Thread: Night vision vs hunting torch update.

The CHCH Pixies modded Maxtoch torches have worked wonders for some time and will continue to do so. The success of a night crew is that everyone has their role. Everyone sticks to it and you achieve high success. The issue of light spooked deer only applies if some idiot is waving the Murupara moon beam around like a child. 3 team members ideally. 1 finder on the torch and 2 shooters. The deer dont get a chance to run if they are dead. Forget the wait for the ideal rest carry on. Light on . Boom.

Night Vision (which I have persevered with but given up on) is good in open terrain (farmland for eg)
Not so good in closer/tighter bush fringe/track/clearing situations

Setting the IR etc is a fine tune frustrating procedure (IMO)

Originally Posted by Sarvo

Night Vision (which I have persevered with but given up on) is good in open terrain (farmland for eg)
Not so good in closer/tighter bush fringe/track/clearing situations

Setting the IR etc is a fine tune frustrating procedure (IMO)

Agreed.
At the end of the day, its no different to choosing a rifle calibre. You don't shoot everything with a 45-70, although you could (and one of my brothers would).

IR NV for its price, is very well suited for more open country, and where higher definition is required, and you have no close reflective surfaces. It also works better than thermal in the middle of the day on smaller game, or even well into the night in the middle of summer where there is rock all over the ground. Using thermal to find rabbits in a hot rock pile is as bad as using a IR NV in the hay paddock (before the hay is cut). With thermal on a hot day/evening, every rabbit sized rock or fresh cow shit has to be thoroughly inspected for target identification.

Thermal on the other hand has the advantage when there is more vegetation for animals to hide. I have watched a herd of deer from above, work their way through scrub in the late afternoon using the thermal, and have then tried to spot them via normal bino's, and even through I knew exactly where the deer were, I couldn't make them out.
Thermal also has a ten fold advantage when you need fast follow up shots on multiple game, eg if you were hunting mobs of pigs in open ground. IR NV is too slow for trying to locate running animals.

And as a discloser, ALL of my hunting is on privately owned land. Any form of night vision (IR or thermal) is prohibited on DOC land.

Sorry to hear about Phil_H as was generous in helping me with projectiles for my 308.
@Gerardo brought his thermal out for a play. Could not believe how many hares and possums were easily found. Thermal scope is #1 on my wishlist.

My experience is the L21B light is amazing for what you can see, but I think for my use it is too bright, every animal I shine it towards is aware of it. Having said that I am only shooting at ethical .223 range so the C8+ red torch is more than enough for me.

For rabbits, hares and possums I have found the red offer little advantage over ordinary light torches, trying to find possums in avocado trees with red LED light reminded me of the time a guy showed me his indoor cannabis garden years ago, weird colours and textures and impossible to see what was going on. All we could see was the outer foliage. Possums in tall willow trees were much easier to spot, and the C8 seems to get the eye shine for initial spotting and then easy to see through the foliage. Rabbits and hares seem to react the same way under red light as under white light.

I've been out looking for deer with the red torches and not seen a single one yet, which makes me suspect they are aware of the light and getting out of the way. Last week I had a red hind eating hay in a paddock while I was driving around it the tractor tedding (no rifle of course) indicating they are accustomed to human presence in farm vehicles, but they are far more wary when I'm on foot.

I think Zeropak is on to a good idea of thermal for spotting, and red light for shooting. What we all need is a low power red torch in the spectrum which deer cannot see at all for getting around.

Phil_H the peace-maker should be still here, I'd also love to hear his input to this.

Originally Posted by Tikka7mm08

Sorry to hear about Phil_H as was generous in helping me with projectiles for my 308.
@Gerardo brought his thermal out for a play. Could not believe how many hares and possums were easily found. Thermal scope is #1 on my wishlist.

We'll have to have another go at it soon!

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by 55six

He questioned gun city’s favourite trade me auction bidder, And that was it.

Really ??? wtf is that about ??

Originally Posted by Ben Waimata

My experience is the L21B light is amazing for what you can see, but I think for my use it is too bright, every animal I shine it towards is aware of it. Having said that I am only shooting at ethical .223 range so the C8+ red torch is more than enough for me.

For rabbits, hares and possums I have found the red offer little advantage over ordinary light torches, trying to find possums in avocado trees with red LED light reminded me of the time a guy showed me his indoor cannabis garden years ago, weird colours and textures and impossible to see what was going on. All we could see was the outer foliage. Possums in tall willow trees were much easier to spot, and the C8 seems to get the eye shine for initial spotting and then easy to see through the foliage. Rabbits and hares seem to react the same way under red light as under white light.

I've been out looking for deer with the red torches and not seen a single one yet, which makes me suspect they are aware of the light and getting out of the way. Last week I had a red hind eating hay in a paddock while I was driving around it the tractor tedding (no rifle of course) indicating they are accustomed to human presence in farm vehicles, but they are far more wary when I'm on foot.

I think Zeropak is on to a good idea of thermal for spotting, and red light for shooting. What we all need is a low power red torch in the spectrum which deer cannot see at all for getting around.

Phil_H the peace-maker should be still here, I'd also love to hear his input to this.

All Good points there Ben. My only experience with rabbits and hares has been while looking for deer. So interesting what you say about them being shy of the light. I would have to agree that at normal rabbit shooting ranges the C8 torch should be plenty. Also agree with what you say about possums, although eye shine with the red light is a lot more pronounced than with the white light (in my experience) you would probably struggle to find possums as effectively as with a white light. I am lucky enough have private land to hunt on with plenty of deer so I am able to get a pretty good cross section of animal reactions to the light.

So here's something else I'd like to throw into the mix for discussion. An important part of my plan when setting up my night shooting rig has always been to have a rig which can go straight back to normal day shooting mode. i.e. keep the swarovski Z5 on the rifle and not go to a dedicated night scope. I much prefer hunting during daylight hours and need a rig which I can easily switch over. Hence the red light or the Pard 007.
So what I would like feedback on is the forward style of night vision clip on. Pulsar make one and pretty sure there are a couple of other brands out there. This looks like the ideal setup. No eye relief change like the rear clip on. I have been told that these units can be more prone to changing the POI on the rifle zero. They are also more expensive than the rear clip on. So anyone want give some feedback on experiences with this style of clip on.

Originally Posted by Ben Waimata

My experience is the L21B light is amazing for what you can see, but I think for my use it is too bright, every animal I shine it towards is aware of it. Having said that I am only shooting at ethical .223 range so the C8+ red torch is more than enough for me.

For rabbits, hares and possums I have found the red offer little advantage over ordinary light torches, trying to find possums in avocado trees with red LED light reminded me of the time a guy showed me his indoor cannabis garden years ago, weird colours and textures and impossible to see what was going on. All we could see was the outer foliage. Possums in tall willow trees were much easier to spot, and the C8 seems to get the eye shine for initial spotting and then easy to see through the foliage. Rabbits and hares seem to react the same way under red light as under white light.

I've been out looking for deer with the red torches and not seen a single one yet, which makes me suspect they are aware of the light and getting out of the way. Last week I had a red hind eating hay in a paddock while I was driving around it the tractor tedding (no rifle of course) indicating they are accustomed to human presence in farm vehicles, but they are far more wary when I'm on foot.

I think Zeropak is on to a good idea of thermal for spotting, and red light for shooting. What we all need is a low power red torch in the spectrum which deer cannot see at all for getting around.

Phil_H the peace-maker should be still here, I'd also love to hear his input to this.

Drive around at nighttime tedding…you’ll be right….


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Originally Posted by zeropak

So here's something else I'd like to throw into the mix for discussion. An important part of my plan when setting up my night shooting rig has always been to have a rig which can go straight back to normal day shooting mode. i.e. keep the swarovski Z5 on the rifle and not go to a dedicated night scope. I much prefer hunting during daylight hours and need a rig which I can easily switch over. Hence the red light or the Pard 007.
So what I would like feedback on is the forward style of night vision clip on. Pulsar make one and pretty sure there are a couple of other brands out there. This looks like the ideal setup. No eye relief change like the rear clip on. I have been told that these units can be more prone to changing the POI on the rifle zero. They are also more expensive than the rear clip on. So anyone want give some feedback on experiences with this style of clip on.

@Trout had/has a Guide forward clip-on.

I use velcro straps to mount my torch under the .22LR barrel for rabbit hunting at home.

These very ones AliExpress

I have no first hand experience using a front mounted clip on, but, the research I did revealed that there are issues with front mounted optics because they distort the incoming image in front of the reticle, and therefore result in a shift in POA. Therefore, you have to re-sight-in, or at least be able to dial in your know offset, it it has proven to be repeatable.

Ok i have a guide clip on TA435,Great little unit.No zeroing.screws on the front of yr adaptor that slide and clamps on yr objective bell.If you scope is slightly smaller than yr adaptor.The guide thermal centralizes it self pretty good to yr scope.As the guide clip on base magnification is 1x,its best fitted to a scope of 1.5x to 2x.Your pixils in thermal view not broken up.And at 1.5x yr scope has a wide field of view to match the thermal fol.Thermal can run on a power pack for 11hrs ,but gets quiet warm,so 4 or 5 hrs ok.So i just run it on 2 x 3.7VRCR123 which last a 1.5hrs.I have a hand held thermal monoculars so i only turn the thermal clipon on if i see game to shoot,rabbits,roos and deer.I have 2 adaptors of different sizes so i can switch from 22,222.308 and 300wm and a matter of minuts if i have too.No rezeroing reguired.If i see a roo at 300yds i just turn the magnifation up to 2x or 3x doesnt affect the view of the roo too much.Bridge is 600yds away,photo just taken thru my scope with cell phone.

Id never own a clip on that i have to rezero every second day or week.Couldnt be bothered with the hassel.Burretta have taken over Burris which have rebranded the Guide TA435 -TA450.TA435 has a wider fov of the two,which is better.