Originally Posted By: RiverNickI had my regrets for taking the shot and my reservations about posting this in the first place.
First of all, I completely agree with each of you. Even though there wasn't a house/pet in a 10 mile radius, I can't disagree that a shot should not have been taken before I could ID the animal. The fact that we had seen several coyotes in the area, and judging by the mannerisms, I took it for a coyote/predator and pulled the trigger. I'll be sure to use better judgement in the future.
Also, no offense taken. Say what needs to be said.
As I mentioned I admire you for speaking the truth. What I highlighted in bold is what so many thermal device hunters I've read about rely on for one of the PID factors. It's always a false sense of security using "mannerisms". Thermal does NOT give finite details of critters like standard Night Vision Devices do except for a cooled array thermal system.
With all the "commercial" thermal systems out there, you have to get VERY close to really ID based on the resolution and magnification used with each device.
I am very conservative with my PID numbers and for Yotes with the PTS233 thermal (19mm 1.5x native magnification at 320 rez), I say 50-75 yards max for PID. Now with a dedicated 4x I^2 NV rifle scope, I can ID a Yote out at approx. 350 yards from a bobcat...Yes, I know the argument, I may not even detect the yote at the onset without thermal, but using a thermal hand held scanner to begin with and then go to a dedicated NV scope for the PID I surely know for sure what I'm shooting at.
Either way, using thermal only, one has to really get the critter in close to understand what one is REALLY shooting at.