The 2021 Thermal and Night Vision Thread

[TX03RUBI]

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

Both of these right here! I don’t send long shots just to send em. For every shot I take I bet I watch an animal at similar distances 5-7 times that I just don’t feel comfortable pulling the trigger on. And 6” at 300 is dang good with night goodies

[gingib]

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.

200 yards should be an automatic positive ID at that close of range.

But I hear you. I hunt alot of places for other people with cows. No cows around or in background and I will let it fly at 300-350 on running pigs. No farther

[Fordnandez]

I am not passing judgement on anyone shooting 200+ yards, it just doesnt fit my gear, where I hunt or how I hunt.

[Jethro]

It didn't seem to me at all like you were. Everyone has their own situations particular to where they hunt. Same with me. Different properties sometimes have different rules and limits that apply. Everywhere I hunt is different in some way or another. A good hunter knows and follows the limits of himself, his equipment, and the property/conditions he hunts on. All those things are constantly evolving and changing.

[gingib]

It didn't seem to me at all like you were. Everyone has their own situations particular to where they hunt. Same with me. Different properties sometimes have different rules and limits that apply. Everywhere I hunt is different in some way or another. A good hunter knows and follows the limits of himself, his equipment, and the property/conditions he hunts on. All those things are constantly evolving and changing.

Very well said! No cows, houses, or background issues and Ill let it fly on running groups

[TX03RUBI]

It didn’t come across to me as you implying that either.

Here’s a shot we took this weekend that turned into a dog/cat double while letting a second dog walk due to his background. Dog 1 is the white X, dog 2 is the red X, and cat is the blue X. We’re the marked waypoint on OnX. Dog 1 stopped when we wanted him to. Dog 2 kept running a little ways, and stopped with a house in the background. We didn’t know the cat was there until we shot dog 1, then immediately popped the cat when he moved. Dog 2 stopped with the house in the background, then upon firing he immediately ran towards the house. So we completely passed him up even though he would’ve been a chip shot at first, and we sure could’ve used an extra dog or two. Just gotta play every situation by ear. Some allow it, and some don’t.

[Fordnandez]

I figured you guys have thick skin but some other threads lead me to believe that some folks get their panties in a wad pretty quick so I just wanted to be clear.

What I will say is that with so many "budget" minded scopes like the Wraith and the thermal options sub $2200 there are going to be a lot of new/first time night hunters. With this in mind I hope there isnt a unrealistic expectation with how far they are able to shoot with a budget minded scope. My fear is that stories of mistakes are going to become more common and will spread like wild fire and that TP&WL will have to get involved and make some more strict night hunting regulations. I know we are a red state which helps but there are a bunch of red states that have some crazy night hunting regulations. I think that most of this was in the efforts to stop poaching however if the wrong persons cow, horse, donkey, dog, cat, house, etc. gets shot things can change very quickly.

Experience and better equipment extends your range and a first time budget hunter will have neither.

[Sleepy]

Anyone in this thread in the Tyler area or a little north of? Thermal hunting is fun by yourself, but it would be even more fun to have another gun or two. I have several properties up around Pittsburg and Talco to hunt. Maybe we could share some properties together.

[Fordnandez]

Anyone in this thread in the Tyler area or a little north of? Thermal hunting is fun by yourself, but it would be even more fun to have another gun or two. I have several properties up around Pittsburg and Talco to hunt. Maybe we could share some properties together.

Wish I was closer, I would take you up on the offer.

[Jethro]

Public perception can be a legitimate factor. And for sure needing to have realistic expectations is important to someone new in the night game. I'll be honest. Around 200-225 is the distance I usually limit myself to unless there is a reason to shoot further. I like to get coyotes inside 200 because kill ratio goes up and video is better. Pigs, coyotes, whatever I would prefer them as close as I can get them. If I am shooting past 225 or so I make myself justify the shot mentally.

I figured you guys have thick skin but some other threads lead me to believe that some folks get their panties in a wad pretty quick so I just wanted to be clear.

What I will say is that with so many "budget" minded scopes like the Wraith and the thermal options sub $2200 there are going to be a lot of new/first time night hunters. With this in mind I hope there isnt a unrealistic expectation with how far they are able to shoot with a budget minded scope. My fear is that stories of mistakes are going to become more common and will spread like wild fire and that TP&WL will have to get involved and make some more strict night hunting regulations. I know we are a red state which helps but there are a bunch of red states that have some crazy night hunting regulations. I think that most of this was in the efforts to stop poaching however if the wrong persons cow, horse, donkey, dog, cat, house, etc. gets shot things can change very quickly.

Experience and better equipment extends your range and a first time budget hunter will have neither.

[Fordnandez]

Public perception can be a legitimate factor. And for sure needing to have realistic expectations is important to someone new in the night game. I'll be honest. Around 200-225 is the distance I usually limit myself to unless there is a reason to shoot further. I like to get coyotes inside 200 because kill ratio goes up and video is better. Pigs, coyotes, whatever I would prefer them as close as I can get them. If I am shooting past 225 or so I make myself justify the shot mentally.

and the problem with public perception is that the facts dont matter, just the perceived events which may or may not be true.

[gingib]

I figured you guys have thick skin but some other threads lead me to believe that some folks get their panties in a wad pretty quick so I just wanted to be clear.

What I will say is that with so many "budget" minded scopes like the Wraith and the thermal options sub $2200 there are going to be a lot of new/first time night hunters. With this in mind I hope there isnt a unrealistic expectation with how far they are able to shoot with a budget minded scope. My fear is that stories of mistakes are going to become more common and will spread like wild fire and that TP&WL will have to get involved and make some more strict night hunting regulations. I know we are a red state which helps but there are a bunch of red states that have some crazy night hunting regulations. I think that most of this was in the efforts to stop poaching however if the wrong persons cow, horse, donkey, dog, cat, house, etc. gets shot things can change very quickly.

Experience and better equipment extends your range and a first time budget hunter will have neither.

Too funny and true. Some soft minded ferries around here.

you nailed it. Entry level thermals ain't gonna be shooting anything long range thats for sure

[TX03RUBI]

Anyone in this thread in the Tyler area or a little north of? Thermal hunting is fun by yourself, but it would be even more fun to have another gun or two. I have several properties up around Pittsburg and Talco to hunt. Maybe we could share some properties together.

I’ve got a good buddy in Lindale that’s always looking for more dirt to hunt. He runs a PVS-14 and XP50. I can reach out to him and see if he’s interested in another hunting buddy.

[Lip]

Jason, what’s the current lead time on Rattlers?

[Outdoor Legacy]

Jason, what’s the current lead time on Rattlers?

I'm trying to figure out how to word this correctly. Let's just say this roll out has not gone exactly as planned and we've learned a lesson. There were good intentions and things put into the writing that never happened for many different unforeseen reasons I'm sure. This left us taking an insane amount of pre-orders on Rattlers and Taipans on the understanding that we'd be getting the quantities needed to quickly cover those orders. Again, no one has lied or intentionally misled us but the quantities of optics that are being estimated on our allocation list end up getting slashed at the last minute.

My point in this comment is to say, whatever I tell you is (again) subject to change in 5 minutes, 5 hours or 5 days when the info I have in writing changes.

Right now I have in writing an allocation large enough to cover your Rattler order. I had a commitment large enough to cover it 3+ weeks ago but we didn't get those quantities and it could change again. And to be clear here, we've received a lot of optics, a whole lot more than our fair share I know, but it's been a process to say the least. What we've never had anything happen in any roll out over the last 8+ years to this degree.

And to be clear, this isn't a slam against AGM, this is their first major roll out of 2 optic lines this wildly popular with so many people after them all at once. They are doing a good job of trying to manage it all, we just did too good of a job selling the optic on the pre-release because we were one of the few dealers who'd had all the models in the field for many months. When I say we did too good of a job, what I should probably say is we had an unfair advantage with all the time in the field with the optics.

At the end of the day, the lists are getting shorter and we've already caught up 2 of the 5 models in question and I hope to have them all sitting on the shelf in stock and ready to go in 3-4 weeks. Fingers crossed.