Looking for advice.

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BUSHBUSTER46

New member
Looking to shoot 300 yards and less and having trouble deciding to go with the Pulsar XD38A or XD50A. Looking for advice from someone has used both and why I might want one over the other. I just got the HD19A for scanning and am very impressed. Thanks in advance for your help.
 
For shooting at distance, the more inherent magnification, the better. I can tell you that 300 yards at coyotes would be a stretch with the XD38A. Large hogs at that distance would be doable but still a challenge in my opinion. I haven't used XD50A yet. My farthest coyote to date with thermal was two weeks ago. 290 yards with the IR Defense Hunter MKIII which has 4.5x optical and 36x digital zoom. I had to use all the zoom I had at 36x. Hope this helps.
 
Thank you for the advice it is a difficult decision never looking thru either one. The HD19A is my first experience into the thermal world going from using red lights to thermal is amazing WOW !!!
 
I kinda feel like at night your safe distances are about a third or a half at night. If you're comfortable at 500 in the day then 200 to 300 at night is about it. Depth perception is a whole lot tougher and especially with thermal since you're looking at a computer screen essentially.
 
Originally Posted By: BUSHBUSTER46Looking to shoot 300 yards and less and having trouble deciding to go with the Pulsar XD38A or XD50A. Looking for advice from someone has used both and why I might want one over the other. I just got the HD19A for scanning and am very impressed. Thanks in advance for your help. Just be a little more patient and call em to 150 or closer and kill em! With the 38a. Or buy a good night vision scope and kill em at 300.
 
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You can kill them at 300 with the XD50A. I've done it with mine, but I much prefer to wait till I've got the closer. Every once in a while one will hang up on you out there at 300 or so. It is very doable with the 50A. I've killed them out to just over 400 yds with mine, but it was in a place where I was absolutely certain of what was beyond my aimpoint. I have no experience with the 38A but it looks to me like the 50A enjoys a better field of view and definitely more magnification. The basic 2x mag gives a very clear and well defined view. With the PIP in action in the view you can enjoy more defined cross hair placement at 8x while you still have the benefit of the 2x wider field of view. I didn't see much price difference between the two models when I bought mine and elected to go with the higher magnification. I don't regret it. After your experience with the 19a monocular, you will really appreciate the benefit of using the scope. Whichever model you chose will be a game changer for you for night hunting.
 
Thank you for all the advice this would be on a gun I will be using both day and night that's why the 300 yards but at night only half that distance now I'm trying to decide to go with the XD50A or XD50S I heard the S model will be better in colder weather.
 
I've used mine in the daytime. It's kinda neat, but I do prefer glass for 300yds in the daytime. The scope will do it though if you don't want to use a quick off mount and swap scopes. You can sure pick up on heat signatures in the daytime. Natural coyote camo just doesn't work with thermal. Thermal just does not let them hide well.

I've used my 50A at 10 degrees F with no problems. I don't hunt a whole lot at cold temperatures as I just don't enjoy being that cold for long. Specs on the 50S and 50A don't seem to me to be that much different as far as temperature tolerance is concerned. There is a guy called Deereguy on here that has experience with the cold. He is a Michigan guy and he's a pretty good source of info if you can get in contact with him. Maybe he'll chime in.
 
Originally Posted By: mdmorrow300 is a far patch at night.

+1, which is why it's so important to have gear that can identify what you're actually shooting at.
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Originally Posted By: Victor_TNVCOriginally Posted By: mdmorrow300 is a far patch at night.

+1, which is why it's so important to have gear that can identify what you're actually shooting at.
smile.gif


These are 384x288 cores with a 25 micron detector pitch. Shooting ANYTHING at 300 yards with a low resolution scope like this is very risky IMO. Why not just work on your calling technique and get them in close? That's sort of the point of night hunting....You can take a day scope out and call them to 300 or 400 yards and save yourself a lot of money.

It's a h*ll of a lot more fun shooting a hog at 20 yards than it is at 200.
 
Gman, have you been using the 50A for a while or are you just getting started with it? I've only just gotten mine a few weeks ago, and haven't really had chance to hunt with it since it has been so God awful hot here. I do think just from my limited observations that the PIP can make a tremendous difference at longer ranges. I'm not sure why Pulsar made the 50A with colored reticles and ability to go 8x while the 50S with oled is only 4x and black and white reticles, but they did. Perhaps that will be corrected when the new 17 pitch model hits the US market. Still I guess that won't compare to the IRD with 12 pitch.

Guess I'm not really qualified to say what it can or can't do yet, but my home borders a field where I can see 1,000 yds. and targets are easy to pick out all the way to the back of the field. I can ID deer at 500 yds., but I haven't had chance to try it on coyotes yet. 300+ yds. at night is a far pitch for me, but I'm not a competitive shooter like 1lobo has been so I don't doubt his ability to make that shot on his farm.
 
My shots have always been closer but spending this kind of cash I am looking for something with the best capabilities, I just would like to make the right decision the first time around. Thanks again for all the advice.
 
Originally Posted By: DoubleUpGman, have you been using the 50A for a while or are you just getting started with it?

DU.....I use IR Defense units. 19mm and 35mm scopes. I tried a REAP-IR unit but I went back to the 35mm Mark III scope.
 
Oh, okay, thanks for the update. I guess I jumped the gun thinking you must have an Apex 50A. I've read the IRD's are excellent. Of course getting animals in so close it might not make much difference I guess.
 
I also use IRD units. I ordered a IR Mark 3 about two months ago and also ordered a FLIR LS XR scanner with it. I got them both and started going out on my first night ventures. It didn't take more than two stands to realize the IR 35 mm was two or three times better WOW! I found myself scanning with my rifle and scope instead of the handheld Flir unit. So I sold my Flir as soon as I could. I just got my new helmet mounted IR w300 with the whole set up. The quality doesn't even compare. I went with the 300 instead of the 250 because it was only slightly more money and it can also be used as a weapon sight as well. Just figuring everything out now.
 
I admire IRD products. That company seems to have done a pretty good job with thermal monoculars and sights, but given all that, they are pricey. I really enjoy coyote hunting and probably spend more money doing that than I should. Even so, I could not bring myself to spend the price of IRD equipment when I could buy an Apex that did the job quite well. The higher resolution is nice and fun to use, but for me, it doesn't find and kill the coyotes any better than my good ole Apex 50A. I would also offer that my needs are served well, but they might be different from someone's needs who lives in a different part of the country with different terrain, temperature, humidity, etc. Maybe some folks have a need for the higher capability just to be able to see ole wiley. I don't where I hunt. This thread started out with the author asking about experiences of users of the 50A and 50S. Somehow the thread seems to have drifted off to discussion of IRD. Although interesting and informative, I don't think that serves to answer the original question. I don't want to hamper the discussion, but maybe it's good to remind a lot of well experienced and capable coyote hunters that there is still a question that needs addressed relative to the merits of the two models of Apex. I think there have been some good responses in regard to the functionality of the 50A and to a limited degree the 50S, but I don't believe anyone has mentioned experience with the 50S. I am kinda curious about that model myself. I have often wondered why it is offered and why Apex seems to think it might have value. Didn't see the advantage when I made the decision to buy my 50A, and still don't but would love to hear someone else's viewpoint.
 
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