Thermal. Night hunting in winter

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smokem

New member
What might be your method of set up to night hunt with flir over snow as here in iowa winter. Temps in teens or twentys or even colder.
 
The thing with Thermal and NV is you don't have the light to hide behind, so it takes away setting up in the middle of a field and giving the animal the hedgerows to approach because they will pick you off. Now when I night hunt with thermal I set up just like I would during the day. That is I make sure I have good back cover and move as little as possible.

Last night with the full moon and snow I managed to howl in a pair of coyotes. Through the thermal I could see them clear knoll at about 350 yds and they my location pegged. I was backed into a hedge row with good camo and a clear shot 200 yds to the down wind. I never made a sound while they were in thermal sight but they still tried to circle me, stopping every 40 yds to stare in my direction. If I was sitting out in the middle of that field like I used to with lights, they would have seen me long before I saw them.
 
You can set up in the middle of a field with thermal. We've killed multiple coyotes this year in the middle of the field, even on bright moon lit nights. Just last weekend I called in a triple and killed one, moved onto another spot and called in a pack of 4. Set right up in the middle of the field and the coyotes came within 50-60 yards. Just try not to make a ton of movement.
 
Originally Posted By: McallisterYou can set up in the middle of a field with thermal. We've killed multiple coyotes this year in the middle of the field, even on bright moon lit nights. Just last weekend I called in a triple and killed one, moved onto another spot and called in a pack of 4. Set right up in the middle of the field and the coyotes came within 50-60 yards. Just try not to make a ton of movement.

I'd like to watch you set up in the middle of a field on a bright moon night and kill coyotes. You'll definitely show me something new.
If I count right, you claim to have killed 1 but you called in 7. What happened with the other 6?
In my opinion often times I can't hide enough on bright nights. Set in the middle of a field in the moonlight, not me. Thermal is great, but it does not make me invisible.
 
I've set up out in the open before on full moon nights and have them get to within thirty yards. Having a back drop is ideal but not always possible.
 
In my experience you have to break your outline up I usually sit on the edge of fields next to the tree line under hanging branches if available. One spot I sit with my back to a barn and have never had a problem. But hunting the same spot they are getting smarter last time I was their coyote came out far left as soon as I moved I got busted. wind was blowing the other direction never thought he would come out their. Only thing I figured he was gonna try and circle behind me before he saw me.
 
That was only one instance and it was 3 on one stand killing 1 and 4 on the next stand killing another one. Some of the fields we hunt, the ideal place to be is out in the middle sitting on the ground. How do they know what you are sitting down? They're dogs, they aren't all that smart. We've killed 32 coyotes 10 fox and a bobcat this year all calling in NY so I think we've got a pretty good grasp of what we're doing.
 
I think the OP was looking for opinions and he got several. Different strokes for different folks. Mcallister, you usually hunt with more than one person, correct? I would imagine it's easier to sit still if you don't have as large a field of view to cover. I hunt alone most of the time so my head is on a constant swivel, and I hate shooting running targets.

My experience shows I have better luck with cover. Your experience is obviously different.
 
Originally Posted By: stupidnewbieI think the OP was looking for opinions and he got several. Different strokes for different folks. Mcallister, you usually hunt with more than one person, correct? I would imagine it's easier to sit still if you don't have as large a field of view to cover. I hunt alone most of the time so my head is on a constant swivel, and I hate shooting running targets.

My experience shows I have better luck with cover. Your experience is obviously different.

It's normally just me and one other person. I'm the only one with thermal so I'm scanning with thermal and they're just waiting to shoot with their light if multiple dogs come in. Usually we prefer to set up on hedge rows or other types of cover but there's some situations that just won't allow it.
 
We hunt with as many as 4 people with a combination of thermal and night vision. Usually we are in the middle of a field somewhere. We never set the caller so the yotes will be looking directly at us. We don't have issues with them seeing us. Smelling is a different issue.
 
On bright nights with snow on the ground I usually stay home or use a little bit of cover.

Bright night no snow sit in the best spot according to wind direction.

Dark nights I stand in the middle of the field and some times move to a better shooting position after spotting the coyote. DO Not move around if hunting with partner.

I average about 60%-70% kill rate using these methods. I almost always get the first one but the 2 or 3 often get away unless they stop to look back.
 
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