Thread: Thermal Optics under scrutiny?

Yeah I'm happy with that answer but do I full trust people to understand the difference in heat signatures and make the right call. Kind of but not 100% that's for sure

Originally Posted by Grantn

Yeah I'm happy with that answer but do I full trust people to understand the difference in heat signatures and make the right call. Kind of but not 100% that's for sure

At 5-600yards a red,fallow,sheep or pig are different. Similar to white goat vs sheep.shape comes into it.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

At 5-600yards a red,fallow,sheep or pig are different. Similar to white goat vs sheep.shape comes into it.

Deer

275 yards (ish).



400 yards (ish)

Yeah fair enough. In hindsight maybe it's also the purist of the chase in me and takes some knowledge out of the chase. Maybe I just need to embrace that it's a new technology that's here to stay

Right I'm convinced. So anyone got a handheld for sale? ��

I keep 99% of my shooting under 300yds,more like 250yds.Very easy to ID animals out on open river beds and bush edges.

In the early days of thermals we chased a lot of "deer at 1km" only to discover it was coons and hares at 200-300m in lumpy tussock country. In those days it was find with the thermal hand held and shoot with the spottie.

Technology has moved mighty quickly, judging from what I saw at the Rotorua Fishing hunting and 4x4 expo last month

Fallow buck 400yds.Pretty easy to ID deer at 300yds or less in the open.

I will group myself in with the other "luddites" who question the change to allow thermals on public land, particularly in those blocks that hold our trophy herds. Some seem to be making comparisons between thermal technology and advancements in modern firearms technology/ telescopic sights. Perhaps implying that thermals are just the next logical advancement in "hunting" technology. These comparisons are off the mark. For certain we have more efficient rifles and scopes than ever before. However, these technologies only improve the chances of humanely dispatching an animal once it is located with the hunters own wits and senses (I'm not a fan of using dogs for deer either). Thermal technology on the other hand strips deer of some of nature's most effective concealment and evasion tactics. Some of the very things that make deer such a premier game animal in the first place.

Binoculars and spotting scopes would have to go too if following that line of thinking.

Mickey he's saying that as good as standard binoculars and scopes are, they dont allow you to use an invisible, to us, spectrum of light. They still allow the animals to use their natural defences of darkness and concealment behind cover.

End of the day this thread is just a heap of opinions from my quick scan. Thermals are here to stay and they aren’t going anywhere, regardless of how you feel about them. Do what makes you happy and enjoy.

An interesting article from a 2017 NZ Outdoor magazine

Originally Posted by stagstalker

End of the day this thread is just a heap of opinions from my quick scan. Thermals are here to stay and they aren’t going anywhere, regardless of how you feel about them. Do what makes you happy and enjoy.

Fare call ..one could say there are those who shoot things and those who are known ti be hunters.