Night vision

dbracin

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I am in the market for some type of scope for predator hunting.
What is available that is somewhat affordable. Thermal scope or night vision scope/IR ?
 
Only experience I have with them is one my buddy has on his rifle. It’s made by ATN, not sure of the model number but it worked very well on a very dark, moonless night hog hunt in TX earlier this year.
 
I have a Gen 3 and it's pretty clear. However, unless the eyes reflect with night vision you may not be able to see an animal unless it's moving.

The nice thing about thermal is that you can see with it what you'd otherwise miss with night vision. However, 3rd gen night vision has a lot better clarity than most inexpensive thermal.
 
I would suggest Pulsar Helion or Trail for thermal in that range. The Sightmark Wraith is whats hot in NV at this point. Super reasonable, has video, good battery life, etc. 500.00. and pick up a Thermal monocular for $2k. I would suggest the Pulsar Axion 30 (has video) or the Pulsar Axion 30 Key (no video) . So you scan with thermal, and when you see what you want to target, you can use the NV scope. It gets tiring when you are scanning with thermal on your rifle the entire time.
 
I would suggest Pulsar Helion or Trail for thermal in that range. The Sightmark Wraith is whats hot in NV at this point. Super reasonable, has video, good battery life, etc. 500.00. and pick up a Thermal monocular for $2k. I would suggest the Pulsar Axion 30 (has video) or the Pulsar Axion 30 Key (no video) . So you scan with thermal, and when you see what you want to target, you can use the NV scope. It gets tiring when you are scanning with thermal on your rifle the entire time.

This is mostly Greek to me.

I'll be sitting in a blind, roughly 35yds from a feeder. Hogs are coming in after the sun disappears. Out of the stuff you listed above, which would make the most sense? Or do you need other info?
 
This is mostly Greek to me.

I'll be sitting in a blind, roughly 35yds from a feeder. Hogs are coming in after the sun disappears. Out of the stuff you listed above, which would make the most sense? Or do you need other info?

For 35yds you don't need much. Daylight scope and a good green light will do that...
 
For 35yds you don't need much. Daylight scope and a good green light will do that...

What's a good green light?

I'll be looking that up, just in case.
 
When are you going?
You need to come borrow my rifle. And dont buy a bunch of stuffs. :)

Saturday night, but I have the last two and a half weeks off from work. And I ain't tryna drive to Elkin! :D

My buddy is supposed to be bringing me his ATN tomorrow. He also has the illuminator.

I've been pondering getting into NV, but I think @bigfelipe just slapped me back into reality. The furthest shot I have during the day is about 100yds, or maybe even less. I don't even think scanning with thermal would show up anything because of new growth pines and clear cut areas that haven't been tended to properly. I think I would be wasting more money than I have already.
 
What's a good green light?

I'll be looking that up, just in case.
That link that @bigfelipe posted looks like a great deal and should work fine. If you want a really good green light then Sniper Hog lights or Coyote Reaper are the way to go, according to some buddies of mine who do a lot of night hog hunting in TX.
 
Other than color, what’s the difference and uses in red vs. green?

A quick glance told me pigs can't see green and I think, yotes, etc., can't see red.

As usual, I could be wrong.
 

upload_2019-12-11_7-40-48.png




What about

iu
 
https://outriggeroutdoors.com/blogs...oosing-a-red-or-green-light-for-night-hunting

Red is better than green, but they both are above most animals' color blind wavelength.

That $27 Viridian light doesn't spec what wavelength their color light is, so I'd be skeptical.

I felt the price made it worth a try. If it does, awesome! If not, I've wasted $37.

That's an informative article in the link. I noticed one of the comments mentioned humans using green lights when hunting because we could see critters better with it vs red lights.

I have absolutely no experience with this, but thought that sounded like a reasonable assessment.

Regardless, I really hope mine is here in time to test it before Saturday night (assuming I'm not using my buddy's ATN).
 
Another excuse to come visit you... I need to sell a couple rifles and get set up with that see-in-the-dark stuff.

Yeah, Im in with some real yote hunters now, getting some thermal gear next paycheck. Unfair advantage. You have a pretty high chance of returning to Jamestown with a dead yote or two.
 
So......is the newer digital night vision comparable to gen 3???
 
The X-sight is not thermal, it's IR based NV.

The ATN Thor HD however.........is basically FLIR (which has an office here in the UNCC area....I need to go thru their dumpster one day when I'm walking!)

The Thor 4 is the newer one and it's about double what an HD costs.

Here's a little video comparing it to the Pulsar XP50. $4000 Thermal scopes are still not clear to me.



https://atn.factoryoutletstore.com/...MIlYP286Wu5gIVIueGCh2h0QH3EAAYAiAAEgJF6vD_BwE
 
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Other than color, what’s the difference and uses in red vs. green?

Like @9outof10mms said, it's invisible light to critters and works better than white light with human eyes. Red doesn't degrade our night vision, but green contrasts best to the human eye is my understanding from what I was told years ago at a Marine Corps night navigation class. They referenced animals some.

I don't know about wavelength stuff but those viridian lights are made for the application and they aren't cheap. I would assume they are legit, but you know what assuming gets you...
 
On the visible spectrum, red light is the lowest energy and longest wavelength.
Green is right in the middle of the visible spectrum.
 
Bringing this back up. All those @B00ger boogaloo meme got me wanting!! Lol My buddy is yote hunting some and bought a Pulsar Trail XP50 thermal. While awsome I have no desire to have that type of investment in basically a toy. We are heading back to Florida in the spring to do some hog hunting and can yote hunt a night or two a week so I would like to have night hunting capability. I already have a coyote reaper XXL light with green, red, white and IR L.E.D. inserts. It is really bright and does well but I would like to have night vision. I really like the SightMark Wraith that @Sneakymedic posted earlier and I like the $500 price point also. This will be mounted on an AR platform in .223 Wylde or .300 Blackout (have both rifles). Was wondering if anyone had any firsthand experience with the wraith or if ATN would be better. Any tips or suggesions will be appreciated.
 
We can't keep the wraith on the shelf. Thsts what the owner of the gun store I work at shoots. That ATN that was posted above is supposed to be crazy nice. The only thing bad about ATN, this is second hand from gun store owner, is thst their service is sub par after the sale if anything breaks. If the sightmark breaks, they send another out. I shoot a cheapo ATN 1st Gen xsight. 100 yds in with my kick ass streamlight illuminator, it's like day light. I just got a steal on it, and I've killed yotes everytime they gave me a chance.

Last night, I had a yote within 100yds, but when I went to NV on the gun, the illuminator hit a fence post in front of me and washed out the screen. So picking a good spot is important. Thst was our first time at that set. I hunt with guys with $4,000 thermal units all the time. I can kill everything they do. But they can scan for heat with their riflescope, I use a thermal scanner. It's preference.

My point is, if you put at least 500 in that sightmark/ATN Thor, and get a good illuminator, you will be in the game. You can spend more for better optics like Trijicon, or high end FLIR, but you don't have to to be a player. If you buy the wraith and hate it, I'll buy it. :)
 
Thanks for the response! I have an 800 (adevertised) meter illuminator that I will use. I am going to order the wraith and see how I like it. I am also going to order a tripod too. I have more or less settled on the BogPod death grip. Down the rabbit hole...
 
I got a Wraith and it seems really good for what I want to do with it, now I just got to get to the woods and call some coyotes up.
20191230_202427.jpg
 
I just purchased a Thor 4 with the recent rebate and Christmas sales. Hoping to avoid all the bad reviews.
 
This is mostly Greek to me.

I'll be sitting in a blind, roughly 35yds from a feeder. Hogs are coming in after the sun disappears. Out of the stuff you listed above, which would make the most sense? Or do you need other info?
This company has just about anything you’d need for lighting up hogs.
I have several of their lights, they are bright.

I use them mainly for tracking deer blood.

 
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