Flyover effectiveness?

[dugout]

I live on a farm and am hoping to grow just two or three plants outdoors. I have a location selected that is off of my property but still rather close. I am just a little nervous that due to living on a farm, the rate of flyovers to detect plants is higher than that of other places, and I was just wondering how effective flyovers really are. I tend to only hear of large grows being detected, is it possible that three plants within 500' of each other will also be detected? And assuming it is possible, how likely is it? All three will be planted directly into the soil using trees as cover, other than that, there's not much I can do.

I guess I'm just very paranoid about this whole thing, growing stuff is fun, that's why I'm a farmer, but prison most definitely isn't. I've read the overgrow faqs on this site related to security and growing outdoors, but any additional advice is welcome.

[xjackflashx]

I would think it would be okay, I mean I have seen a setup where they grew them in 5 gallon buckets and used a group of hedges in the middle of a field for cover and those babies loved it...but your growing in the ground which is better because you dont have to worry about sillouetting ((sp)) your buckets or planters....just make sure the girls are well off in their life, and then you can let mother nature take care of the rest...just dont pull any weeds around your plants, unless they are seriously doing damage, and make sure your not leaving a heavy walked path to and from..because from the air it looks like a trail straight to your grow...esp in the morning with the dew...your path will glisten from up above...so becareful, wear camo if you go out there , and dont ever look up at the copter if there happens to be one to fly over...your face is like a mirror...just duck up under a tree...remain still, and dont dont dont look up at the copter...remember it could be a life flight, TV copter, private copter, or some other variety..now if you see an all black blackhawk flyin around yeahhhhhh you might wanna get out WHEN you can and leave the site alone for a lil bit... /rant

[Boss]

Just don't give them a reason to get a warrant if you are in the U.S. If they fly over without one, chances are (after a long court battle) it will be tossed out as illegal search.

[DaMagoMan]

guess I'm just very paranoid about this whole thing

Have you seen or heard a Lot of fly overs?

If so watch them to see if you can determine a common flight path.

Then use the other side of the farm

I got plenty,
since I'm just down the road from the 10th Mountains' home.

[BlackThumb]

Hey Dugout, you decided yet? ^All what they said then run to opposite side of farm and give them a well beaten path, to a nice de-weeded circle where you have stuck your tomato plant. Use the magician trick of distract with the left hand while growing with the right. Luck to ya.

[dugout]

Hey, I guess I already knew most of what you guys are telling me, the plants are not on my property, they are a bit over the edge. I use deer trails that are already there to get to them, I won't make my own path, and I've seen aerial photographs of the area and it is well hidden from above.
Helicopters do fly over, but I have no idea what signs there would be to show me their purpose. I'll just play it safe and assume everyone is looking. However, what is the protocol they follow for single, or very small numbers, of plants? All I ever hear about and the only news I could find while looking for it was of large busts when they use aerial detection. I'm still wondering what they do for single plants and how likely they even are to see them.

[KUSH302]

With only a couple of plants you should have no problems.They look for larger grows.If grown with no pruning,most likely it will be mistaken for wild hemp.

[BlackThumb]

Hey Dugout, I think you give them to much credit and it sounds like you would have no problem by detection from the air as far as the plant itself goes. There is no gear on board which would say detect and zoom in on plant material. They look for human habits as a general rule as stated above, garden layouts, tender camp sites, parked vehicles etc. If they do have FLIR gear, it will clearly show you hiding under a tree whether dressed in camo or not. As the 98.6* hotspot, you look like a white cow in a coal dust storm and they would be curious. I have a patch at the back of my grand dads acreage and I just wear my jeans with a dark shirt. I also always have a fence plier, my leather gloves and a 6" spool of bailing wire so if neighbor spots me while working his land, I just grab some sagging fence line and act like I'm patching while giving him a wave. We do also have a lot of copters flying about being about 50 miles from a Navel Air Station and large AFB about 70 miles away. The best way to identify these birds you mentioned you have seen around your place, is to jot down the tail numbers Nxxxyy if possible then check registry at:
Aircraft Registration Inquiry
If it says Dept. of Justice or similar, you got problems. For example in Dallas, if you ever see N999zy, its the Fed. You will also notice a camera ball on the nose as well as an IR spot on the rear of the fuselage on this bird.
It sounds like your risk would be more likely to come from someone sending them right to it. You mentioned deer trails which raises the question of not only wildlife, but possibly the owner leasing to hunters and such. Try to scout the area to include looking up trees for deer hunting blinds and such. The other source you have control of entirely, that is tell NO ONE of your grow. Not loved ones, high school buddies or best friends period. Every time you might be tempted, think about it for 1 second, then don't do it. Scorned lovers, brother-in-laws you didn't loan money to, and many many more have come to past. Just wait until you have the cured bud in glass as at that point you are taking the same risk as most of us just possessing.

[Panther420]

I'm with Blackthumb on this one. I couldnt have said it better myself except the trichomes do glow for them. Its hard to spot one or two seperated though. A bunch together would be spotted in a sec.

[richgannon_2001]

youll be fine they do flyovers to target big grows that make them look good, they arent gonna stop everything for 3 plants they see from the sky....using all that equipment to catch someone with 3 plants isnt effective they are lookin for ppl with 40+ plants at least then they can say they seized 40 000 bucks worth of plants and pat themselves ont he back lol

[Ms.Fox]

Originally Posted by BlackThumb

Hey Dugout, you decided yet? ^All what they said then run to opposite side of farm and give them a well beaten path, to a nice de-weeded circle where you have stuck your tomato plant. Use the magician trick of distract with the left hand while growing with the right. Luck to ya.

Ooooo I like that idea. Never thought of that.