A remote controlled private surveillance drone being used by an animal rights group to monitor a hunting event ended up just like the birds.

The group SHARK (Showing Animals Respect and Kindness) was using the drone to film a pidgeon shoot taking place on the private Broxton Bridge Plantation near Orangeburg South Carolina, when it was shot down by unidentified individuals, believed to be involved in the hunt.   Owners of the plantation regularly hold bird shoots, where participants are allowed to shoot down birds once they are released from a hold.

  The SHARK group disrupted the event to the point where most of the shooters got in their cars and left.  They decided to send up the drone anyway, and just seconds after it gained altitude and began to fly towards the plantation, it was shot down by a series of well placed rifle rounds.  It sustained considerable damage.  Law enforcement officials plan to pursue the case because they say the shots were fired in the direction of a busy nearby highway.   While we don't advocate shooting down surveillance drones,  we are sure that many people who read this will at least crack a wide smile.   The drone was a relatively simple helicopter style unit, not the sophisticated machines we are used to seeing with the military on television.

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