Thread: Night time Airgun Set up Recommendation for possums

Hi folks:

Need some of your expertise / opinion. Just moved to a lifestyle block with bit of native bush and have already shot 2 possums wondering near the house. We have a big willow tree out front with lots of Kereru – usually when the possums are near the birds start screaming and give them away.

Would be keen to venture into the bush when the rain stops and do a bit more hunting. Currently using a .22 Diana air rifle.

A few options I am considering:
(1) Spotlighting with battery pack- not so keen on this set up as bush is quite dense and not fun fumbling around cocking the airgun loading pellets at night with all these extra weight…etc. I do have a smaller torch taped to the airgun but that is not very bright for spotting / surveying

(2) Nigh vision goggle / scope- I am keen to explore this option as the NV is much more affordable than thermal. Not sure how effective it will be though ( to spot possums VS using spot light). I am thinking of using a handheld device to survey and spot possum then walk near and use torchlight to shoot. (Some NV can also clip onto the scope if needs be). Bear in mind airguns are known to break scopes easily due to recoil- so I am not too keen on mounting NV scopes.

(3) Thermal- I know this is probably the best option- use it to find the possum, walk near, turn on torch and shoot. But cost is too prohibitive at this stage

Originally Posted by berg243

you could try a small red light torch mounted above scope for shooting and have a larger hand held red light torch for locating as a cheap option.

That's probably the best cheap option. Some possums shy away from torchlight, but most sit still.

we use a led lensor p7.2 mounted on scope and another in the hand for finding . Nice bright light that can be zoomed in and seems to offer plenty of usable distance for locating .
And can still use it around the house/shed for other jobs .
Never used a red light and the possums don't normally bail before you can get a shot off from my experience . if they do it's usually just a slow walk .... still shootable .

LED spotlight would work quite well. Cheapest option out of the 3.
https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....-vision-72087/

Originally Posted by berg243

you could try a small red light torch mounted above scope for shooting and have a larger hand held red light torch for locating as a cheap option.

Thanks for the suggestion, is there something special with red light ? like you can see their eyes better ? Most LED torch light seems quite white. Is this like a filter add on ?

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Also just wondering if anyone has used NV? Quite keen on this as it gives me some new toy to play during lock down . Just not sure how well it works...etc

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I use a pard clip on NV unit (007a). Doing rabbit control on vineyards and fruit orchids.
Think of it as an invisible spotlight you view through a small black and white TV, a rabbit sitting behind long grass can be hard to see without any eye reflection. For the shooting I do it works well helping to prevent the animals becoming light shy.

There are a few threads on here discussing NV and thermal at length if you have a wee look around.

Just bought one of these again, https://www.ebay.com/itm/284205320212?var=585694077156 fits in solarforce case or any P6 body as I dont think solarforce exists any more. spot possums long way away and shootable light very good at 50M, red wont affect your night vision and possum eyes shine nice and red, cat a bit more orange. Thermal will help to find them after spotting first as sometimes you know they are there but they look away and near impossible to spot.

O and setup, one or 2 on head and one under barrel. Head light spill show sights and barrel one show possum.

Try to shoot them under the chin..that's a kill shot every time!

Get a good torch with a good mount and see how it works for you. You have to spend a lot more to get any major advantage. Yes thermal (have a handheld) and nv is great but a spotlight had worked for the past ..... Years

For night shooting I use a maxtorch and the figure 8 clamp (but having a dog that tells you which tree to look up saves needing to get the thermal out)

Thermal clipon on a compac doctor scope on slug guns.Great fun on the bunnies.Not cheap tho.

Originally Posted by alanpyc

Thanks for the suggestion, is there something special with red light ? like you can see their eyes better ? Most LED torch light seems quite white. Is this like a filter add on ?

Red light supposedly causes fewer animals to spook. I think it is somewhat true, but not 100%. Red light is also kinder to human night vision. Definitely go for a red LED torch rather than a red filter on a white LED as a filter reduces the output significantly.

Thermal and NV are not a good solution in bush. The IR reflections will render NV useless. Small low power thermal spotter may be of use, but its a lot of money when a torch will do the job.
Get a good head lamp for spotting and a rifle mounted torch for the kill shot.

man you fellas are spoilt...
Ive shot litterally hundreds of possums with a big jim torch and or a dolphin torch...those were heavy 6 volt jobbies and batteries werent rechargable.
ANY torch will do the job...possums arent hard to find,and once up trees stay there. you dont need a $200 torch to find possums in willow tree near your home...go out now on full moon and silhouette them....once leaves take off its too late.
head torch to walk with and handheld for looking around... shoot them in the V of throat if you can...or through chest if side on...your 22 airgun may have enough grunt for head shots,chest works but takes few seconds to kill them.