Thread: Thermal gear. Should we have it?

Pulsar thermion are clear as you can see the hair on the deers back / see the hog taking a piss. So I would say they are safe as as long as your a proper shooter and be 100% positive of the Id and back drop they are not cheap so limits the cowboys any way.

Originally Posted by mikee

Hunting is not a sport, just ask the deer if they think so?? If it were sporting then it should be an equal contest between the parties (hows that for Auckland corporate speak).

It is a recreational activity or (necessity to supplement the larder) and nothing more. We are (or were) free to use any legal method to achieve the outcome we want, which is in my case a full freezer. You don't have to like my method of achieving it and I don't have to like yours...........but we SHOULD respect each others choices none the less. Benefits of a free country and freedom to choose...................................

Yep I hear ya. I was talking less about what is legal and asking the question more about whether there is a moral question. For me, I am fortunate to get out a lot and although I love to eat venison I would run in to serious issues if I shot everything I could. In fact I now get the pre-hunt 'talk' from my wife about not bringing any more meat home For others with less time to hunt or other reasons that mean they get less venison and really need it, then I am sure they would be open to stacking the odds out of necessity. I get that. If you personally get a real kick out of hunting with and using it and enjoy your hunting and have respect for the animals, then in my opinion that is both your choice and reason enough and you have my respect for that. I really feel we should be in arm chairs with a whiskey in hand having these chats. Ha ha.

Originally Posted by Frodo

Haha! I'll graciously take back my tweed coat and top hat comment.

I like your attitude. I'm currently reading a book written by the late deer stalker, Alex McConochie - and he said the same as you. Assigning animals pest status can have a detrimental effect on how we view and treat them.

But yes, each to their own. If somebody's chosen method fulfills their needs/desires, that's all that matters.

Sing out if you ever make it down south.

Thanks. Works the other way if you come north. Bring whatever gear you like to hunt with

Originally Posted by Frodo

Haha! I'll graciously take back my tweed coat and top hat comment.

I like your attitude. I'm currently reading a book written by the late deer stalker, Alex McConochie - and he said the same as you. Assigning animals pest status can have a detrimental effect on how we view and treat them.

But yes, each to their own. If somebody's chosen method fulfills their needs/desires, that's all that matters.

Sing out if you ever make it down south.

Thanks. Works the other way if you come north. Bring whatever gear you like to hunt with

same with shooting gamebirds like ducks on the water....years back it was the done thing....now we have a bag limit,how you reach that (within reason) isnt really important. as long as you used a shotgun or a bow n arrow the rest would be completely fine by me.......BUT we have laws that saw bird must be in flight,no shot bigger in energy than a lead #BB

Originally Posted by Hiawatha

Thanks. Works the other way if you come north. Bring whatever gear you like to hunt with

I'll bring my atlatl.

The thermal works well on my property to control pests that are very nocturnal. -rabbits,possums and rats.

Originally Posted by NITRO

Pulsar thermion are clear as you can see the hair on the deers back / see the hog taking a piss. So I would say they are safe as as long as your a proper shooter and be 100% positive of the Id and back drop they are not cheap so limits the cowboys any way.

They certainly seem like the next level latest and greatest alright from what research I have done. I can't justify that sort of money on one though.

Its not just cowboys that can't afford them!

Originally Posted by mikee

Hunting is not a sport, just ask the deer if they think so?? If it were sporting then it should be an equal contest between the parties (hows that for Auckland corporate speak).

It is a recreational activity or (necessity to supplement the larder) and nothing more. We are (or were) free to use any legal method to achieve the outcome we want, which is in my case a full freezer. You don't have to like my method of achieving it and I don't have to like yours...........but we SHOULD respect each others choices none the less. Benefits of a free country and freedom to choose...................................

Great comment!

With a quality Thermal starting around the 6 k mark, you can buy a lot of meat at the supermarket if its just to fill the freezer. lol

Originally Posted by headcase

With a quality Thermal starting around the 6 k mark, you can buy a lot of meat at the supermarket if its just to fill the freezer. lol

One could use those same thoughts about boats and fishing...or one really only needs a 303 to fill the freezer with meat.

Safe if the shooter identify s the the target 100%. A wallaby from the back end bending over eating is a round circle of light with no identifying features. The tail is not always visible. First the wallaby has to finish feeding and stand up before its possible to identify it. The further away an animal is the less definition there is also, until all one can see is a blob of light. Keep that in mind before pulling the trigger. A round blob of light anywhere could be anything depending on distance from the shooter and thermals are notoriously diffucult to judge distance with, unless they have a rangefinder naturally.

For example I was shooting rabbits with a backdrop of a pine shelter belt sandwiched between two fences to keep stock out of the shelter belt. There were a patch of rabbits in front of the pines and Id been moving around on a quad for a good 20 minutes shooting bout 40 rabbits as I got closer to the pines. There were some tussocks growing at intervals along the edge of the pines and a rabbit was crouching low, in the shelter belt just on the edge of a tussock, I thought. I lined it up and shot it square through the chest and went over to pick it up. Id shot the head of a resting sheep, head on the ground, inside the shelter belt, its body had been hidden by the tussock .. A number of assumption had been made, because it looked like something Id just shot forty of close to it, there should not be any stock inside the fenced in pines, its on the ground and is the right size and shape. It had a brighter for-end than the back-end like rabbits..

Assumption is the mother of all cockups. Dont become the 1st person in NZ to mistake ones target and shoot someone, with a thermal.

Not everybody hunts for sport. Some people just hunt for meat hence the reason for spotlighting/thermal. People just want to go out and fill the freezer quickly.

Yep I hear you but lets for a moment be really honest here. A lot people who spotlight large animals do so because there are a lot more deer out in the open at night, the chances of success in some areas are greater with less actual hunting effort (and no need to hunt the bush where the odds are more even) etc etc. For those who genuinely need to fill the freezer where to fail is to go hungry I absolutely understand the need to stack the odds in whatever way possible. I would however respectfully suggest that if most of us were to be be really honest, we don't fit in that group, but some of us like to throw it around as a reason. If you just like to go spotlighting/ night hunting deer for the above reasons or simply because you enjoy it more then, then be straight up about that. If people are ashamed of what they do then they should question themselves why they do it. I suspect that sometimes prickly reactions are due to a little bit of this. If you are straight up about why and aren't breaking any laws and enjoy it, then the rest of us should respect your choices there too. Live and let live.

Just had a think. Although I enjoy thinking about what we do and why I might leave this here, as we are all on the same team and I for one don't want to end up in a long drawn out debate about this. At the end of the day everyone's opinions are valid. However you hunt, enjoy yourselves and I might have to do some hunting story posts. Cheers, H