Son wants thermal setup for Christmas to night hunt after deer season. Help please

[work2play2]

I’m scared to even ask how much this is gonna cost. I don’t want junk. I want something good. He has only shot one hog few months ago and where we are it’s nothing but night pictures. But when they come in I bet there’s 75 different hogs. This land borders cyber.
Anyhow, I don’t even know what’s needed. I assume something to scan infront of us and a thermal scope. I’m open to ideas and pictures. Anyone have a good setup they recommend

 

[Railroader]

Sightmark Wraith...Not thermal, but only $500.

Danged good out to 150 or so, even better if you pop for an aftermarket IR torch...

Check it out.

 

[Semi-Pro]

Set out some bait or a feeder and a solar light in the field. You can see them with ur regular scope.or you can get a hog light to mount on top of ur scope. A whole lot cheaper

 

[bluemarlin]

Check out https://www.atncorp.com

 

[ditchdoc24]

ATN is less expensive but their customer service is horrible. Pulsar has excellent customer service and their stuff works well. Least expensive in thermal scopes is going to be the Pulsar RXQ30v. Those run about $1900 shipped. If you decide to go night vision, I've heard a lot of good things about the Sightmark Wraith. I've got the RXQ30V and it's great.

 

[work2play2]

Set out some bait or a feeder and a solar light in the field. You can see them with ur regular scope.or you can get a hog light to mount on top of ur scope. A whole lot cheaper

Are hogs weary of solar lights or they will come right into it?

 

[antharper]

Are hogs weary of solar lights or they will come right into it?

I’ve got a feeder set up on my lease with a green motion light that works perfect , they do seem a little spooked at first but it doesn’t take them long to not pay it any attention . It has become my daughter’s favorite thing to do when we are at our lease . Just make sure to steak your feeder down good . I drive a t post down beside each leg and it works pretty good . I use 2 $30 wildgame feeder lights attached to my feeder , they are solar powered . When the light comes on the shooting starts

 

[antharper]

If you look on the barrel of the feeder you can see light , I just screwed them to feeder

 

[antharper]

After a night at feeder

 

[shdw633]

I just went through all of this and went with an ATN X-Sight 4K Pro night vision scope because I wanted something I could use both day and night and I like the rechargeable battery that comes with it. I didn't want to be carrying around extra batteries every time I went out on a hunt like I heard about with the Wraith. I am extremely happy with it and it has done the job I asked of it so far. That being said you can get an ATN Thor LT THERMAL scope refurbished for under $1000. I have seen them under $900 on Ebay but ATN has them for around $980 right now. I would check out the ATN X-Sight Pro 4K as they have refurbs for $539 or you can go new on Ebay for around $450. I recommend an upgraded IR light with whatever night vision scope you choose, I have a stream light that works great for under $80 I use. Good luck!!

https://www.atncorp.com/refurbished

 

[kmckinnie]

If you look on the barrel of the feeder you can see light , I just screwed them to feeder View attachment 1041790

That light is good. Looks like daylight in that pic. ?

 

[ddgarcia]

Sightmark Wraith...Not thermal, but only $500.

Danged good out to 150 or so, even better if you pop for an aftermarket IR torch...

Check it out.

I'll.second this. It does have a few drawbacks though. One, it's heavy, comparatively speaking. Two, if you're using it "in the bush" you will get a lot of IR refraction from the brush making it difficult to see very far. Three, batteries.

Work arounds are possible though. If you are setting up on a spot and not "stalking" them the weight isn't much of an issue. You will need a rest of some sort, shooting rail, tripod, etc. for better stability though.
As for the refraction of the IR off of the brush, I made a "filter" for my illuminator that reduced that significantly.
And for the battery issue, it uses two different ones. CR123a for the illuminator and AA for the scope itself. No way around the CR123a's that I've yet found, but I bought a 30000mAh battery pack online to power the scope. Again of you are "stalking" them this is not really a good option for the cable running between the battery and scope but if you're setting up on a spot it's great.

PM me if you'd like more info about one.

 

[stonecreek]

X2 onSightmark Wraight ??

 

[dfurdennis]

Are hogs weary of solar lights or they will come right into it?

Not typically shy on an average 100 pounder but the big boys are a little smarter. If you're not hunting thick woods and are on a food plot/feeder set up the sightmark day/night IR scopes are very good....they get a flashback condition in heavy woods. I have had one for 3 years and killed around 50 hogs at night with it very dependable....I hope this helps

 

[work2play2]

Thanks for all of you that responded guys

 

[sghoghunter]

I will second the pulsar rxq30. Me and my brother both have one mounted on two 300 blackout pistols and we love them. They are basic no extra bells and whistles features to get confused on.

 

[sleepr71]

I think that IF you want THERMAL...that Pulsar ^^^ is about the best bang for the buck..that is a legit Hunting/Rifle caliber durable thermal. Maybe some of the Coyote hunting guys will chime in about their set-ups. I do think most SCAN with some sort of hand held monocular,then shoot with the Rifle. Unfortunately most NV/Thermal scopes are around 2-2.5 lbs so they make the rifle a little harder to free-hand. Most hunt from a stand,or using a tri-pod set up to steady up & make their shots count. I’d post this in the Varmint/Predator forum also

 

[buckmanmike]

How about your son getting a job or doing chores to earn the night vision.

 

[antharper]

How about your son getting a job or doing chores to earn the night vision.

Earn a Christmas gift ? I love it when my kid wants a new gun or something (we) can use , for Christmas or birthday gift

 

[work2play2]

How about your son getting a job or doing chores to earn the night vision.

Thank you dr. Phil