Thread: Handheld Thermal for the Bush

I can understand that thermal can be a crutch, but people rarely mention the skills and knowledge using thermal helps develop.

Thermal has been amazing at showing me what I was missing, and animal behavior when I couldn't see then. It has really helped me piece together their behavior and what I was doing wrong, and my spotting rate without thermal has gone way up. Thermal is kind of like having an experienced hunter teach you to spot animals.

As far as a bush monocular, if you know you won't go long distance, lowest resolution possible is the thing. I'd personally say that thermal in its current form isn't capable of multitasking well (ie being used for close and long range) so buy the optics suited for the main use and understand it'll have limitations for other use. Trying to get a generalist thermal optic when you know you're going to use it in the bush will just lead to frustration.

Do yourself a favor and try a bunch of them before buying. There is a lot of variety and their spec sheet only tells you half the story.