Thread: Thermal for daytime

In relation to the use of thermals on DOC land I saw this article from DOC in 2016 where they mention:

“The use of night vision equipment, infra-red and heat detecting devices are also prohibited on conservation land during the hours of darkness.”

https://www.doc.govt.nz/news/media-r...ng-after-dark/

If one takes the wording on the permit word for word then it seems thermals are outright banned but given that this statement is also grouped with other points about hunting at night and the use of spotlights etc, one could also make the interpretation that thermals are only banned at night. I think the latter is quite possibly what they intended. I personally cant see any logical reason against using a handheld thermal during legal hunting hours as long as you still have an binos/optical scope/open sights that would confirm target identity (i.e not also shooting with a thermal scope). Other evidence seems to support this interpretation such as the aforementioned article and the previous posts mentioning written statements from DOC etc.