Thread: I've Experienced the Advantage of Hunting with Thermal and Night Vision

Hey Jukes... good question. I've been regularly hunting at night since I last posted.

I sold my Pulsar NV scope and bought another Sytong. The Pulsar worked very well and there was nothing wrong with it, but I guess I preferred to use a Sytong. The new scope is fitted to my Ruger American Predator .223. (I originally chose this rifle for its long barrel and the fact it was already fitted with a Picatinny rail).

I had some trouble with the new Sytong where it would sometimes shut down as I fired... it seems that the shake of the recoil was affecting it. This was a darn nuisance as it was easy to lose track of what is happening at the target end. But I never lost an animal. The display of the scope would turn off, but the indicator light - a red LED - would stay on. To start the unit again I'd have to unscrew the battery cover to break the circuit, then I'd screw the cover on and press the 'on' button. I compared this type of shooting to using a muzzle loader. The first shot has to count.

On one occasion when the scope shut down, I noticed that the battery cap was a bit loose, so I tightened it. The scope didn't shut down when I shot again.

But the shutting down started to reoccur. I wondered if the battery I was using was the problem. I changed the battery and didn't get the problem. Consequently I have one 'favourite' battery which seems to give me minimal trouble, so I keep that one exclusively for this rig. Because I don't want to wear out the thread on the battery holder (probably unlikely to happen any time soon, but I'm a cautious sort of a guy) I've sometimes been charging the battery using the plug on the scope.

I don't seem to get as much working time for a battery as I would like. Most nights it is fine. But when I am watching for an animal to come through the boundary fence or out of the scrub, the scope can be in operation for maybe ten to thirty minutes and the indicated charge drops to a low level. I have batteries with larger capacity, but I'm reluctant to change anything while everything is working well.

I can't see myself using my clip-on Sytong NV attachment again. It works on an ordinary scope, but I don't like the lack of clarity when it is fitted to a standard scope, and I am reluctant to spend any more money on hunting gear, so I'm unlikely to ever buy a scope with parallax adjustment.

I bought a really good red LED flashlight from PiercingTheDarkness. The NV scopes give me a great advantage in some situations, but I like the clarity and familiarity of my old optical scope. I enjoy taking it out with me for a change with my whizzy red flashlight clamped on top. In a clear area the red light will easily illuminate the target at sensible ranges for my .223 cartridges. I have found that sometimes animals are hard to spot in scrubby areas if they aren't moving. I'm not sure why this is, but of course I can't see the 'real' colours in the red light, and there doesn't seem to be as much contrast as what there appears to be with a bright white light. Eyes glow nicely with the red LED. I haven't done enough hunting with standard spotlights and red lights to make a confident declaration about the advantages/disadvantages of each choice. But I have shone my red light on a variety of animals including pigs and a deer who didn't seem to be bothered by it much. I think birds can easily see the light.... danged plovers and parrie ducks can make a fuss. And one particular possum took off. But apart from that, I seemed to have plenty of time to organise my shot. If the weather looks dodgy, that would be a reason to select the torch ahead of the NV scope. While the scopes are weather resistant, I'd rather get water and mud on a flashlight. I like using the red light.

I recently got around to installing a memory card in a Sytong. I don't want to record gruesome stuff, but by having the video camera running while I was shooting I was able to get a better idea of what I might be doing right or wrong. But I also got a few good 'snaps' that are good for sharing.

For a while I had the Sytong on the .223 sighted for an optimum 'big game' "point-blank" range which meant it was maybe 3 or 4 cm high at the peak of the trajectory. Because I find it hard to judge range at night, I realised this sighting was not ideal for shooting hares in big paddocks. I would seldom shoot further than 120 metres, so I zeroed for around 100 metres and that turned out to be a good decision.

Adjusting the NV sights can be confusing. I found that I saved money at sighting sessions if I kept notes. It is easy to forget what direction to move the crosshairs and what the setting was for the previous shot. One also needs to stay aware of the fact that the sight setting numbers, or co-ordinates, can be negative or positive. For my particular sight and operating software my personal notes say that selecting a higher number on the Y axis (elevation) will raise the point of impact. Whereas selecting a higher number on the X axis moves the impact left (which doesn't fit my sense of logic).

I still have the Burris BH35 thermal spotter. I had to send it away to get repaired and it was away for a long time. The problem was that one of the little contact wires in the charging plug got pushed out of position and broken. But hopefully that was just a freak fault and other units won't have the same problem. It cost me nothing to get fixed apart from having to deliver and collect the unit from the shop where I bought it. I felt great grief not having the Burris to take out at night. However I was able to use a Hikmicro Lynx Pro LH25 which I found to be very good. It was smaller than the Burris and probably had a smaller field of view, but it certainly did the job and enabled me to keep hunting.

I prefer the idea of hunting during daylight. However the farms I have access to are largely clear and open and I am not so likely to see animals on the property during daylight hours. Things are different at night. I now feel quite at home wandering around in the dark with my hi-tech gear. It is still hunting, I get to bring home plenty of meat, and the people who own the various blocks of land are having less animal damage. I see shooting stars, moreporks, eels, hedgehogs and heaps of rodents. And I feel useful and close to the land. I'm so grateful that I can continue to do this type of thing in my senior years. Even when it is cold, wet and muddy it still feels right.