business and we rest on Sundays. Saturday night recoveries run until 3 a.m. and we're back on the phone Monday morning.
First in line when we fly.
Farmers: tell us your acres and what you'd want applied and we'll reserve your spot on the spring 2027 calendar and send a written quote. Hunters: leave your number and we'll text you our dispatch line before opening day. No deposit, no obligation.
Recovery calls every night of deer season except Sunday, dusk to 3 a.m.
Closed Sundays.