Thread: thermal for hunting light shy rabbits and hares ?

g'day fellas,
I do a fair bit of pest control on a couple of local farms mostly consisting of hares, rabbits and the odd possum, feral cat and pigeon.
Most of my pest work is hares and rabbits, and generally I spotlight them from my truck with my 17hmr, now this is a great setup and we do well with it and can take up to 35-40 hares in 4ish hours.
What I have come to notice is that some hares bolt at the first sign of the spot light and some will just try and flatten themselves out.
I generally don't bother chasing the bolters as there are plenty around and I figure I can pick them off when they decide not to be so flighty.
A little while ago I borrowed a pulsar xq38 (I think) thermal for some very light shy rabbits and it was ideal but at over $4k it was a little more than I was willing to commit for just using on rabbits and hares.

What I am getting to in a round about way is....has anyone on here tried some of the cheaper thermals like the Leupold LTO, guide IR501 nano 25mm and Pulsar axion key for this kind of pest control ?
I would still be using the scope mounted maxtoch to light them up and dispatch them once in range, my logic being that it should be easier to get in range without spooking them by long periods scanning with the spotlight and then only light them up long enough to dispatch them.

Are any of these "cheaper" thermals ok for this kind of use ? mostly in paddocks out to maybe 300 yards
some of these units can be had for under $1000 which is certainly do able and I could possibly stretch to the Axion Key if it would do the job.
Please note I have zero intention to use these for finding deer, we can find them easily enough during the day where we hunt, I am only asking in regards to finding hares and rabbits without scanning with my spotlight.
Would be nice to trial a couple of these units for myself, so if you have any of the above mentioned units and would like to come and shoot some hares let me know, or if you have had experience doing this kind of shooting with them I would like to hear your thoughts ?
thanks and hot barrels