Thread: 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!