Thread: daytime thermals

I've never used thermals (never had the spare budget), so can someone tell me if using thermal spotters during the daytime makes enough difference when finding deer in bush to justify the cost? I think I'm walking past a lot of them, lots of sign, but I don't seem to find them... unless I don't have a rifle with me in which case they seem to pop out much more regularly.

This question is really about daytime use for pest control, not for night time hunting.

Originally Posted by Ben Waimata

I've never used thermals (never had the spare budget), so can someone tell me if using thermal spotters during the daytime makes enough difference when finding deer in bush to justify the cost? I think I'm walking past a lot of them, lots of sign, but I don't seem to find them... unless I don't have a rifle with me in which case they seem to pop out much more regularly.

This question is really about daytime use for pest control, not for night time hunting.

Hey Ben I used one a fair bit while guiding,
I never used it in the bush as such but when out in open looking back at scrubby faces it was awesome for finding deer beded down and then being able to locate through the scope and get the clients more animals.
It wasn't so efficient in heaver Bush canopy.
You could see the below animals easy in this type of scrub/bush.


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Originally Posted by BRADS

Hey Ben I used one a fair bit while guiding,
I never used it in the bush as such but when out in open looking back at scrubby faces it was awesome for finding deer beded down and then being able to locate through the scope and get the clients more animals.
It wasn't so efficient in heaver Bush canopy.
You could see the below animals easy in this type of scrub/bush.


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Like he said
Looking back into shady faces
Spot one or two animals with binos but the thermal finds there are plenty more
Good for fallow that stand in dead gorse and are invisible
Good to spot animal in the shade of the tree canopy edge
You often just see a hinds head and neck in the scrub edge waiting to make a bee line to the feed when it's just a wee bit darker

Like scopes, field of view needs to be wide for bush and and with very low mag. Bit of a learning curve to sus out what is just a warm tree trunk and/or large rock with something lurking nearby.

And no depth of field
Makes it tricky in the thick stuff
What looks like a decent hot spot is a tiny bird in a bush just in front of you

But once you learn how to drive one you can tell the sex and species of a deer 1km away in the open

Originally Posted by BRADS

Hey Ben I used one a fair bit while guiding,
I never used it in the bush as such but when out in open looking back at scrubby faces it was awesome for finding deer beded down and then being able to locate through the scope and get the clients more animals.
It wasn't so efficient in heaver Bush canopy.
You could see the below animals easy in this type of scrub/bush.


Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

So those animals are not too hard to see out in the open, but if they had been under the trees in the RHS of the picture would you pick them up with the thermal ok? Or does the tree canopy hide the heat too much? In my situation the ability to 'see' into that kind of cover would make a huge difference.

How far into this kind of situation could I expect to spot deer with thermal? Reasonably open crown but close-spaced trees without too much dense understorey.

I don’t know about thermals but once I got pointer dog it was amazing how many animals I’d walk past. Best day on opossums is about 60 and near two dozen deer.

Have you got good some pretty good binos Ben?

Originally Posted by Ben Waimata

So those animals are not too hard to see out in the open, but if they had been under the trees in the RHS of the picture would you pick them up with the thermal ok? Or does the tree canopy hide the heat too much? In my situation the ability to 'see' into that kind of cover would make a huge difference.

How far into this kind of situation could I expect to spot deer with thermal? Reasonably open crown but close-spaced trees without too much dense understorey.

I would expect looking at that you have thick hard trunks but not thick undergrowth.
You might pick up heat sources 10-20m in....they if far in will be un identifyable bit will give you the heads up that there is a heat source over there and to move your postion for a better veiw or wait for it to move into more open spot for Id.
Daytime use of thermals is best in the morning im my experience.....in the evening there is lots of warm rocks stumps etc....not a problem if you are regularly working the same area and get to know the natural heat sources but still mornings or after rain is even better.

Originally Posted by Ben Waimata

So those animals are not too hard to see out in the open, but if they had been under the trees in the RHS of the picture would you pick them up with the thermal ok? Or does the tree canopy hide the heat too much? In my situation the ability to 'see' into that kind of cover would make a huge difference.

How far into this kind of situation could I expect to spot deer with thermal? Reasonably open crown but close-spaced trees without too much dense understorey.

Hi Ben yeah in that pic of mine I'd see them in that bush on right side easily.
Especially at this time of year when its cooler.
In your pic the bush on right you'd easily see one, on the left you definitely see in for a bit but as Cam said not that far.
Thermals are like everything you definitely get what you pay for.
Some of the places locally loan them out so you'd be best to try one and see if its what you want defore investing.
I'd happily loan you mine but sold it.
Edit: dam look at all that grass I've got grass envy


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Originally Posted by BRADS

Edit: dam look at all that grass I've got grass envy

Ha, that picture is a couple of years old. This picture is 2 days old though... not as good, but not bad for under 200mm for the year sof far (less than 30% of mean rain to date).




Who loans them out locally? I'd love to try one.

Its pretty simple mate, if you cant see hair you wont see it in the thermal. Its doesnt see through leaves etc. The benefit is even the smallest bit of hair will show up and if something is moving through foliage you will eventually pickup a flicker of heat. As others have said, you might think that something is "easy to see" but it's amazing how many times you think there is nothing out, even in openish country like Brad's photo but in reality there is a deer out

Imagine someone walking through the bush wearing hi Vis/blue/ you get the idea.... ,would you see them? Usually as they walk between the big trees. Same concept with thermal

They're great to use on an overcast or very cold day in the bush. The trouble is trying to find the deer in the scope once you see a small part of it with the thermal. That takes some practise. There's a few hunters I know who wouldn't bush hunt without one now including myself. Particularly so for bush hunting japs who have a habit of standing behind pepperwoods and such and watching you. Also great in the roar on reds.

They're not much good on a warm or hot sunny day in the bush because all the tree trunks, limbs and any rocks start to give off a heat signature.

Use Black Hot in bush