Dan, the first decision to make is whether you want to go conventional NV or thermal.
The advantage to conventional NV is expense. There are decent NV scopes out there starting t well under $1k. The biggest disadvantage is that it relies on a either a certain amount of ambient light or infrared illumination. One of the big problems with IR illumination is that nearby objects reflect a lot of that illumination back to the scope and saturate it, essentially blinding the device. Also, muzzle flash tends to momentarily blind conventional NV.
The advantage to thermal is (IMO) two fold: there is no illuminator necessary, so it does not share that weakness with conventional NV. The other advantage is that animals stick out like a sore thumb, making it easy to quickly scan around you and detect any potential target. The disadvantage is cost. There's new stuff on the market I know nothing about, and I think some starts at less than $2k but don't take that to the bank. I'd say that if you spend around $3k you should be able to acquire something very usable.
My personal recommendation is Pulsar. My personal "brand to avoid" is ATN. I did all my buying several years ago, though, and a fresher perspective may be more helpful to you.
Don't be the darkness.
America will perish while those who should be standing guard are satisfying their lusts.
I bought a Wraith on BBar's recommendation, along with a better Illuminator.
He did not steer me wrong.
It's a decent setup for very little pain, which was important to me. Just testing the water so I didn't want to put 2-3 grand into something I may not use much. We could not renew our lease this year and that put coyote hunting on hold. I have secured permission to deer hunt a couple parcels of private land, so the possibility may develop.
I also bought the Wraith after pestering Bbar a bit by PM. As with Vic, I didn't want a bigger investment in an unused piece of kit.
The Wraith works well on an AR, you'll want the scope close, with your eye at the eye cup. The Hog light works well and it's now a complete package for the coyotes that visit the farm at night.
"Camping places fix themselves in your mind as if you had spent long periods of your life in them. You will remember a curve of your wagon track in the grass of the plain like the features of a friend." Isak Dinesen
So do you need to purchase some type of scope mount to put this on your rifle?
Its all right to be white!! Stupidity left unattended will run rampant Don't argue with stupid people, They will drag you down to their level and then win by experience
So do you need to purchase some type of scope mount to put this on your rifle?
No.
It comes with a very sturdy built in mount that attaches to a standard picatinny rail.
If you are shooting a rifle that doesn't have a picatinny rail, as an AR type rifle does, you may have to get a picatinny rail base mount for your rifle that attaches where your rifle is drilled and tapped for scope rings.
Dan, I was sitting on one of my stands with the Wraith last year, and when it got dark, I switched to night vision.
I'd placed the Foxpro caller out and turned it on before getting situated, a couple of hours before. After it got dark, I activated the caller with the remote and sure enough, a coyote came right into the sendero.
Shot it with my .308. Usually, when calling coyotes I use a .223 with 55gr Vmax bullets, as it kills them quicker. But the .308 was what I had...
I also have a Wraith (and spoke with Barry about them). I got the 2-16, for the larger FOV. I’ve also bought a better light for it, but have yet to put it on. The “included” illuminator (I’ll disagree with Barry a bit, here), while not fantastic, is perfectly adequate out to 150 yards (and you may get 200 out of it). For guys who hunt wooded areas, it would likely do all they need. For open country, get a better light.
Yes. View is pretty good, until you start going up in magnification. The zoom is “digital”, so the picture quickly becomes more “pixelated”, as mag increases. Stay at 2-4x (on the 2-16), and 4-8x (on the 4-32), and it’s good enough for killin’ stuff.
It has 3 modes to cycle through, 1) black/white night mode (2) green night mode (3) daytime mode
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/cd4fhHN.jpg)
