first time with thermal

This will be pretty basic stuff to many of you, but I've just had my first experience with using a thermal to spot deer. Thanks to a truly good bugger on this forum (who will remain nameless until I get permission to name him) I was offered the use of a thermal to try out. I had never had any interaction with this forum member, and the offer was made despite him not knowing me at all... some true good people here! Anyway, it arrived on Saturday afternoon, with instructions not to let it get wet. So what happens? It started to rain. And rain. Almost 200mm of rain later, I finally got a break in the rain this afternoon and took the thermal out to see what I could see, no rifle this time.

I'm a farmer who plants trees, and while I like venison, shooting deer for me is about pest control rather than the hunting experience. I have lost a lot of trees (and money) to feral deer and goats, but because the feral numbers are low and transient I have not had a lot of success in controlling the pests. I've been told several times that I'm probably walking past hidden deer on a regular basis. The thermal is my attempt to find, seek and destroy. No mercy, and no messing around with trying to leave a healthy population.

So I was out this afternoon, spotting trees, and rocks, and sheep and cattle. Spotting water tanks and machinery. Finding small birds and ducks (the ducks swimming in what is usually my hay paddock). The one thing I did not expect was how fast the batteries would go flat, after only about 15 minutes the battery symbol was flashing red.

I really wanted to find a deer, having been told deer show up a lot 'colder' than sheep and cattle I wanted to see for myself and know for future reference. But half way home with the battery symbol flashing flat I was searching the last few lines of trees when the screen went dark. Next ridge.... 3 red deer standing watching me from about 300m away. I tried to get the thermal to power up again, but no show.

So, I see the potential, but frustratingly have not yet used it to find any deer.

Next time the rifle is coming too!

them Bambis were laughing at you bud.......bet they back in primo tucker now still chuckling with mirth and jostling each other as they munch away....

The batteries should last a lot longer than that in a thermal Ben.

What model have you got that does seem to fast for battery to go flat.and yip there is some truly good buggers on here


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I wonder that model you are using, I got myself a xm30 a few months ago and its been great on the deer. Surprising what you can spot in the morning, would of walked past a few deer without it.

Mine lasts a good 4-5h on one battery, never had to use the spare but always have one there to use.

As above batts should last way longer on anything I have used.....inless you are using a casset thing that takes AA batts? I've never used that option but it is or was there on pulsars but the capacity of a budget AA is nothing compared to the proper pack.

In my experience deer show slightly warmer than sheep depending on how thick the sheep's wool is. My pulsar lasts 5 + hours

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Originally Posted by PerazziSC3

In my experience deer show slightly warmer than sheep depending on how thick the sheep's wool is. My pulsar lasts 5 + hours

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Especially if they are wet.

Deer are a lot “hotter” then sheep also neck is a lot longer and and longer in leg it’s easy to get them confused in the thermal till you have spent a bit of time, I’ve stalked a few sheep till I got the hang of it

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Originally Posted by Fat ninja

Deer are a lot “hotter” then sheep also neck is a lot longer and and longer in leg it’, I’ve stalked a few sheep till I got the hang of it

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no velcro glove needed LOL.

It's an older model pulsar hd38s with 4xAA batteries, but hey guys a complete stranger let me me borrow it so I was not complaining it was not top of the range! It's test of concept to see how it performs in my situation. What I really wanted to see is how far into the bush I could see relative to just visual. The AA batteries were new but it's always possible they had been sitting around too long. 15 minutes did seem extremely fast to run down.

How much has the performance changed since this model?

If they were just dry cell alkaline batteries theres your problem.
With the pack they last hours.

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Originally Posted by veitnamcam

If they were just dry cell alkaline batteries theres your problem.
With the pack they last hours.

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Well that's all I've got so I'll make do! Finding the deer is all that matters.

I'm currently using an older model, Flir with standard alkaline. 30mins is about tops but newer stuff typically running 3200mah batteries will last 4 times as long atleast.

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

no velcro glove needed LOL.

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I always carry them and gum boots….haha

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Originally Posted by Ben Waimata

It's an older model pulsar hd38s with 4xAA batteries, but hey guys a complete stranger let me me borrow it so I was not complaining it was not top of the range! It's test of concept to see how it performs in my situation. What I really wanted to see is how far into the bush I could see relative to just visual. The AA batteries were new but it's always possible they had been sitting around too long. 15 minutes did seem extremely fast to run down.

How much has the performance changed since this model?

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The newer ones are a lot better but nothing wrong with that model


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batteries should last longer than that I use sony eneloop rechargable batteries in mine usually get 3-4 hours

I have the same model thermal and run the white and black Eneloop rechargeables. I get 4-5 hours of use without turning it off since it so slow re boot. Less obvs if its cold. Keep a spare set in your undies. That battery cage is a piece of crap though.

Well I've been out with the thermal, in between rain event. Interesting that I can see cattle through trees pretty clearly, but I was disappointed watching deer in the paddock, as they jumped into the treeline they disappear a lot faster than I had hoped, so I don't have confidence in being able to see them in the trees. I had no idea cattle dung would stay warm so long! We've got a lot of rocks on this place, they shine almost as brightly as the cattle. I would never admit to wasting some time stalking rocks throught he trees... that must have been someone else...

My initial conclusions is my personal results are not as good as I had hoped for (no fault of the thermal!), this is obviously because the deer are not just hiding in the long grass as I had hoped, and as some people had suggested might be the case. The deer I have seen have been ones I would not have noticed without the thermal, so there is a clear advantage for finding them. I couldn't find any hares wiht the thermal but coming home tonight I saw hares everywhere, now the dairy grazers have mowed the grass down the hares are back. Next fine night I'll be out looking for hares with the thermal (plus the .223 for anything bigger), will be very interesting.

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Originally Posted by Huntfisheat

I get 4 or 5 hours out of a Pulsar XP50 Trail. 2 batteries for a nights work, job done.
But i also take a power bank and charger cable with me to top up the used one when the second one goes in , just in case.

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Is that continuous use...? Like, turned on and being used for the entire time, or is that intermittent on and off run time? (Excuse my ignorance - I'm just uncertain whether it has some kind of 'auto-off' or standby mode when sitting for a few mins between shots)

I use the display off function with mine (XQ28F ) and can do a full night and have about 1/3 battery left. The instant restart is an excellent feature plus it acts as a bit of a handwarmer.