Thread: Thermalling deer

I've bumped into half a dozen unrelated people in the last fortnight who are into it...


So, how long until someone gets shot doing it?

It's a no-no for Joe Bloggs on DOC land for that reason, although I imagine contracted cullers would have special permission to use them.

If you're doing it on private land, then other hunters shouldn't be an issue. (Yeah, right.)

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The first guy I bumped into using it was smack bang in the middle of very busy public land...

Originally Posted by Pointer

The first guy I bumped into using it was smack bang in the middle of very busy public land...

I'd give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he's unaware of the recent changes to the conditions on DOC hunting permits.

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Maybe using a thermal scope, but using a thermal to spot um all good. Still the usual indentification rules apply
if the user is being responsible.

Originally Posted by stretch

I'd give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he's unaware of the recent changes to the conditions on DOC hunting permits.

Recent? Pretty sure the permit conditions have said "no hunting during the hours of darkness" for at least the last decade or so.

Or are you talking about using thermal gear in daylight?

Originally Posted by GravelBen

Recent? Pretty sure the permit conditions have said "no hunting during the hours of darkness" for at least the last decade or so.

Or more even....

Interesting to know what the official "hours of darkness" are..

Maybe half an hour before sunrise & half an hour after sunset ????

Originally Posted by Kiwi Greg

Or more even....

Interesting to know what the official "hours of darkness" are..

Maybe half an hour before sunrise & half an hour after sunset ????

Which would make the best hunting times illegal in the south in summer.

Originally Posted by Kiwi Greg

Interesting to know what the official "hours of darkness" are..

Maybe half an hour before sunrise & half an hour after sunset ????

That's the definition of daylight, not darkness, so darkness would be from half hour after sunset until half hour before sunrise. Same thing, worded differently.

Up until late last year, I was knocking round with a guy who was getting into rabbit pest control. He bought a xd50 thermal scope. Started out on his ar15, then onto the 22mag.
It was a bit of an arse to sight in, but a very effective tool.
He started using it on deer in doc land at night which was when we parted company.
Personally, I think if you need one for deer, you are defeating the whole ethos of hunting wild game, and are probably not much of a hunter.
But that's just my thoughts

Originally Posted by GravelBen

Recent? Pretty sure the permit conditions have said "no hunting during the hours of darkness" for at least the last decade or so.

Or are you talking about using thermal gear in daylight?

Glad you edited your post, because I was referring to the recent (last 12 months) addition:

Originally Posted by stretch

Glad you edited your post, because I was referring to the recent (last 12 months) addition:

Attachment 50731

So still no change really.

Originally Posted by stretch

Glad you edited your post, because I was referring to the recent (last 12 months) addition:

Attachment 50731

Look at condition 5.I know a bloke who is hunting in the local park. He wears a small but heavily modded head torch.He smacked over 5 deer walking into huts last week.All the deer are on the walking tracks. No bush stalking.Asked him if he would think about thermal gear. His response. WHY? I get more this way without even trying.

I took a rich Canadian guy out hunting and he had a thermal camera, it was pretty easy to identify the animals so I don't think you would mistake a person for a deer that easily.
It was cool seeing all the possums in the trees.

All I see is jealous poor people that can't afford thermal hunting gear.