Best light for nighttime hunting

ILPredHunter12

ILPredHunter12

New member
Good evening folks! I got a quick one for ya. I do a lot of hunting by myself and when it is legal in IL to hunt at night, it's a hassle for me. A head lamp is a pain in the rear to use and it's almost impossible, for me, to try and shine with a spotlight and shoot. So I was just wondering what is the best light to buy to mount on my scope or rifle for nighttime hunting? Any opinions are greatly appreciated!

Thank you everybody!
 
The best for someone else may not necessarily be the best for you. There are a lot of different options and a lot depends on your hunting style. You say you do not like using a headlamp, me on the other hand absolutely love using a headlamp. Either way you should condition the predator first with a less bright scanning light whether it be a handheld or headlamp. While they are approaching the call the scanning light beam should be kept on them the entire time. This does two things, the light is used as your concealment and it also conditions them to the light so when you feel they are in range you can transition to you brighter gun mounted light to make the I.D. and the kill shot. By conditioning them first you increase your chances of not spooking them. Giving too much light all at once will sometimes hang them up or just cause them to leave.

There are a lot of different lights out there with a lot of different opinions. I personally like calling them in within 200 yards before making the shot. If you are looking for longer ranges I suggest looking at the Coyote Light or one of the Wicked lights with the sphere lens.
If you should have any questions I would be more than happy to talk with you on the phone.

Feel free to call (814) 364-9660

Joe
 
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I use the coyotelight and absolutely love it! The battery life is insane and runs on full brightness seems like forever. I love how you can turn the knob and adjust the light intensity to help with call shy predators as well and it shines a long way and is extremely bright to help identify predators out a long way. I love mine and it's worth every penny.
 
I use a Stalktech Fury 3 its a great light you can buy a mount to mount it to your scope. Killed a yote fist night I used it. I have since decided to with nv set up I have a sightmark photonxt and must say I love it as much or more than the light.
 


Heres a picture of my setup I hope it helps you in your decision which way to go. I you have any questions id be happy to answer them if you want to talk message me and ill give you my number....
 
Best light?
Coyotelight. Period. If your state does not allow night vision, you will be money ahead in the long run to bite the bullet and invest in a Coyotelight. You won't be sorry. Buy the Chinese lights if you want to, but you asked for the best.
 
ILPredHunter12,
Please contact me an I'll help you select a light system that's right for your needs. I have used everything on the market and I am a dealer for SIX different brands of lights and I personally use them all to hunt different conditions and styles.

Either Email me at jeremiah@boondockoutdoors.com or call my retail store between 3pm and 7pm to talk to me. (814)343-6435
 
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No experience with the other lights mentioned, but after looking at the dual beam Night Eyes light at the NTA Convention in NY..........that's what I'm getting.

Very Nice lights.

Mark
 
I prefer using red light, down here the coyotes are pretty call shy everyone and there dog goes out and calls. If you use white light it'll blind them and scare them red light is less harsh to there eyes and don't blind them as bad. I have experimented with other colors and the two I always go back to are red and green. I have used green as well which works great I just prefer red.
 
I worked with Boondocks last year. WOW were they great.

night hunting is new in AZ, so it's been a serious learning curve.

I created a seat that pivots with the shooting sticks on it. This way the shooter could rotate without having to lift up the shooting sticks.

The next thing was a scanning light. I tried white and red and green.. I found that Red was the easiest on my eye's and didn't spook the animals, or let them come in more willingly. After hours of scanning, red is way better on your eyes.

Then as they could come in, I would aim the shooting light up over the heads of the coyotes and turn on the spot light with a wideish beam. put the edge of the beam on them (called the halo) and start tracking them in for the shot. I would turn off the scanning light.

I use the Sniper hog lights. (a pair of them, that come with extra batteries that can be charged in the truck or at home. I also totally recommend a Halo shield so that you don't light up yourself.

If you can hunt out of a vehicle, i also found that 800 denier fabric with refrigerator magnets glued on to cover the lights of the vehicle helps too. I just used a bunch of free magnets from the pizza places to hold the fabric in place while out at night. I did this because if you walk out from your vehicle and turn around at 50yrds with a small headlamp and look at the vehicle. I figure that is what the coyotes is seeing, and as soon as you cover those lights up, my truck disappeared.
The coyotes would come in closer.

Good luck.
 
Do you have any pictures of the chair that swivels? I get so tired of sitting on the ground when it's frozen out here in the midwest and have yet to find anything that works decent when there is snow on the ground. I just hate losing my mobility by sitting in a stationary chair
 
I just weighed a Coyotelight and a wicked W-402ZF. We weigh 1.4 lbs and wicked is 1.2 lbs. We will not compete with the smaller flashlights in weight (for now)but the difference with the larger lens lights is only in ounces. I have heard very few people tell me they notice it on their scope. As far as I know we were the first to add a pic a tiny rail to the light to add an AR handle for scanning. With the balance and ergonomics I can scan all night with no fatigue.
 
This has nothing to do with predator hunting. I remember this about the red lights. In my youth when I was onboard a aircraft carrier, the Navy was were very strict about only using red lenses in our flashlights during night ops.

Just my $.02
 


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