Thread: Wallaby shooting with thermal scope - video.

Here's a bit of a video for you, demonstrating just how effective a thermal scope can be.. Scope used was Pulsar Trail XP50, on a suppressed Howa mini action .223

Ranges from 10-200+, average ranges in the clip probably bracketing 130-180.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNs-uk95XZA

That was a cracker video using that thermal imaging. Did you shoot all those wallabies from one spot or is it a combination of several spots? It is certainly an effect way to control wallabies or any pest animal for that matter. Well done and nice shooting. When I worked on the Pest Board we used to do a lot of wallaby work between Rotorua and Te Teko but used spotlights and mostly 22 rifles and subsonic. We shot thousands back then but there are still plenty about, access is the problem as mostly they are in private forestry areas.

Bloody hell there are a heap in that area!, hard case how more pop out as their mates are shot.
Looks like a lot of fun

Originally Posted by Mooseman

That was a cracker video using that thermal imaging. Did you shoot all those wallabies from one spot or is it a combination of several spots? It is certainly an effect way to control wallabies or any pest animal for that matter. Well done and nice shooting. When I worked on the Pest Board we used to do a lot of wallaby work between Rotorua and Te Teko but used spotlights and mostly 22 rifles and subsonic. We shot thousands back then but there are still plenty about, access is the problem as mostly they are in private forestry areas.

That was a few different groups shot on the same night, cruising the farm track scanning from the truck. As you can see, they did tend to be clustered in a few hotspots though. These wallabies are quite a lot bigger than your wee hopping possums up north, would imagine the behaviour is pretty similar though.

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Bloody hell there are a heap in that area!, hard case how more pop out as their mates are shot.
Looks like a lot of fun

Awesome fun alright, but still very challenging shooting. Crazy numbers in places. The thermal can be a bit of an eye-opener as to just how many are out there.. and let's not even talk about the rabbits.

Fark, last year 3 of us managed 25 one night spotlighting, the eyes arent that reflective but with a thermal the heads really stand out. Pitty the things are so expensive if they were rentable we probably would be all over one for this year.

Yeh last time I was down Thar hunting we seen a few in the early hours of the morning on the road sides around Burkes Pass I think it was. Our wallabies are a lot smaller with a large male going about 9-10 kg. They are great sport though and yours would certainly warrant using a larger caliber like the 223. I also liked using a 22 Mag and sometimes the likes of a Hornet.

Bloody brilliant.

That scope is the shit!! new goal coming up

My Uncle used to cull them and dear in late 40's early 50's, they used get up higher and try to get them to run downhill as it was easier to shoot them from behind as apposed to bobbing across your line of sight

Great clip
The Trail XP definition is very good and a step up form the Apex XD50
I using XP handheld now and love it.

Prob a silly Q after watching the clip - but have you had any issues holding Zero with the Trail ?
Have you found better success on some rifles over others/another ?
Are you using standard Pulsar mounts on rail ?

Were there any Wallabies left after that night :-)

Originally Posted by Sarvo

Great clip
The Trail XP definition is very good and a step up form the Apex XD50
I using XP handheld now and love it.

Prob a silly Q after watching the clip - but have you had any issues holding Zero with the Trail ?
Have you found better success on some rifles over others/another ?
Are you using standard Pulsar mounts on rail ?

Were there any Wallabies left after that night :-)

Yes, I've spent a fair bit of time behind the previous model, and the XP is a serious step up in definition. Focus is better to use on it too, not that I usually bother with that while shooting - just set it to mid-range somewhere and forget about it. (although I probably had it set a little close for the duration of that clip). Pretty crazy with the technology.. can livestream the viewfinder via wi-fi to your phone or tablet.

Haven't tended to have any issues holding Zero, occasionally it will walk a little for a very short time, but the auto or manual calibration brings it back into line straight away. Had a bit of difficulty with the first wallaby of the night that time around, until we realised the zeroing profile was still set to the .17hmr that the scope had been on a few nights previously.. quick flick through the settings to change profile and it was bang-on.

I've used various thermals on 10/22, Savage A17 .17hmr semi-auto, and a couple of howa 223s.
Mainly shooting rabbits, with a few nights like this on wallabies. All work very well, but the A17 w/ thermal is a deadly, vicious little combo on rabbits.

I believe he is using the standard pulsar mounts, and yes fitted to a rail. Have had the occasional issue with them shaking loose, or in one case he'd managed to forget the locking lug during assembly, so every 20 shots would have to reset the scope back on the rail, as it was sliding forward.. Fine when you get it all setup right though.

Around here, there are always more wallabies! After a good sweep like that though, numbers will be seriously down. Usually a couple of effective runs through an area on wallabies, and 3 runs on rabbits, and then you can forget about it for a while and move onto the next spot.

@StrikerNZ
You obviously have it on AD mounts for various rifles and calibrations .
So do you ever use it as a hand held also and if so how do you find it ?

Great video and excellent explanation of its use.

Should probably make clear the thermal doesn't belong to me, I just turn up and use it - but I have stacked up quite a number of hours behind it at this point, in a variety of terrain and shooting conditions, so extremely familiar with its use and limitations.

They come with QR mounts, press the thumb-lever past a spring-detent and it locks in place nice and securely.

For handheld use.. I'm sure it would be adequate, the imaging would do equally as well. However - from memory the scope unit is a bit larger than the dedicated handheld units, so I imagine you'd probably be needing two hands to make the best of it. Not quite as agile for poking around in forestry or somewhere and having a quick glance.

One other minor limitation with the scopes I should add - when zeroing, the 'clicks' are a fairly hefty 20-30mm@100, depending on model. So definitely can't give the real fine-tune pin-point accuracy of a traditional scope, unless you get lucky with where those clicks line up.

Originally Posted by StrikerNZ

Should probably make clear the thermal doesn't belong to me, I just turn up and use it - but I have stacked up quite a number of hours behind it at this point, in a variety of terrain and shooting conditions, so extremely familiar with its use and limitations.

They come with QR mounts, press the thumb-lever past a spring-detent and it locks in place nice and securely.

For handheld use.. I'm sure it would be adequate, the imaging would do equally as well. However - from memory the scope unit is a bit larger than the dedicated handheld units, so I imagine you'd probably be needing two hands to make the best of it. Not quite as agile for poking around in forestry or somewhere and having a quick glance.

One other minor limitation with the scopes I should add - when zeroing, the 'clicks' are a fairly hefty 20-30mm@100, depending on model. So definitely can't give the real fine-tune pin-point accuracy of a traditional scope, unless you get lucky with where those clicks line up.

"'clicks' are a fairly hefty 20-30mm@100"

Ah - now I see why it nearly drove me to drink sighting my XD50 in.
The sighting in option would work OK if proper setup bench/cradle etc (that is the zeroing option in the Menus where you take the dot/+ to the bullet hole)
Since my mate has had the scope on a 7m-08 its been perfect.
We sighted her in with 3 shots and its never been touched since.

You can use these Trail rifle mounts as hand held's - but they are not as nimble as a Helion XP handheld obviously.
I was using the Helion XP38 in right hand and a Pocket 8x25 Bino in the left hand other morning at dawn - excellent for surveying "the pets" :-)

That is fantastic, good shit