Thread: Thermal gear. Should we have it?

My thoughts are that if you are out to hunt for numbers for commercial reasons; eg rabbits,Hares,Wallabys, even pigs around the bush / pasture margin or during lambing; then a thermal would be a great help.
Theres so many deer around these days that a thermal is a waste of money on an expensive toy. If ya cant find a deer without one.......well need I say more?

I think if everybody was really honest, we would have to admit that we hunt because we want to and it is fun. There are very few people in this country who legitimately need to hunt to stay alive or fed. The overwhelming majority of the country does just fine buying meat at the supermarket. I pretty much eat next to no venison. I just enjoy going out and shooting deer. I've got two small freezers full of venison that barely gets touched as I've cut red meat back significantly in my diet. If somebody asked me to go out and get a deer for them and give them the animal, I'd do it, because I enjoy stalking and shooting deer and the physical challenge of carting it out. I guess some guys enjoy enjoy smoking them with thermal and I'm cool with that. As long as the govt considers them a pest and treats them as such, do what you want IMO.

Thermal gear has become a new way of land owners spotting poachers and drug growers as well...the police on occasion have been known to borrow hunters thermal gear when hunting persons.

Amazing that police are not equipped with this gear but civilians are.

Originally Posted by headcase

Amazing that police are not equipped with this gear but civilians are.

Police are encouraged to use civilian gear rather than buying their own.

Originally Posted by mimms2

Thanks but no. Rather know where mine's come from, that it died well.
Plus, to buy venison at the shop is really deer.
The balls are cheap though. Under a buck.

It's way more environmentally friendly to harvest your own meat than the industrial scale (diesel powered) farming, transport, slaughter, packaging, transport, packaging, travel, buying, travel, eating -system of townies.

Yes I understand that, and yes that may not fit into the fun side of it, but again, it's not a need, it's a lifestyle choice.

Originally Posted by mimms2

Thanks but no. Rather know where mine's come from, that it died well.
Plus, to buy venison at the shop is really deer.
The balls are cheap though. Under a buck.

Only if you have the doe to buy them

Under a buck.

I shoot what I can and still supplement with some meat from the supermarket but I hear what you are saying @mimms2.

Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

And realistically, hunting if you factor in all the associated costs is probably a very expensive way of getting your meat.

I always reckoned on $300 a pound...what with the number of guns I "needed"...the dog and associated costs that I "needed"...helicopter rides, clothing, 4x4 vehicle that was "needed"...the list goes on.

What's the best reasonable price thermal to buy for a scope?

The best you can afford. What do you want it for?

Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

Pretty hard to argue with that.
But it does depend on how far the game is from your door.

And assumes you were given the gun, ammo, boots, knife and all the other gear and for the trip and live close enough to be able to walk to your hunting ground

Originally Posted by mimms2

Walking out the door with a gun doesn't cost fuckall.

It’s the purchase of firearm, ammunition etc if you’re taking it from a standing start. I can walk out the door free anytime. I need the gear to help me achieve a result.


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The whole argument over "which" gear is ok is a funny thing. I think sometimes people confuse values (respect of animals and tradition, self-centered benefit, care of environment and animals) with intent (fair chase, experiencing nature, humane hunts, poaching etc), and that leads to misunderstandings between people with different methods of doing something.

It's entirely possible that two people who share opposing view points on something (thermal imaging) have the same respect for a hunt, animals, and reason for hunting, but usually attribute their own perspective to the other person.

On that note, I've always been a bit amused at the whole idea of "fair chase"... There is a part of me that can appreciate giving an animal a "fair chance" like it's a game, but this' the animal's life we're talking about whereas as humans, we absolutely don't need to hunt. Every one of us has the capacity to find food otherwise, even if it means moving elsewhere to do it. From that stand point, my main metric has been whether something is likely to reduce suffering of an animal or not, and from that, I am fine with anything that does that. Better equipment? Fine. More practice? Great. That said, I'm not in disagreement who choose to do things in a way that makes the hunt more challenging in exchange for a slower kill - the odds of an animal being killed are proportionally lower as well.


Some people hunt with a bow in order to give a deer a better chance to survive. That takes a lot of skill, and part of the benefit goes to the deer who has a better chance of survival, and part of the benefit goes to the hunter who faces a greater challenge and experiences a greater sense of achievement when they get something. I also understand that an instantaneous death is almost unheard of with bows. It's a trade off.

Same goes for someone who hunts with iron sights on a rifle, or only hunts close, or practices their shooting at distance, or uses thermal gear. Anything that is done with the intent of making an animal's death as close to painless as possible is fine with me. If that intent isn't there, then I would have to think more about what's being done.

Furthermore, the argument that something shouldn't be available because it could be abused is the same flawed logic that has us as a hunting community under attack at this very moment over our firearms in general. The laws already exist, if they're broken, lay charges - problem solved, don't go trying to regulate every aspect of our lives with more unneeded red tape.

With that I'd say I'm fine with thermals when used by people who respect the animals they shoot, and are upstanding members of the firearms and hunting community. If they misuse them, they'll have broken some already existing law and the problem will sort itself out.