Thread: Handheld Thermal for the Bush

Hi Team,

Giving some thought as to getting a light & compact held held thermal to assist with mostly bush hunting, including retrieval of animals. Ideally something that can slip into chest pocket on the old jacket, basic Pulsar seems small and compact.

Keen to hear any thoughts of those that have found them good or otherwise in the bush.

Thanks.

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it will work but will also de skill you as a hunter.youll get addicted to it and lose your hunting edge.

Having used them extensively over the years I would say just remember that the smaller objective lenses generally give a better field of view than larger models while still giving adequate resolution to positively identify objects out to sensible hunting ranges. Up to the individual to decide what colour pallete to use and contrast, brightness settings. Don't be lured/persuaded into buying 35-50 mm models, without trialing, they are overkill for bush work. I have an older 15mm, F1.0 unit that gives a 30m FOV@100m that I use in the bush and it's perfectly adequate.

I just brought a hikmicro condor cq35l. What an amazing bit of kit. Would highly recommend.


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What @woods223 said, if it's mostly bush work get something with a 25mm objective lens or less. Most will still range out to 1000m for some tops or open field work but have a decent field of view for the bush.
There is a good post by @556 on here about thermals and how they work, it's been linked on most threads about this subject, should be pretty easy to find.

Here’s the guide:
https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....thermal-96545/

Anything greater than 25mm will be a waste of money unless you goto a 640 sensor.
19mm probably best fit.

So how do you hunt thick bush with them?do you sit and scan a hillside when open enough or use as a type of binocular while sneaking along?would need to be fairly open understory I would have thought?

Have found the units with small objective lens useless if you hunt areas prone to fog and mist.

Great topic for a thread. I'm also very interested in this and what members experience has been when used in this way within the bush. Beyond the field–of–view suitability, I have questions such as; if public land and then being used under the canopy only during daylight hours, is a thermals use limited to early morning before the sun has started to shine through and raise the temperature of pockets of vegetation? Any feedback on this or any other practical application for bush use would be very helpful please?

Have a Infiray FH35R V2 LRF monocular,649x512 senser.Good range finder picks up out to 1100yds,plenty enough.Big fist size pocket unit.3 batteries keep you going all night in the summer.Low base mag of 2x,for wide fov,good for in the bush and I d deer out to 1500yds across a river bed on a clear night.Good for in the fog 300-400yds,its got some horse power for a small unit.Takes good vids and photos,pnp n wifi.This is my 4th monocular over the last 10yrs.Its very practical and a good unit for yr $$$$.

i have used one for years in the bush, animals stand out like dogs balls even on a sunny day, daylight or dark it doesn't matter,(obviously they work better in darker situations) thermals pick up the heat off an animal.
Have a look at your cat or dog outside on the lawn with a thermal, they just stand out more than the surrounding vegetation.
It is a lot like looking for animals with binoculars, the more animals that you see, the better you get at finding them.
i have used them to find blood splatters and animals in the fern.
just another tool to help improve your chances.

My handheld pretty much stays on full time and attached to the back of my firing hand.

I typically use it to have a quick scan 180° in front of me now and then, and for looking through holes in vegetation.

Anything that is alive or recently dead, stands out like like the sun compared to anything else in the field of view.

Originally Posted by Yesmate

it will work but will also de skill you as a hunter.youll get addicted to it and lose your hunting edge.

Whaaaaaat??,.. how so …. I’ve been using one ever since they were affordable….. I refute yr statement

Interesting thread. Annoyingly, I had a handheld thermal, but sold it when I lost access to some private land because they weren't allowed on DOC land. Sounds like I could point one at thick bush and see goats and pigs???

Originally Posted by A330driver

Whaaaaaat??,.. how so …. I’ve been using one ever since they were affordable….. I refute yr statement

If they ever become affordable....I might have to try one and see for myself. Strange how folks have upgraded ,up to four times,yet the second hand items still cost as much as a new rifle.