Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Thermal optics for stalking?

Anyone use thermal optics in the daytime in thick cover to locate game (deer, in this case)? Visibility in some of the places I hunt is down to a few feet even on sunlit days, and it might be helpful to have a thermal option.

If so, what would you use for an optic? Although I'd probably be on lookout for something on the low end.

Thanks!

When you say locate game, do you mean something you have shot or are you hoping to see something to shoot? I have one of those leupold hd trackers. It works good on cold mornings. I found a deer my nephew killed this year with it. Once the temps start to rise, the hi vis color palettes start showing red and yellow everywhere as the sun heats things up. I have not tried using it with anything other than high vis when trying to track. I imagine the more money you spend the better they are. I have a thermal clip on from AGM that when using the hi vis red color palette, I could see the blood spatter when I shot a hog. I was able to use the thermal to track the hog's blood trail. It lit up like christmas lights. AGM makes some less expensive hand held scanners that would be just as good or not better than the leupold. How good they are depends on how much you are willing to spend.

If you are talking about a thermal scope for your rifle to hunt with, they would work but may not be legal to use where you hunt.

Thanks. Just looking for the optic to scan and/or to find the downed deer once shot. I will probably have peep sights in the rifle, so no issue there.

I haven't intentionally deer hunted with my scanner (Pulsar Axion LRF) but I've done some playing around with it during the day while scouting etc. It actually works pretty well for identifying heat signatures but as the sun warms the trees, rocks, brush etc., everything reveals a signature.

I played with a Burris unit looking for rabbits in such one trip. Snow was 3 feet deep, temps were single digit. Once the sun was on stuff, everything lit up

I’ve used one for that purpose, a lot. A good 384 w/12pp and 35mm will work better gaining longer range detection in thicker stuff, various temps, and humidity for spotting downed game and blood. 640 is better, but costs more. A red alert setting seemed to work better than just a white/black hot, full color, or edge detect….for me. Your lower end $ for that is likely around $2k. A 385/17/25mm combo WILL work adequately, as well….conditions determine how much it degrades, more quickly than the others, but it’ll be the less expensive option. If you’re never going to weapon mount it, and a scanner is all you need, then your $ is going to go further. Bering and AGM have something to fit your needs. IRay will as well, though will cost more. Their minis will fit in a pants pocket, but do well for scanning on downed game.

Leica Calonox View...

Day or night... a total game changer.

It is the software...

If the Leica CALONOX View had a LRF in it, it might be the perfect scanner (at least for my needs).

I assume if they find success with the View, they'll offer that next.

The Leica in the video is a 640x512 WITH 12pp….which is the biggest difference. It will ‘act’ like a 60-75mm obj 640x480 17pp device in adverse conditions, due to that combo, and can get more detail to the software off the sensor plate in all conditions. It has great specs for sure, though the FOV at 2.5x
might be tighter than some others. Their sight version is 384/17pp….I’ll take a super Hogster or Rico bravo over that.

Software output is only as good as it’s input will allow it to be. The specs can’t be overcome with it, but it can help get the most out of the specs/sensors, IF the view screen is good enough to present it to the eye, as well.

Keep in mind that vanadium oxide sensors are still the way to go over silicon dioxide (Pulsar) for sensitivity and NETD values. There is apparently some new tech to make Si stuff on par with VOx, but (AFAIK) the expense and smaller pixel size needed isn’t affordable in handheld devices yet.

The nerds try to keep me up to date…not sure I digest it all most days.

Hate to hijack but this seems like a good place to ask this question.

I use a SxS or ATV for ice fishing and some of the lakes have isolated features known as gas, or methane pockets, that burp up bubbles from the lake bottom. Depending on the volume of the venting, they can cause big enough bad spots to cause problems. I've seen some holes the size of a softball, barely noticeable, to the size of a large living room, a substantial big open bubbling hole in otherwise safe ice.

This thread made me wonder if a thermal monocular would identify these spots from a distance, as they are surely warmer than the area around them.
They really suck when the conditions are such that they are barely skimmed over with ice, and hard to identify.

For those experienced with these units, do you think they would work for finding these spots?

OP- the AGM TM15-384 is what your looking for .
The TM15 is the cheapest large screen thermal available and it can be helmet mounted.
The really cheap thermals don't have the big display and wide FOV this unit has.
Looking through them is like looking into a toilet paper tube with a postage stamp at the end and are a total waste of money.
The only drawback is it has an internal battery, but after two years of use, I'm still getting at least 8 hours of usage per night if the display is put on sleep mode.

WYcoyote- Adjusted correctly, I think a thermal will show the temp difference to see a gas pocket if there's a big difference in temp, but it won't be as noticeable in the daytime with good sunshine.
You would need to go really slow to be able to see that difference.
I can see the heat of a squirrel or a coon in a hollow tree at night with my thermals.

SJC

I think you’d see them on ice…..it may not look like a warm blooded animal, but more like an area of lighter/darker shades, depending on your setting….on black hot, avoid the black spots with gray rings….or such. I can see melted spots in snow with mine.