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

Thanks Marty.... hadn't thought of using rubber and fastening it to the trigger guard. I've got some heavy duty rubber bands that are used for training trees, I should see what I can do with those. Heh... also appreciated your 'grammatical imprecision' note.

On Monday night I went out and shot a hare in a big paddock using a .223 fitted with a Pulsar NV scope. The scope is a good one, but it doesn't have a rangefinder. I looked for a long time, but didn't find that hare. That really bugged me. So I went to the same place yesterday evening before dark, carrying my Ruger .22 fitted with the Sytong HT 60 rangefinder model (which is now working well with a software update). I zig-zagged back and forth across the paddock and eventually found the hare. It was maybe forty metres further down the slope than I'd thought. All that was left was a pair of ears, four paws and some fairly clean-picked bones. I'm guessing the hawks had a feed. If I'd had a rangefinder (and had 'ranged' before I took the shot), I could have ranged from the paddock back to my shooting position to help me find the right general area. With the .223 being zeroed for maybe 170 metres, I can pretty much point and shoot up to 200 metres - and I'm likely to be able to decide if something is closer than 200 metres. So a rangefinder isn't so critical for deciding whether to shoot and where to hold for the .223 rig. I measured the range with the Sytong for interest's sake, and found that it was 97 metres.

After dark I walked across the rest of the farm. I spotted a young hare, and pressed the rangefinder button. 70 metres. I'd created a bit of a chart based on the rifle being zeroed for 50 metres, so I knew to hold 5 cm high. My shot was successful, and I was very pleased. I then spotted a big possum in a nearby tree, so I climbed the hill to make a safe shot, and I got the possum as well. It took more than one shot as sometimes is the case with possums.

Shooting at hares and rabbits with a .22 at long distances is something that makes my ethics indicator wave its needle. However, when it is important to protect crops etc and the use of a big rifle isn't the wisest choice, then it can be worth the gamble. Having a rangefinder makes it easier for me to decide whether to take the shot and, if so, where to aim.

Beautiful viewers. Too bad in my country they are prohibited.

Originally Posted by JLF

Beautiful viewers. Too bad in my country they are prohibited.

That is unfortunate JLF.

While these things are interesting and useful, we hunted successfully without them for thousands of years. My first hunt with night gear was just a few months ago. While I've become a little obsessed about experimenting with these new bits of technology, they represent a departure from the way I prefer to live. I don't like to own too much 'stuff', and I value simplicity and self-reliance. I doubt that my greatest hunting memories will involve infra-red technology. Using a range-finder and a hi-tech scope to make a perfect shot at midnight is nothing compared to shooting a pig with a bow made from a branch and an arrow formed from a bracken stem. It would take a lot to make me feel more elated than the time I snared my first rabbit.

I guess you are probably permitted to use game cameras in Argentina. I've enjoyed using these for a long time. The images recorded on my camera have been quite a revelation. The camera is an indirect night-vision hunting tool and a relatively inexpensive bit of technology that helps to make a hunter's life interesting.

Originally Posted by Coote

That is unfortunate JLF.

While these things are interesting and useful, we hunted successfully without them for thousands of years. My first hunt with night gear was just a few months ago. While I've become a little obsessed about experimenting with these new bits of technology, they represent a departure from the way I prefer to live. I don't like to own too much 'stuff', and I value simplicity and self-reliance. I doubt that my greatest hunting memories will involve infra-red technology. Using a range-finder and a hi-tech scope to make a perfect shot at midnight is nothing compared to shooting a pig with a bow made from a branch and an arrow formed from a bracken stem. It would take a lot to make me feel more elated than the time I snared my first rabbit.

I guess you are probably permitted to use game cameras in Argentina. I've enjoyed using these for a long time. The images recorded on my camera have been quite a revelation. The camera is an indirect night-vision hunting tool and a relatively inexpensive bit of technology that helps to make a hunter's life interesting.

While I like those types of scopes, I would never use one. My rifle does not have any type of scope, I use the metal sights of the rifle. And to hunt at night I painted the front sight and the rear with a luminescent paint. Like you, I like to hunt without so much technology.
But the interesting thing about these scopes is that if they were allowed, in my country many of the deaths by accidental shooting in the hunts would be avoided.

Out for a shoot last night using new red torch and syntong NV. Both ran out of power, red torch first.

Reverted to halogen spottie first once red torch stopped. Didn’t seem a noticeable difference in the behaviour of the hares been spotted. To be fair area hadn’t been shot in a while.

Will need to purchase extra batteries to make best use of the investment in tech.

Was pleased to be able to unclip the unit and carry on shooting. Most probably shot just as many.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's quite a pile of hares Tiroahunta. What might you typically do with them?

Also... does your scope have parallax adjustment?.... or do you simply find a focus position on your add-on unit that works for you?

Originally Posted by Coote

That's quite a pile of hares Tiroahunta. What might you typically do with them?

Also... does your scope have parallax adjustment?.... or do you simply find a focus position on your add-on unit that works for you?

Head shot commercial pet food, the rest house meat n frames for own dogs.

Just found a focus that works. Normally I shoot on 5 power, I wind it back to 3 with the clip on.

Parallax adjustable the way to go but….$$$$


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

"Head shot commercial pet food, the rest house meat n frames for own dogs."

There is a lot of meat on an adult hare. And I reckon it can be pretty similar to venison. There is also something special to me about a hare.... dunno what exactly. Maybe it is because I have hunted them for so long. Call me weird, but some of the bigger ones seem to have a wise and almost mystical appearance.

Some friends have had their citrus trees chomped by hares on their lifestyle block. While their garden is surrounded by some fairly big paddocks, there are other houses nearby. I haven't used my .223 on the property because I don't want to create a panic or upset anyone. So up until getting the Sytong NV mounted on my .22, I've had to use a silenced .22 with a conventional scope and a spotlight. I've seen what I believe is one particular hare that has stayed out of reach of my .22. But last night I took the Ruger .22 / Sytong rig and was lucky to spot the hare within range.... and to have a fencepost I could rest on without touching the electric fence wires (which would have no doubt affected my accuracy). I was loaded with Winchester Subsonic 40 grain hollows..... the American made stuff. I was impressed with the terminal performance. As it turned out, that was one night of the year where I probably would have been OK to use the .223 as there were fireworks going off nearby.

That is interesting thanks @JLF. What sort of rifle do you use? And are the metal sights you refer to open sights (with a 'V' rear sight and a 'l' front sight)? or do you use an aperture sight? And what sort of animals can you hunt over there?

Originally Posted by Coote

That is interesting thanks @JLF. What sort of rifle do you use? And are the metal sights you refer to open sights (with a 'V' rear sight and a 'l' front sight)? or do you use an aperture sight? And what sort of animals can you hunt over there?

The rifle I use is a Remington 700 cal. .338 Winchester Magnum. I hunt wild boars and pumas.
This is my rifle. The front sight modifies it.


upload picture



The reason for removing the sight from my rifle is because I wanted to polish my hunting method.

I apologize for misrepresenting the post.

That's all good @JLF. That front sight looks useful with the paint on it. Thanks for posting the picture. I got some 'glow in the dark' powder today, so I might try Micky Duck's recipe and apply some to a rifle sight with clear nail polish to see how it works.

We don't have pumas here, but we do have feral cats (domestic cats gone wild). Some of them get pretty big. The one in the picture below was huge. it was probably the best part of three feet long when stretched out..... nothing like a puma of course, but it possibly killed a lot of wildlife in its time.

338 magnum,that impresses me.But if a puma is charging you,you want to stop it dead.No second chance there.

I'm with you Trout. I just Googled South American Puma. Evidently a male may grow to 100kg and 2.4 metres from tail tip to nose. That is a big pussy cat. The closest thing I can compare it to is a 100 kg pig with claws and the ability to climb a tree and pounce on you.

Originally Posted by Coote

I'm with you Trout. I just Googled South American Puma. Evidently a male may grow to 100kg and 2.4 metres from tail tip to nose. That is a big pussy cat. The closest thing I can compare it to is a 100 kg pig with claws and the ability to climb a tree and pounce on you.

They become great. The mountain ones are bigger but not as heavy, and more difficult to hunt.Hunting cougars in the mountains, without using dogs, is a great hunt. In most cases, it is unsuccessful, that is, the cat is not killed. Understand that it refers to my hunting mode ... I don't take long shots, I try to get as close as possible. For long-distance hunters, the success rate increases markedly.
It is a hunt that requires no less than 15 days and a good physical condition. And their roasted ribs is a delicacy