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Hi Team,
Giving some thought as to getting a light & compact held held thermal to assist with mostly bush hunting, including retrieval of animals. Ideally something that can slip into chest pocket on the old jacket, basic Pulsar seems small and compact.
Keen to hear any thoughts of those that have found them good or otherwise in the bush.
Thanks.
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it will work but will also de skill you as a hunter.youll get addicted to it and lose your hunting edge.
Having used them extensively over the years I would say just remember that the smaller objective lenses generally give a better field of view than larger models while still giving adequate resolution to positively identify objects out to sensible hunting ranges. Up to the individual to decide what colour pallete to use and contrast, brightness settings. Don't be lured/persuaded into buying 35-50 mm models, without trialing, they are overkill for bush work. I have an older 15mm, F1.0 unit that gives a 30m FOV@100m that I use in the bush and it's perfectly adequate.
I just brought a hikmicro condor cq35l. What an amazing bit of kit. Would highly recommend.
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What @woods223 said, if it's mostly bush work get something with a 25mm objective lens or less. Most will still range out to 1000m for some tops or open field work but have a decent field of view for the bush.
There is a good post by @556 on here about thermals and how they work, it's been linked on most threads about this subject, should be pretty easy to find.
Here’s the guide:
https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....thermal-96545/
Anything greater than 25mm will be a waste of money unless you goto a 640 sensor.
19mm probably best fit.
So how do you hunt thick bush with them?do you sit and scan a hillside when open enough or use as a type of binocular while sneaking along?would need to be fairly open understory I would have thought?
Have found the units with small objective lens useless if you hunt areas prone to fog and mist.
Great topic for a thread. I'm also very interested in this and what members experience has been when used in this way within the bush. Beyond the field–of–view suitability, I have questions such as; if public land and then being used under the canopy only during daylight hours, is a thermals use limited to early morning before the sun has started to shine through and raise the temperature of pockets of vegetation? Any feedback on this or any other practical application for bush use would be very helpful please?
Have a Infiray FH35R V2 LRF monocular,649x512 senser.Good range finder picks up out to 1100yds,plenty enough.Big fist size pocket unit.3 batteries keep you going all night in the summer.Low base mag of 2x,for wide fov,good for in the bush and I d deer out to 1500yds across a river bed on a clear night.Good for in the fog 300-400yds,its got some horse power for a small unit.Takes good vids and photos,pnp n wifi.This is my 4th monocular over the last 10yrs.Its very practical and a good unit for yr $$$$.
i have used one for years in the bush, animals stand out like dogs balls even on a sunny day, daylight or dark it doesn't matter,(obviously they work better in darker situations) thermals pick up the heat off an animal.
Have a look at your cat or dog outside on the lawn with a thermal, they just stand out more than the surrounding vegetation.
It is a lot like looking for animals with binoculars, the more animals that you see, the better you get at finding them.
i have used them to find blood splatters and animals in the fern.
just another tool to help improve your chances.
My handheld pretty much stays on full time and attached to the back of my firing hand.
I typically use it to have a quick scan 180° in front of me now and then, and for looking through holes in vegetation.
Anything that is alive or recently dead, stands out like like the sun compared to anything else in the field of view.
Whaaaaaat??,.. how so …. I’ve been using one ever since they were affordable….. I refute yr statementQuote:
Originally Posted by Yesmate
Interesting thread. Annoyingly, I had a handheld thermal, but sold it when I lost access to some private land because they weren't allowed on DOC land. Sounds like I could point one at thick bush and see goats and pigs???
https://i.ibb.co/6sbT9hr/1-Bush.jpg
If they ever become affordable....I might have to try one and see for myself. Strange how folks have upgraded ,up to four times,yet the second hand items still cost as much as a new rifle.Quote:
Originally Posted by A330driver
Yeah mate …would agree totally… but to pontificate that you lose yr edge is BS!!!….. it’s just another format in the hunting regime that you adjust too…
Iron sites..to scopes … to nicer scopes …to thermal … to better thermal .. to red dots ……. Too WHATEVER!!!!
If you used nothing else in yr life but thermal and never transitioned back to all the other… then sure,you may never have an edge… but cmon….
Hah. I had no hunting edge to lose. Except my knife’s edge. I’ve always used aids. Binos, dogs, mates, luck. Hearing aids. Walking aids. Carrying aids. Thermal is just another tool. Bring it on.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yesmate
Just one more thing to carry and not lose or wreck. Whatever spins your wheels I guess but the cost of them would be a fair few chopper trips in the bush.
I have used mine in the bush quite a bit (25mm lens/640 sensor). Bloody effective. I stalk just as I normally would but every now and then scan with the thermal, just as I would with binos. Amazing what I have picked up that I'm sure I wouldn't have detected without it.
The thermal doesn't know if it is daylight or dark. It senses difference in temperature. A warm body in the cool bush stands out just fine but they really come into their own in winter when an animal will stand out like a light bulb in a dark room. The biggest problem I then have is seeing the bloody thing without it, even though I know exactly where it is.
yep just it is just another tech tool to improve chances of going home with the goods,nothing wrong with that but they definitely make hunting easy.i find myself reaching for the thermal on private land to get straight to the point rather than scanning with the binos for an animal which in itself is a bit of a skill,i refuse to take it into the sticks as I reckon bush hunting is at the very top tier of hunting skill.going into the bush without a dog or thermal and consistently succeeding is a massive buzz for me that I dont want to lose,Using a thermal would just make it easy.Quote:
Originally Posted by A330driver
One of the best tools around d to increase the chance of getting an animal, recon I see three times as many deer with one that without. And in a shorter time
Upgraded to a Pulsar Axion 2 XG35 from a Pulsar Axion Key and that was a big jump up in resolution and usefulness during the day. Good for spotting deer on or in the edge of bush and finding downed aminals.
Is anyone using the little T2's that attach to your phone in the bush?
I'm not sure I want another bit of kit to try and look after when in the bush, however I always have my phone with me so I see it as a good compromise.
Would like to get feedback on real world experience before I go through the drama of explaining my latest purchase:oh noes:
Is that why you use a 80ltr pack to carry all your goodies. LOL. You must split the pack... 40ltr for projectiles [39 different makes ] and 40 ltrs for hunting goodies. Too much.*Quote:
Originally Posted by Tahr
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yesmate
Ditto on that mate… totally agree …. I don’t think there would be many on here that disagree and I reckon we’ve all been there….,, years have taken there toll ,no issues there , but doing the hard yards on many hunts.. Yes .. I’ve been there with an old.303 with iron sights and still relish those days…… what makes me now laugh is I have nephews in their 20,s who use Helicopters to get into the bush where we once tramped!!….. with heavy packs!!!!…… different strokes for different folks!
All true. But at least life is never boring :)Quote:
Originally Posted by TeRei
Son bought a rugged phone, military specs, with thermal & night vision, less than $1k.Quote:
Originally Posted by 7mm tragic
Ulefone Armor 25T Pro
Ulefone is much lower spec than the T2 Pro.Quote:
Originally Posted by luckey
We have some samples of the new T2 Pro Max just landed with a bigger lens. Will do some testing in the new year.
I can understand that thermal can be a crutch, but people rarely mention the skills and knowledge using thermal helps develop.
Thermal has been amazing at showing me what I was missing, and animal behavior when I couldn't see then. It has really helped me piece together their behavior and what I was doing wrong, and my spotting rate without thermal has gone way up. Thermal is kind of like having an experienced hunter teach you to spot animals.
As far as a bush monocular, if you know you won't go long distance, lowest resolution possible is the thing. I'd personally say that thermal in its current form isn't capable of multitasking well (ie being used for close and long range) so buy the optics suited for the main use and understand it'll have limitations for other use. Trying to get a generalist thermal optic when you know you're going to use it in the bush will just lead to frustration.
Do yourself a favor and try a bunch of them before buying. There is a lot of variety and their spec sheet only tells you half the story.
Quote:
Originally Posted by canross
Well i think you are completely of the mark, my first hand held was a pulsar XP50, made for long range spotting , i was seeing deer up to 2 km away in tussock country. and when i was in the bush, down to about 15 yards,
all you had to do was alter your focus dial on thermal unit, easy peasy.
When i got my XP50, the shop owner got me to walk around the shop carpet with my shoes ON, He focused the thermal to 3-4 meters and i then had a squizz through the thermal and i could see my footprints on the carpet glowing bright as.
i now have a 35mm set of bino's just as good in the bush, but no where as much definition of target or vegetation once you are over 500 yards as the xp50.
,
I'm considering buying another thermal now after reading all of this. Thanks, bastards!
Mr Bastard thank you :thumbsup:Quote:
Originally Posted by MB
Which 18650 batteries to the Sytong thermal monoculars take? Flat top or button? Cheers.
Flat top. Recommend 3100mah and above. We sell the very good vapcell 3800mah on our website. Also check out cell supply for reliable batteries.Quote:
Originally Posted by MB