Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Night Vision or Thermal question

Lots of good solutions.

Thermal sees differences in heat and strong sunlight heats black up much more than white.

I have very good luck with black dots on white paper in strong direct sunlight.

Weak sun or overcast I use a AA battery wraped in aluminum foil shorting the battery. Gets up to about 150 degs and lasts about 30 minutes.

Slice an X in the target and insert the battery pointing at you. Very precise 1/2 inch diameter aim point.

One shot on the battery makes the battery go away but the thermal is zeroed.

Getting way more info than I expected. Love it. Now I need to figure out how to get something and not have the wife chit a chicken. Because I really think she did when I bought my SB Polar a while back.

I found cutting a 1" square in cardboard and taping the hot hands on the back for 100yd sight in works good.

I often use foil tape over a hot hands, with a hole or small open square in the middle. Can usually see them both….one hot and one cold, and any ‘misses’ in the foil tape show up well.

Man, reading these threads gets expensive!

I'm headed to TX in March for another pig hunt. I had such a good time, last year, I'm taking my 13yo son with me this time.

An e-mail from Palmetto State showed they had the Wraith HD 2-16x28mm for $399, and after doing a little looking around on their website, I found the Wraith 4k Mini 2-16x32mm for $499. I opted to spend the extra $100 for the smaller, lighter Wraith. I'm looking forward to trying out some night vision this year. Should be fun!

Good little optic.

Get a good light to run with it. It's like someone turned the lights on compared to cheap lights those can come with.

https://sniperhoglights.com/50lrx-gun-hunters-package-with-1-4-colors/

No schit, thanks guys.

Just dropped about $3.4K on a thermal set-up. Scope and monocular.

And was only about one notch above entry level quality.

Merry Christmas to me!

We got night hunting with thermal/White light/NV legal on public and state this year, in Wyoming.

The Commision tried to screw it up and right now Fed public is closed from Sept to Jan.

They screwed up and left State Trust Lands open to predator hunting at night and expect the Legislature to do a big ol bitch slap on the Commision over Fed public.

You'll get plenty of use for the new toys.

Yup, knew that, that's why my wallet sprung a leak.

Have to wear an IR strobe beacon to be legal. That seems kind of strange.

Legality of hunting w/thermal by state........

Predates the 11/23 missive, but FWIW.........

"Sightmark has done its due diligence and has reached out to the Fish and Wildlife representatives from all 50 states to determine the legality of thermal optics for hunting within their jurisdictions so that anyone who is unsure about using our new, powerful Wraith Thermal digital thermal riflescope on a night hunt can rest easy knowing that it can be used without legal repercussions.

The laws on thermal optics vary by state. Before trying your hand at night hunting with your new thermal device, it would be good to check with your local Game Warden before you reserve a date on the calendar for a hunting trip."

https://sightmark.com/blogs/news/thermal-legality-by-state




Lucky for me I'm in Texas and can do so 24/7/365!

ya!

GWB

I was at the meeting when that rule was adopted and the big issue is the dates when night hunting predators on Fed public is allowed.

If you notice they don't mention any restrictions for State Trust Land because they (commisionars) thought that would stop the night hunting on State land.

It does not as the legislation specifally allows night hunting on State land so their restrictions do not apply on State Trust Land.

The commision also went in Executive Session in the middle of the discussion which violates Wyoming's Public Meetings Act.

We will have to wait until the Wyo Legislature is back in session but word on the street is they will probably revoke the Commisions authority to regulate pretator hunting on public and State land.

The Governors office is pissed and as the bill passed by unanimous consent this is a pretty clear case of a regulatory agency thinking they get to write laws instead of the Legislature.

Good info already here. If I may add my two cents - if you seriously consider feral hogs a problem to your land and you want to ease things - don't stop at thermals.
Add trapping to your tool box. Trap sounders. Shoot breeders and leaders using thermals. Have a game plan year round. You can put a serious dent into local hog populations, but if you really want to solve a problem, thermals alone will not do it.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7359029/

Yeah. Alabama is stupid on it. Outside of the licensed ‘season’, it’s illegal to possess any of them while hunting. Game recovery be damned.

it would seem to me that a thermal or NV scope that took "interchangeable in the field" batteries would make a lot of sense. Something you have to recharge every 6 hours with a usb port would be a pain and about useless if your were hunting in an area where you don't have access to electricity like some deer camps here. Go back to the truck and use the charger crank the engine I guess.

The sitemark wraiths take CR123 batteries but I’d still rather use rechargeable battery packs. Can buy as many as you need to get through a trip for cheaper than lithium batteries or recharge in the truck.

Most of them have dual power options. There are good external power pack setups, too. Extra batteries or power packs for 5-10 days of use are not much of an issue in most cases. Don’t let speculation drive the truck. There are some sensor materials that are more ‘delicate’ than others, when it comes to temp extremes, vibration, and long term use. The military specs Vanadium Oxide over Silicon Dioxide for durability reasons. Peak performance is identical. You have to do some research usually to figure out which Pulsar sensors from Belarus are VOx as opposed to S2O.

I own the Pulsar Talion XQ38. As mentioned, I love the removable batteries. They are currently $85 each. It has 10 reticles options, 10 heat signature color options. I have had it on about 8 hunts. I am not completely fluent with it, but I can hit the necessary menu options now in the dark. The two best benefits are the zoom capability. It has three, 2.5X, 5X & 10X. It is bluetooth wireless to your chosen monitoring device. I use an iPad. The scope will function for 5 reliable hours on a single battery, which, is about as long as I choose to sit. The iPad, though about ten years old, will still run for about 8 hours of continuous illumination. This reliability allows you to focus on the hunt.

I have seen the wireless connection to the external monitor dropped from the muzzle blast. That is with about 12” linear between the two. Currently experimenting with effective placement. Even though the connection drops, the scope is still perfectly operative thru the objective. Being my first thermal purchase & experience, I am quite satisfied.

The ability to go on daylight hunts is an advantage for digital NV. Then swap to night mode at twilight. Most of the thermal and NV optics offer a sleep-mode to conserve battery life. They come awake quickly with the touch of a button.

I am thinking a monocular first. What is the opinion on the pulsar Axion 2 for $1500??

I’ve had a few Axions. A 384 or 640 version is a very capable yet handy option. Slips in a coat pocket or into your shirtfront on a neck lanyard.