Hi Guys: New to the forum! I'm out in the country and own a fair sized piece of property. I'd like to do what I can to reduce the Coyote population. I'm wanting to purchase a Night Vision Monocular for scanning. My very general specifics would be IR first/Thermal 2nd. Be able to attach to a tripod. Good to at least 400 yds. Budget is top end approx. a grand. Any suggestions for what I may look at the would meet those criteria. Thanks a bunch in advance.
NEW member/predator hunting - Advice for Night Vision Monocular
- Thread starter svan
- Start date
Spurchaser
Well-known member
I’d purchase a thermal for scanning vs NV.
Given that, any recommendations of make/model that will fit my criteria?
Spurchaser
Well-known member
Unfortunately no, most thermal scanners are over a grand.
Duhhh
Well-known member
You might be able to find a 384 agm seeker/tiapan v2 for under 1k. I got mine from scheels on a price match for $980 if I remember correctly.
davidheart
Member
How clear do they look when they're 100-300 yards? I'm in a similar situation as the original poster. Don't want to spend a small fortune to get into thermal and I'm thinking a monocular for scanning may be my best bet with my red light mounted to my scope for the final shot.
DoubleLungRage
Well-known member
I have a AGM Taipan V2 19-384 and I am very pleased with it.
Keep in mind that 99% of your time will be spent looking through the scanner, not your scope.
Keep in mind that 99% of your time will be spent looking through the scanner, not your scope.
davidheart
Member
So to verify, you're saying if we have to choose between a scope and a monocular, buy the monocular and stick a red light on your rifle?
"How clear do they look when they're 100-300 yards?"
At 300 yrds have a pretty good identification of what I"m looking at. Seems that from about 225 yrds and in I can identify what I'm watching with out any problems. From now till June 8th Rix is giving a Rix3 with the purchase of their Leap6.
At 300 yrds have a pretty good identification of what I"m looking at. Seems that from about 225 yrds and in I can identify what I'm watching with out any problems. From now till June 8th Rix is giving a Rix3 with the purchase of their Leap6.
DoubleLungRage
Well-known member
Correct.
Or if you want to spend a little more money. AFTER you buy a good thermal scanner.
Buy a good NV scope such as the RIX T20, DNT Zulus, PARD Night Stalker or DS35, AGM Spectrum LRF 4k....
I think you would have more success going that route than with the red light. It doesn't take a $5,000 thermal scope to go out and be very successful at night hunting. In fact, I own both thermal and NV scopes and I still prefer NV because I like the realism of watching the actual animal, not a heat signature... if that makes sense.
davidheart
Member
Awesome. Thank you. I didn't realize night vision could look so good!
I looked up the scopes you sent me and I saw a couple videos of the Zulus and PARD and they look awesome. I only have experience with my buddies thermal scopes which range from 3-6k. He owns the custom rifle shop I work at from time to time and we're an AGM dealer. But he always buys the best of the best and advises me to skip the cheaper stuff. The thing is, I have a limited budget, single income, wife, and 5 kids so there's no way I'm spending 3k on a scope. I need to be able to adequately justify my spending and for us hunting is a way to fill the freezer and manage wildlife. We have a small farm with coyote and fox all around killing chickens and livestock and I need to make these things dead. Last we lost 20 chickens over the course of 3 weeks right before the nationwide egg shortage happened...... I've been trying to use a red light on my rifle and while I've seen some success I've also lost a decent number of shots simply because I either don't see the fox/coyote/racoon/weasel or I see them way too late. Happened to me again just the other day when I missed a yote just outside our cattle pasture.
I'll look more deeply into those NV optics and maybe pick one up off of Amazon as soon as I can. Thank you!
DoubleLungRage
Well-known member
Digital NV scopes are just like everything else, you have your better quality and lesser quality. I wouldn't say that NV is lesser quality than thermal. That's kind of like comparing apples to oranges. They are two totally different things.
I have a RIX T20 and a PARD DS35. Both are great scopes especially if you upgrade the factory IR light. I give the nod to the RIX, but I like hunting with the PARD just as much. The DS35 is last year's model so it's probably going to be hard to find. Their new model is the Night Stalker. I'm not 100% sure, but I think that the Night Stalker and the AGM Spectrum LRF 4k are the same scope.
The biggest limitation I have with NV is when I'm trying hunt tall grass or inside thick woods. The IR light will reflect off of the brush and whiteout the screen. The 2nd would be whenever I'm hunting roads and the coyotes only way to get to me is to run right down the road to me, some of them do notice the IR light. Most of the time by the time they notice it and stop they are already well within range and I shoot them.
Scanners. Again, it doesn't take a very expensive scanner to be successful. Before I bought the 384 I was using a micro 160 or something like that. I could easily tell when I had "something" running at me a few hundred yards away. However, if you have the money, I'd go with a quality 384 or better. If on a tight budge there are some nice 256's on the market.
I have a RIX T20 and a PARD DS35. Both are great scopes especially if you upgrade the factory IR light. I give the nod to the RIX, but I like hunting with the PARD just as much. The DS35 is last year's model so it's probably going to be hard to find. Their new model is the Night Stalker. I'm not 100% sure, but I think that the Night Stalker and the AGM Spectrum LRF 4k are the same scope.
The biggest limitation I have with NV is when I'm trying hunt tall grass or inside thick woods. The IR light will reflect off of the brush and whiteout the screen. The 2nd would be whenever I'm hunting roads and the coyotes only way to get to me is to run right down the road to me, some of them do notice the IR light. Most of the time by the time they notice it and stop they are already well within range and I shoot them.
Scanners. Again, it doesn't take a very expensive scanner to be successful. Before I bought the 384 I was using a micro 160 or something like that. I could easily tell when I had "something" running at me a few hundred yards away. However, if you have the money, I'd go with a quality 384 or better. If on a tight budge there are some nice 256's on the market.
Spurchaser
Well-known member
I would think if you aren’t getting shots with a red light because you aren’t seeing them then you aren’t going to see them with NV either. Same as day hunting. I can look from my stand and scan the area in front of me and miss seeing deer. I can look through the thermal and see deer that I don’t see at first glance with the naked eye.
If you’re hunting wide open areas you can see for forever, then yeah, NV may work. I’d stick with the red light until I could afford thermal.
If you’re hunting wide open areas you can see for forever, then yeah, NV may work. I’d stick with the red light until I could afford thermal.
DoubleLungRage
Well-known member
Other than the few specific reasons I mentioned above I have great success with my NV. The only reason I even finally bought a thermal scope was because during the summer months a lot of the places I hunt don’t get bush hogged so finding a place to set up that doesn’t have waist tall patches of weeds gets pretty annoying.
i just think you could go less detected with NV vs a regular red light and day time scope.
As for the thermal scanner. No one is saying that they don’t recommend one. Everyone has actually recommended that he buy a thermal scanner over everything else.
Spurchaser
Well-known member
I’m just a buy once, cry once kind of buyer, lol. I’d rather have and not need than need and not have.
I would buy an AGM Seeker/V2 15-384 mono and save up for a RIX L3 thermal scope.
The ocular zoom doubles the scopes lethality range.
Both use 18650 batteries and have large displays to help with eye fatigue.
I've been using this duo as my backup/loaner set up for awhile without one issue.
SJC
The ocular zoom doubles the scopes lethality range.
Both use 18650 batteries and have large displays to help with eye fatigue.
I've been using this duo as my backup/loaner set up for awhile without one issue.
SJC
Duhhh
Well-known member
I actually have that agm seeker v2 15-384 and really like it. I have it helmet mounted now and I don’t feel like I’m handicapped in any way. Huge field of view and I can pick up coyotes coming In from a surprisingly long ways out. For only being 1.5 base mag, it’s got a pretty good picture quality too.
That unit will run off a single 18650 nightcore battery in -5 degrees almost all night too.
DoubleLungRage
Well-known member
I understand and there is nothing wrong with that. There is no wrong or right. To me, it's just personal preference. I don't make money off of shooting coyotes so if I "miss" one here and there because I couldn't see it in the grass I'm okay. I just really enjoy seeing the actual coyote. To me it's more of a personal experience with the animal. With thermal I'm just shooting at an "outline". Feels like a video game.
If I had to shoot 100% of every coyote I seen or not eat then I would just go ahead and go thermal all the way.