Thread: I've Experienced the Advantage of Hunting with Thermal and Night Vision

@Coote & @tiroahunta & others who have just started hunting with this type of Kitt ,can you keep putting up posts/info as you progress on the Good ,The Bad & Ugly of this seemingly Black Art to those of us only just looking at getting in to it ,like many l am toying with buying some as l have just been given access to another 2 joint owned properties to look after their pest problems ,but pigs in particular raiding at night .

Can you also give a rough idea on cost of your set ups & after using them for a while on hunts what the Pro's & Cons of your gear is ,l do not really want to spend Six Grand on a set up & am hoping a clip on with either a good lighting system or combined with a cheap hand held will do the job as l am not really interested in it for Deer or long range hunting etc .

I have really not even done any indepth research as we have had too much on with our Farm expansion this year ,but if any one can point out good unbiased info to read/watch over the holidays would be a help well ,there is a growing interest among hunters so it will help many of us here .

You've got me thinking about what you really need to shoot at night. There is quite a selection of gear available to help ensure success. I have to add the disclaimer that I prefer to hunt during the daylight.... I have never shot pigs (other than trapped ones) after dark.... and my experience is mostly limited to small game.

As you'll know, a telescopic sight on a good rifle, accompanied by a bright enough light is the way it has been done for years. When gel cells were available, it made life a lot easier for the folks that carried a car battery around. Now there are LED flashlights that have made the old halogen spotlights and heavy batteries obsolete for me.

I reckon that if you know your hunting area well, then a rangefinder that works in the dark is not necessary.... especially if you are using centrefire ammo with full loads.

If there are certain locations where animals are known to appear, then waiting and listening may alert you to their presence and you can make yourself ready before switching on a bright spotlight.

Animals that haven't been harassed may not immediately run off when you turn on a light. But some might. And this is the problem about hunting with a spotlight..... locating animals without scaring them. So having a thermal monocular or a night vision device can give us the advantage of maybe seeing the animals before they are aware of our presence. Some folks say that using a red (or even a green) light might spook animals less. Some even say that animals can't see a red light, however I think that mostly they are aware of it. But it might not bother them as much as a white light. It is worth playing coloured lights though. I bought a reasonably bright red LED flashlght through Aliexpress that would probably enable me to shoot with a scope out to 40 or 50 metres.... although I've never measured the distance.

I have to go out now. I may write some more later. Happy Christmas.

This is an honest, helpful thread thanks Coote. After some yeas of experimenting (and reading a lot of BS advice on this and other Forums about NVG/Thermal gear and night-time hunting) I now have a full NVG Googles set-up (Helmet-mounted PVS-14s, 3rd Gen) plus a top-end Thermal scope for the shooting part itself. This works well for me, and is fun!!

But you're right that a good NV/Thermal set-up doesn't have to be uber expensive - its a case of trial and error and deciding what works for you and the particular night-time game your are after. If there is ONE piece of NV/Thermal kit I think has become a go-to / indispensible item I agree the Thermal Monocular is GREAT. I borrow my mate's one, and use it during the day and early evening to first locate game. It's a game-changer!