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

Even rats notice the IR. We killed plenty with NV, but with thermal they hang around longer and reappear sooner after the first couple shots.

Also agree it's tougher to judge distance with thermal vs NV. Most places we operate have been ranged during daylight hours.

thermal for the win lol. I like bering super hogster

I have never played with an IR light, I have hunted with a red light, can the human eye see the IR lights we are talking about?

No, but I’ve seen coyotes react to just about any emission.

Just for giggles n' grins

The first vid is one of the best I've taken with either the Super Hogster or Super Yoter in regards to clarity and quality. IMHO the conditions were about as good as it gets. It was the occasion of a 24hrcampfire Hoot n' Shoot at Thompson Lodge, Crystal City, Texas, early march. Temps would be in the high 60's low 70's and low humidity. Distance would be +/- 65 yds. I had limited out on pigs (dead pig to the left of the feeder) and was waiting to be picked up, when this sounder came in.


Bering Optics Super Hogster 2.9-11.6 x 35 mm, 384 x 288 Core:

The Bering Optics Super Hogster 2.9-11.6x35 Thermal Weapon Sight is one of the worst kept secrets of 2021. The internet is buzzing about the Bering Optics Super Hogster's great image quality and great price. What makes this scope Super? The Super Hogster uses a 384x288 thermal core like many mid-priced thermal scopes, but unlike all the others, it has a 12-micron thermal core with a NETD rating of <40 MK. The 12-micron core provides a sharper image than the Hogster R35 or other brands of scopes using a 384x288 17-micron core.

https://outdoorlegacygear.com/blogs/news/bering-optics-super-hogster-review

The reason I purchased the Super Hogster at the time was the 2.9 base magnification and the 12 micron core. IIRC the Super Yoter had not been released.







Next vid is the Super Yoter

SUPER YOTER R 3.0-12.0x50mm Compact Thermal Weapon Sight, VOx 640X480 core resolution, 12 µm pixel pitch with the LaRue Tactical® QD mount (BE46050L)

I remember the night well. It was June 23, 2023. I almost killed myself by zigging when I should have zagged, rolled my four-wheeler and got pinned under it. Laid me up for a month.

Anywho, I had set up at a place I call Creekside. It affords me a 120 yds shot at the Roadside pen.......




and a 90 yd. shot at the Creekside feeder.





I got there about 8pm as it did not get dark then until after 9PM.

I killed two hogs and a coyote at the Creekside feeder between dark and 11 PM. It gets hot in Texas in June. Temp was 91 degrees F when I climbed down at 11.



Was in no mood to deal with the other two after my accident.

Bear in mind that even thought the Super Yoter is a 640 unit, one can certainly tell the difference when the ambient temperature is near the same body temp as your quarry and the rocks are hotter than both.





Ya!

GWB

On my 2nd I ray bolt. 1st one crapped out without alot of use ( wouldn't hold charge and external battery wouldn't power it). 2nd one is good so far. Decent thermal for the $.

anyone use a thermal clip on? take it off use as a spotter, put it on use on a scope to shoot?

In theory it's a great plan, but it'll cost you kills.

I've had coyotes burn into the set in a matter of seconds, good luck closing the deal on those while fiddleyfucking around trying to get the scope on the gun.

A large percentage of the sets I transition back & forth between the gun and scanner trying to keep up with a varmint. Impossible with one unit.

I like to critique misses on the video. A clip on does not show the reticle in the recording to help determine the hold or shot placement.

^^^
I ran a 640 clip on w/a Wilcox shoe mount for 5-6 years or more. IF I was in a ‘set’ position, the thermal was on the gun and I had a tripod setup to scan with it. If I was moving/stalking, THEN it was off as a scanner. It’s possible it did cost me a shot on a coyote, but I can’t recall it. If you only have one device, it’s not a bad way to go, so long as you set up and use it logically. Sure, it’s better to have a scanner and a sight, but you still have to transition from one to the other, and I could throw that thing in that shoe mount pretty fast as I was bringing the gun up. It did kill a few dump truck loads of coyotes, so I can’t complain. I actually miss that one a lot.

Animals you hunt with IR can and will see your 850nm light.

If you are spooking animals with it, switch to a 940mn... (In many cases, it just requires a swap of the interchangeable light source, and not the entire light.)

I'm sure not knocking what you have, and don't mean to have you take it that way...

But those images are horrid for hunting and shooting at stuff. There is absolutely no way I would fire at anything when all I had to go by is that resolution. For my purposes, I may encounter livestock, or even some wildlife that may be out of season or otherwise protected. I want to be 100% confident that what I'm shooting at is the animal I want to shoot at. And I also want enough clarity to be able to put a killing shot where I want it, on the animal. Just shooting at a lit up blurry image doesn't meet my criteria for hunting at night.

If a animal appears in your thermal and is blurry you can refocus scope or change a few settings and do a NUC. if it's then still a blur then it's still out of your I.D range and you shouldn't be shooting anyway. Also why you want a thermal with 384 or better resolution as it allows you to positively I.D. farther out. I have three different thermal brands and can positively I.D out past 300 yards to a 1/2 mile, from a mouse to a deer or cow but if humidity is high then the I.D. range goes down.

I tried that. worked ok on hogs. but didn't work that well on coyotes moving, trying to reattach scope on the rifle in the pitch dark. Plus its tough doing anything in the dark lol


I use a a tri pod with a rifle attachment. I think it works ok for scanning

For night calling the tri-pod is the way to go for shooting and scanning. You can't scan 360 from a sitting position.

PSA keeps tempting me with this one.

You can do that with either a clip on or thermal scope. The AGM Rattlers come with a QD mount in either clip on or scope configuration.

As said above removing and attaching scope/clip on at night is sub optimal.

I have been using the AGM StingIR 640 in clip on mode and when set up right it a very solid choice over a dedicated thermal scope. I have a QD mount on it but I don't take it off during the night.

Right now I don't know which I like better, the AGM StingIR in front of a 3-18 VX-6 or the AGM Adder thermal scope. Both in 640 res.

thank you, it really would be a pain in the neck to remove and attach a scope in the dark. That said any comments on how repeatable the AGM QD mount reattachment is??

My partner removes/replaces his Adder (also an American Defense QD mount) almost every outing. We typically do mixed daylight pigeons then rats with thermal. While I prefer two rifles he just swaps optics on a Ruger Precision rimfire. No loss of zero that we've ever seen.

If your taking it off and putting it back on the same rail, it's golden.
If not, it's a crap shoot.
That's why I switched to using BoBro QD mounts.

SJC

AGM uses ADM mounts.

High quality mounts and repeatable.


If you are switching to a different rail/rifle I would use another zero profile if using a thermal scope.

The ADM mounts that come with AGM thermals are good.

If you are talking clip on there is a lot more going on switching rifles and clip ons need the software to store multiple zero profiles.

You can record the shift for each rifle but clip ons should have a simple way to switch profiles like a thermal scopes.