Thread: Hand held thermal now legal on public land

Originally Posted by Tahr

A danger is that thermals pick up indistinct heat signals, especially in scrub and bush. And the cheaper thermal spotters that will be mostly used (35mm/$2.5k types) have lower definition. Even in open country it can be difficult to clearly define what the heat source is. Shooting at these heat spots could be a disaster, and people will do it - you can bet on it. People will also be tempted to shoot at heat signals when shooting light is marginal - you can bet on that too.

It will be an absolute essential to check heat sources with good binos, or be absolutely certain through the thermal the shape is an animal. Using these on public land adds another level of risk to everyone. Ive previously seen poorly edited You Tube vids of these being used on DOC land by hoons. With drinking involved. It makes me uneasy.

The risk is less on private land because other people are less likely to be about - but there are no guarantees.

I don't think this scenario is that likely with handheld thermals. When you spot a heat signature it is actually quite hard to figure out exactly where it is. Trees and surrounding features look quite different in the thermal so it can be hard to pinpoint where the object actually is through the binos or naked eye. The only info you really get is that there is something warm in a rather general area. This generally necessitates the use of binos to follow up where exactly and what this heat signature is. You cant really shoot at a heat signature because you wouldn't be confident as to where exactly it was without follow up with binos or at least the optical rifle scope (not advisable).

Now rifle mounted thermal scopes are a different story, but these are still not legal to use on DOC land for good reason. From what I have heard the recent accidents have involved the misuse of thermal scopes not handheld thermals. With these you really can blaze away at an indistinct white blob.

As someone said previously thermals are just a new way to make old mistakes. The type of people stupid enough to lob rounds in the general direction of a heat signature are the same ones who regularly shoot their mates after hearing some rustling in a bush etc etc. I agree with DOC on this one, the risks of handheld thermal use are minimal compared to all the other ways in which you can misidentify a target. Shooting at sound or movement while bush stalking is still far more dangerous and likely to result in an accident in my opinion.

I am happy to use thermals, a big part of hunting for me is actually bringing a decent amount of meat home to the family. With the cost of everything going up so much and having to convince the wife to babysit the kids alone so I can get out occasionally it really is painful coming home empty handed. They do help pick up a lot more animals specially in distant faces covered in matagouri and bracken which are particularly hard to glass effectively with binos. But I always follow up with my binos to identify my target before proceeding further.