The 2021 Thermal and Night Vision Thread

[Jethro]

[Jethro]

Well dang. This one picture keeps trying to be huge and messing up the thread so I will delete it.

[TX03RUBI]

Sent a couple more pups to an early grave this weekend. Had my best shot on a coyote with thermal this weekend on one of those pups as well. 348 yds to where the pup fell confirmed with OnX, and roughly 10-20 yds further than that where he was actually shot. Was waiting on him to come closer to the call, but he was about to wind us, and dropping off into a draw right as I squeezed. Perfect lung shot with the 22 Creed, which was surprising he ran as far as he did. Nothing was left of his lungs. Had another coyote/bobcat double which should’ve been a triple. Had two coyotes circling downwind of us, and hung up when we blew the call. One coyote ran another 30 yds and lined up perfectly with a house in the background, so we had to pass on the shot. While this is going on we had a coyote sneaking up upwind of us, and we’re able to capitalize on him along with the coyote out in the open. My buddy got the cat at 75-80, and I got the dog just shy of 200.

[imyomama]

Taipan tm15

well, the verdict is in on the Taipan tm15 . some good, and some bad ... first the good. had no problem whatsoever spotting pigs with it. one of which was at the 300 yards feeder. the tap of the power button to turn the screen off and put it in standby mode is genius . i used that a lot when walking around. added a lanyard to wear around my neck . the hand lanyard is worthless and just gets in the way when hunting after all this is a hunting aid, so sooner or later you need your hands free. battery life was great, i used it all weekend and never had to charge it. now for the bad , #1 the biggest negative is the brightness ... it goes from 1 to 5 but if you like me like to keep your night vision by dimming it to the dimmest setting of 1, it's still way too bright, but it gets worse... big surprise when you switch to black hot, it's actually brighter on 1 than 5 ***????. i wish turning down the brightness would dim in both modes.. as i like to use black hot to see terrain better after initial contact #2 the rubber lens cap is annoying.. it needs a place to go to keep it from flopping around .. i used a rubber band to keep it put, but it's a little ghetto . #3 i wish you could go into the menu to switch from pic to video instead of hold down for video.. sure seems like you have to hold it down for a long time before video starts and stops.. i'd like it to be quicker and simpler. #4 eye relief and focus ... you really have to put your eye all the way against the eyecup to see the entire screen .. i wish it was a little more forgiving , and i need 1.5 close up reading glasses and the focus is adjusted all the way already just for me to see . i feel the adjustment should go further. alternatively , like DJI goggles , if the eye piece was designed differently , you could also insert a corrective lense into the eyepiece ... .

Overall , i'm satisfied with the spotter, it does what it's intended for . one thing i might add is that it would also be nice if you could flip the image upside down in the menu , so if like me you wear a helmet when hunting , you can use your helmet mount with the camera tripod mount ... yeah i know a 3d printed mount could also be used to keep spotter right side up as well.. i'll be working on that.
Also, using it to ride around on the bike like my pvs-14 is not gonna happen.. 1.5x is not going to be good enough to use for that, not to mention the nuk

anyhow, this is my 2c .. it's a nice spotter for the price , it would be perfect with a few minor changes ...

ps. i did manage to shoot a coon at one of my feeders , with my 44 mag , i used the spotter to record video , but the unit is not flat so i had to lay it on the lanyard to get it to stay upright .. i may work on a mount so i can record with it while shooting , but the eye relief is also an issue with that ... not a great video
but I uploaded it to youtube anyways ... zipped right through and blew it's leg off ... 300 grain XTP . 50 yards ... Day scope , so as soon as he ran from the feeder light, i couldn't shoot him again to put him out of his misery... sorry about that , i really expected the 44 to do a better/quicker job.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXUWhLaK18o&ab_channel=standbackitsgonnabl o"]AGM Taipan TM15 Racoon @ 50 yards Warning Graphic content. - YouTube[/ame]

[Fordnandez]

Didnt get on any hogs last night but got a corn and protein thief.

https://youtu.be/QlK4el5QJ1E

[Fordnandez]

Sent a couple more pups to an early grave this weekend. Had my best shot on a coyote with thermal this weekend on one of those pups as well. 348 yds to where the pup fell confirmed with OnX, and roughly 10-20 yds further than that where he was actually shot. Was waiting on him to come closer to the call, but he was about to wind us, and dropping off into a draw right as I squeezed. Perfect lung shot with the 22 Creed, which was surprising he ran as far as he did. Nothing was left of his lungs. Had another coyote/bobcat double which should’ve been a triple. Had two coyotes circling downwind of us, and hung up when we blew the call. One coyote ran another 30 yds and lined up perfectly with a house in the background, so we had to pass on the shot. While this is going on we had a coyote sneaking up upwind of us, and we’re able to capitalize on him along with the coyote out in the open. My buddy got the cat at 75-80, and I got the dog just shy of 200.

Man just shy of 200 isnt an easy shot and 348 is incredible.

[Mconner]

The Trail XQ38 was discontinued in December of 2018 and the last units were produced in early 2019. There are tons of them out there in people's hands but not that many turning over. We take trade-ins and we sell used scopes from time to time but right now, thermals are like ammo. New or used, they bring top dollar and don't last long.

Buying used is an excellent idea IF you get a good scope, well taken care of it's got warranty left and you get the original receipt from when it was first bought. (That still doesn't "guarantee" you get a warranty but that's a longer discussion) If you don't get a warranty or not much warranty, buy it cheap. Last comment on the warranty....the old line of "Full warranty, because I never registered it" is a lie and will end with tears down the road one day.lol

The mistake that you don't want to make is, overpaying for a used scope because it's "the" one you want or because you don't want to wait. I talk to people every day who are way over paying for used scopes because they don't want to wait on a new one or continue to search for a deal on a used one. I get it, everyone wants to go hunting this weekend but buying a 1-2 year old scope and paying over 80% of the new value is pretty crazy to me.

Here is where you go from here and I'm really being serious here.

1) Decide on a scope model that you want or maybe 2 models at most.

2) Don't settle for something else and don't be easily talked into another model unless the reasons are compelling. ("I can get it today" is not compelling enough)

3) If is a new model and its back ordered and there is a wait, get on a back order list and patiently wait.

4) If it's a discontinued model or a current model that you want to buy used, decide what you're willing to pay and hold to that number. Start beating the bushes for it. Search every classified section, FB buy/sell group etc and be prepared to wait until you find a good deal on it and when you find it, don't hesitate, snatch it up.

At the end of the day thermals are like ammo right now and have been for over 12 months. You can't just call up a dealer and buy the thermal scope you want right off the shelf any more than you can walk into Academy and buy 1,000 rounds of 9mm and 6.5 Grendel ammo off the shelf for dirt cheap prices. The thermal market will eventually settle down but I don't think it's going to be too much sooner than the ammo market does.

Well heck I bought a super hogster and a rattler 35 just been on a wait since Jan 29th just curious will these purchases allow for a outdoor legacy shirt😉😉😉then I can send you pics of dead stuff any idea on the next shipment of rattlers? I’m excited!!

[Lip]

Well heck I bought a super hogster and a rattler 35 just been on a wait since Jan 29th just curious will these purchases allow for a outdoor legacy shirt[emoji6][emoji6][emoji6]then I can send you pics of dead stuff any idea on the next shipment of rattlers? I’m excited!!

I got on the wait list for the Rattler on January 26th so hoping for an email any day now myself. I’m guessing my Thermion has a ways to go, hopefully after they start shipping the Thermion 2’s

[TX03RUBI]

Man just shy of 200 isnt an easy shot and 348 is incredible.

I’ve had 6-7 kills over 300 since I’ve gotten my XG, but they’ve all been hogs. This coyote was a considerably smaller target than they were. It sure is a lot easier at 300 with my current setup than 200 was with my previous also. I’m not attributing all of that to the XG, but only part of it. Switching to a 22 Creed helped out tremendously as well. It’s much more forgiving at distance than a 223.

[Jethro]

The other night out shooting pigs we ran across a coyote that wanted to commit suicide. I popped him at 275 with the 6.5 Grendel, 95 VMAX, Thermion XQ50. Past 250 is a long coyote shot for me though. But same night I whacked a little piglet right at 300 with the Grendel.

[TX03RUBI]

The other night out shooting pigs we ran across a coyote that wanted to commit suicide. I popped him at 275 with the 6.5 Grendel, 95 VMAX, Thermion XQ50. Past 250 is a long coyote shot for me though. But same night I whacked a little piglet right at 300 with the Grendel.

That piglet shot is more impressive than any of mine haha that coyote shot isn’t shabby either!

[Jethro]

Haha, there was a 16-17 year old girl with us, we were taking a group from Iowa out as a favor. She was a pretty good shot. Total luck, but she killed a piglet right next to mine at 280-300 using a 12" barrel 300 Blackout with supers and a Super Hogster (my friends loaner rifle). Made her day, we told her she got the award for the best shot of the night. That one and one other pig were probably the only ones not killed by me that night.

[Fordnandez]

You guys are better shots and more brave than I am lol. In all seriousness I dont make long shots because I am usually helping out a big ranch near my house that has very expensive animals so a mistaken ID of an animal 200+ yards away can get very expensive really quickly and I dont want to lose my hunting privilages out there. Lastly the 2x base mag on my XP50 isnt meant for long shots. I was pretty excited that this past weekend I hit a 6" plate at 300 yards every time I shot at it.

[Jethro]

6" plate at 300 at night with thermal should be considered good shooting in anyone's book.

I am very selective on taking long shots. The situation has to be right. I have to know the target for sure, have a good backstop, and know what is around me. Most of the pig shooting I do is out in open cultivated fields with no cattle around. I also shoot more frangible bullets for a reason, so they bounce less. I tried the 120 Gold Dots and they shoot good and kill pigs good. But every miss I had I could hear them zinging out across the countryside. That is no good at night. Went to the 95 VMAX instead, much better on that part and seems to kill pigs just as good.

[TX03RUBI]

You guys are better shots and more brave than I am lol. In all seriousness I dont make long shots because I am usually helping out a big ranch near my house that has very expensive animals so a mistaken ID of an animal 200+ yards away can get very expensive really quickly and I dont want to lose my hunting privilages out there. Lastly the 2x base mag on my XP50 isnt meant for long shots. I was pretty excited that this past weekend I hit a 6" plate at 300 yards every time I shot at it.

I had watched this coyote come in for over 30 minutes slowly coming in, and almost thought his behavior was catlike at first. He came in slowly often stopping to sit and watch. I had hoped he’d keep coming closer, but once he turned to try and get downwind of us I knew I had to take my shot. I wasn’t worried about anything in the background, and had confidence in my abilities if I ranged him correctly. If I ranged him short of his true distance I was just going to put it in the dirt in front of him as well. No livestock were in the pasture, and i had scanned the pasture long enough in everything around him. The dog himself was less than 20 lbs. It was blatantly obvious he wasn’t livestock even if I couldn’t positively ID his body shape.

Typically my long shots come from hogs that we shot within close range, and I’m making follow up shots as they run off in the distance. We hunt large wheat fields, and many times you can see them run off further than we can shoot them. A lot of times they’re slowing down with 250-300 yds of running, and that’s when I start taking long shots if conditions allows. If livestock are in the area I don’t mess with it. Last thing I want is to be kissing off landowners as well.