About Drone-Search

Drone-Search provides professional thermal drone search services for lost pets, deer recovery, wildlife surveys, and public safety assistance throughout Western Wisconsin. With locations in Eau Claire and New Auburn, we use aerial thermal imaging and high-resolution camera technology to help search large, rural, wooded, and difficult-to-access areas from the air.

Drone-Search is owned and operated by Dave Whitehouse, a retired Eau Claire Fire Department Captain with more than 35 years of Search & Rescue experience and an FAA Part 107-certified remote pilot. Dave combines decades of real-world search experience with modern drone technology to develop systematic search strategies based on terrain, last-known locations, animal behavior, sightings, tracking information, and other available clues.

Our Mission

Our mission is to use experienced search techniques and professional aerial thermal imaging to help people find answers when an animal is missing. Whether we're searching for a lost dog, helping a hunter locate a deer, conducting a wildlife survey, or assisting with a public safety search, every mission begins with understanding the situation and developing an appropriate search strategy.

We are committed to providing responsive, personal service. When you call Drone-Search, you speak directly with Dave—not an answering service. We understand that many searches are time-sensitive, and we work to respond as quickly as availability, travel, airspace, weather, and operating conditions allow.

Our goal is not to promise that every search will result in a locate. It is to apply experience, technology, and a systematic search process to give each mission the strongest responsible effort we can.

Our Experience

Drone-Search is built on more than 35 years of real-world Search & Rescue experience. Owner and pilot Dave Whitehouse is a retired Eau Claire Fire Department Captain whose experience includes organized ground searches, structured search patterns, water-search operations using sonar, and aerial search techniques.

Today, Dave applies those same search principles to thermal drone missions. A successful search involves more than simply flying over an area and looking for a heat signature. Dave evaluates terrain, last-known locations, likely travel routes, animal behavior, sightings or tracking information, and changing conditions to develop and adapt the search.

As an FAA Part 107-certified remote pilot, Dave combines that search background with professional thermal imaging and high-resolution aerial camera technology to help locate lost pets, deer, and other animals throughout Western Wisconsin.

What Drone-Search Can Help With

Lost Pets: Thermal drone searches for missing dogs and other pets across rural, wooded, agricultural, and difficult-to-access areas.
Deer Recovery: Aerial thermal imaging and high-resolution cameras to help locate deer after the shot and provide imagery and precise GPS information when appropriate.
Wildlife Surveys: Thermal aerial surveys to help landowners observe and document wildlife activity across larger properties.
Public Safety Assistance: Aerial thermal search capabilities supported by Dave's decades of fire-service and Search & Rescue experience.