Question for night hunters

Originally Posted By: NoName1Bowhunt...you have Byron South giving you personal first hand advice and tips...it doesn't get any better than that right there man!! I have his Modern Predator Hunter and Coming to the Call DVDs taking turns on a constant play loop when I'm working in my shop at night. I can just about quote him at this point, lol.

Thanks! I am new to this forum and fairly new to predator hunting so I am not familiar with Byron. That being said......I am no stranger to hunting and have done a good bit of night hunting for coons (which is a total different ball game) I have probably killed more coyotes with a bow, from a deer stand, than I have with a rifle (27 I think at last count), but I am definitely looking to change that. Every word that Byron took the time to write makes perfect sense to me and is greatly appreciated. I appreciate anyone taking the time to share some of their knowledge and experience. I love this place already!
 
Thanks for the kind words guys.

I think that I get responses at night but would rather hunt during the day. At 51 I like to sleep at night.

I've got all the fancy NV and thermal sights as well as hand held but still prefer to to use the old fashion lights with a rheostat. When using the NV and Thermal I feel as if I'm looking through a tube and it get old. With the lights everyone can see and it is much less tiring after a full night. I too believe that with proper use of lights you can kill just as many as with NV. Once you get it down and have a good team mate it can be fun as well as very productive.

Thanks again,

Byron
 
Another huge factor to consider when hunting at night is the wind. It is just as important at night as it is during the day.
Having open downwind area to search is ideal.
Just like daytime being quiet and trying not to skyline yourself is critical.
Keep trying and learn from your mistakes!
 
Since most of the night hunting areas for me are about 2 hours away, I like to day hunt and scout prior to night fall. At night I can make good stands I can never make in the same area during the day since I don't have to worry about hiding the rig. I'm usually looking for fresh scat on the two tracks during the day. I mark these on the GPS and come back at night. Once done hunting and scouting during the day and early evening I usually go eat and find a cheap hotel to catch a few hours of sleep. Those GPS marks I recorded earlier work well in the pitch dark at night. I usually leave the hotel about 11 pm and if the critters are responding will hunt until daylight the next morning. At 57 it's the one thing that keeps me up all night!! The nice thing about night hunting is I don't hunt more than 50 yards from the rig if the wind is right. Most times I'm right next to my rig. I use a good head lamp to help me set up. Once I'm done I switch to a rifle mounted light. This is one type of hunting where 2 or 3 partners can cover a lot of ground. It's also very cool to see all of the prey animals out in large numbers.

Kevin
 
I'm in the midwest also as you can see. You may be able to do this in Utah but here in Iowa ( east central to put a finer pt. on it) good luck using a truck at night in this way as well as being illegal. I've called in the daytime for over 20 years with minimal success, best being around dawn or dusk. Best time spring when they are paired up with pups and territory to defend. You also have a season in Il. to hunt at night and you can't hunt at night during deer season either which really limits your time. Check the options of NV equipment at HTRN (High Tech Red Neck). Talk to Kevin (owner). He may even be close enough to you to go look at some of the equipment. Have 2 scopes (gen2+ and gen3) from him and a pulsar thermal scanner (fabulous). Nothing escapes that scanner. Was able to track a coyote I missed at 660 yds going down a fence line. I am having way more success at night than I ever did during the day like I stated. Might try day hunting, but looking to do it out west or maybe up north on a trip sometime were it looks like success rates are much better during the day.
 
Pulsar hd19A. Had a Flir 24 to start with which was good but after I used this I went immediately to it. Got it from Tyler at UNV. Gives some really good extras with it. You can rent it from him and then apply that towards purchase if you like it. You can read many posts on the night calling on using thermal to scan and then go to the NV scope for the shot. Got some great thermal scopes to but the price gets pretty steep for them. Only disadvantage to them is in ID. A dog can look like a coyote as you are seeing a thermal image and not actual image. Otherwise they offer zoom features you don't get with a dedicated scope. A clip on offers this. Be glad to give you whatever experience I can. Like I said, Kevin at HTRN has both as well as some newer less expensive scopes that are pretty good. Personally I have the D740 and the Nemisis gen2+ quick silver. Both in 4x.
 
I gotcha. I started with a PS24, sold it to a member here and then he sold it to another member...could be the one you have if you bought it from someone here. I upgraded to a mil-spec MTM thermal scanner and shoot with either a gen3 D730 or gen3 clip on. As stated I am getting the XD50A going, but after using that it makes the mil-spec 320 core MTM look bad, image-wise anyway. Considering the bang for the buck on thermal image quality I am seeing with the XD50A, I am seriously considering offing the MTM and replacing with an HD19 or HD38 to scan.

Some of the footage I got the other night was a deer at 100 yards while my dog ran out into the field from behind me to about 30-40 yards. The deer was pretty small, but no problem ID'ing it at all. The coyote vs dog ID is still in question, but unless it's a dog that looks anatomically exactly like a coyote and moves like one I don't see it as a major issue at the distance I'll be taking shots (inside 100 yards). That was a major concern I talked about a couple weeks ago as a hang-up for not yet shooting with thermal, but it's not scaring me as bad now that I am getting used to this particular scope.
 
Hey, just how hot are cows? I can see them on thermal for miles.

Just looked it up 101.5, no wonder
 
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For coyotes...if success is defined by killing the coyote, I think most guys will do better in the daytime. You might see more at night though, but it doesn't mean you'll get them dead.

As said, night hunting is really a two man deal, one hunts with the light, the other handles the shooting. The only time we run two lights is when the light guy is trying to coax in a long range, slow mover. Then the other guy will use a small powered light to watch the back door for a hard charger. Quite common to have one come rushing in while your farting around with one hung up out there.

Also depends on the time of the year. Early season when it's warm outside you'll probably see a lot more at night but as the days get cold the daytime really picks up...and it gets too cold at night (at least for me) to really be fun. Early season is comfortable at night.

The odds for seeing more stuff at night are stacked way in favor of the nighttime. Most predators are mainly nocturnal. Also, using a spotlight you're going to see every set of eyes within 500 yards (predator or not). If it's looking your way it's not going to go undetected. If you're hunting out of your truck you're going to be making a lot more stands as well since there is no walking out and back from the truck unless you're picking up a dead one.

I agree - you do not need or want a lot of light. Light intensity only needs to be enough. On a new moon you need very little, as the moon phase picks up you'll need more. On a full moon I'd rather day hunt anyway. IMO all a red lens does is knock down the intensity of the light. Some guys seem to have a tough time shooting under red. I like red for searching for eyes though.

In a nutshell, what we've always done is at the start of our stand we'll take a good sweep around with the light before starting to call. Maybe give a few lip squeeks. Really common to spot stuff before you even call (bobcats). But by far, the main reason is for safety reasons and to identify any reflections in the area (gates, road markers, someones motorhome). If you're not really familiar with the area, when it's night and you cant see you never know if someone is camped out right near you. After you are sure it's clear around you, you want to be aware of all the reflections, if you don't you will drive yourself bonkers thinking they're eyes. As said, with coyotes try to situate yourself with a view downwind. At night they head that way a lot. Once they get your wind the eyes go out and that's that.
 
I don't know your location tawnoper but I'm not sure hunting from a truck is legal in IL. I know lights are a lot less expensive than NV equipment but NV equipment at night is so much better. I can detect things so far out. Like I said I could see that coyote moving down that fence line 660 yds. away. I was sitting in the opposite fence line I farm so I know the exact distance with in a few feet or yards. I have no trouble hunting solo. Scan and track them with the 19a till it's appropriate to go to the rifle. Pretty easy to tell most of the time it's a coyote by the way it moves with size. Get fooled a little to start on some things but pick up the rifle and look through the scope solves any questions so far.
 
I'm in Calif. Not legal to shoot from a truck but you can light from it with shooter on the ground provided the truck is off any road and the engine off. I've never used night vision so I have no opinion on it's use. Does NV illuminate eyes like a spotlight will, or are you looking for movement like in the daytime? I do know using a spotlight properly will show you almost any critter with eyeshine looking your way. Sometimes even spiders and other bugs.

I've done a lot of solo night hunting and have had some pretty good nights. But, it's just so much easier with a partner. Especially for finding downed critters which at night can sometimes be a chore.
 
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If you use an infrared torch, yes. With the thermal scanner, it's no problem finding them as they still show up white. Would have to be there awhile depending on how cold to lose there body heat. Hunting alone is no problem. With that scanner you don't have to rely on eye shine as you are dependent on them looking in your direction which does't always happen. Was hunting with a partner who was scanning with a pvs 14 and I picked up one that came in that he never did.
 
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