Unfocused Laser For Spotting/Hunting

A

Adam Bower

New member
Hi all,

I'm 21 years old and have been hunting my whole life. I haven't gotten out for coyotes too much, but plan on getting into it. I decided to undertake a project to see how it would work. The project is to use a focusable red laser for hunting coyotes. This laser will be used to spot the animal and provide illumination for hunting. I went over to candlepowerforums and was asking around about red lights. To those guys over there the red lights are terrible because they can't compete with the same white lights for throw. Someone suggested a laser unfocused might be better for illumination. My goal is to get something less than the cost of most flashlights, or just to beat some of them in value. I don't have any beam shots but I'll attach a picture of the laser. This one is a 200mW laser coming in at about 225mW tested. I paid $50 for this one. The supplier I purchased it from said that he can do a 300mW-500mW red laser with a pressure switch for $70-80. One possible downside is that the laser can't be run non-stop. It has a duty cycle of 60sec on, 60 sec off. But for quick scanning or coupled with another light it could work well. The further the beam has to go, the more you focus it in. I'm willing to bet this thing will light up eyes for hundreds of yards.

Next step is for me to mount this onto my rifle once my custom stock comes in. This laser is not much bigger than a small tactical flashlight. It runs off an 18650 battery and is just slightly less than 1" in diameter, meaning I will be able to shim it if necessary for alignment.

I know there is one company who makes laser designators that are getting popular. Unfortunately those lasers don't work in the cold (I'm told this one should be fine), and they're ONLY green because green illuminates better for the human eye. Unfortunately it also illuminates as bright white for coyotes. The red beam is a gray.

Here is a picture of the laser:

 
You better look into the legality of a focusable red laser in the US.. Last I looked into it it was not legal to import here.. If your supplier is in another country this usually do not know our laws or care about them and it is your butt if Customs pulls it. Not trying to be internet Police just giving a heads up. Im pretty sure this is the only reason that Laser Genetics does not offer a red model.
 
I bought from a reliable source that sells to the states. I was recommended on a forum and never questioned since the place had great reviews. I already received it. I figured laser genetics didn't offer the red laser because of how powerful the laser would need to be if it were red. For example the guy I bought it from said his 100mW green laser would shine 5 miles and this 200mW red laser would only shine 2 miles. The laser genetics have very low mWs compared to the red one I have. I need the extra kick because it isn't green. They may run into liability issues with that powerful of a laser. I don't worry too much. This will stay on the end of a gun and you wouldn't want to point it at anyone anyway.
 
This is interesting. I've had the same thoughts, just along the line of using a wide beam laser to outline/find your defensive pistol's target, rather than have a tiny beam to assist one's aim. If it's dark, 'ya need to know where the bad guy is and a tiny beam isn't adequate when all else is pitch black.

Seems your idea would be much more compact than scope lights now available. I'll be following your results. Would love an alternative to costly night vision scopes. It's not legal to hunt with in AL, so I won't, still interesting and maybe of help in some localities.

You say it should shine for 100s of yards. Have you shone it outdoors? Give a report.

$429 CoyoteLight includes the $400 dimmer switch
$76 Cabela's LED scope light (roughly the same as an IR T20)
$25.19 with free shipping Adjustable red laser

The technique experienced hunters recommend is to shine the red beam above the 'yote so that just the edge of the beam reflects in their eyes, then slowly lower the brighter center beam onto the critter. One could do this while peering thru his/her scope. As easy as twisting a dimmer switch.
 
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Adam, not trying to be hard on you, but I don't see how your idea is going to be much value in coyote hunting. If you can only keep the laser on for 1 minute before it overheats and then you have to turn it off, you're going to spend a lot of time with no light and spook a lot of coyotes when you hit them with the bright laser out of complete darkness. At least that's the way it seems to me.

Since you admittedly don't know much about coyote hunting yet, maybe it would be better to learn more about setups and calling, etc. before investing in equipment that may very well not work at all or as you thought.

Bright lights usually aren't for scanning, but rather for shooting. Predators need time to adjust to bright lights that's why lights with adjustable intensity work well as the power can be increased incrementally.

Boondocks has put in lots of years hunting predators at night. I would advise anyone to listen to his expertise and advice freely given for the benefit of others. Just sayin......
 
Adam,

Proceed with caution literally and figuratively, overpowered (more than 5mw) lasers present a serious vision hazard and can damage your eyesight in an instant. When buying one or 2 directly from a vendor in china they will often slip through customs unnoticed. However most lasers will be seized by customs on the spot.

If your plan is to sell them, then get familiar with the FDA and its and Laser Products documentation and testing requirements, conformance with IEC 60825-1 and IEC 60601-2-22; (Laser Notice No. 50), Title 21 Code of Federal Regulations (Subchapter J, Radiological Health), a significant Product Liability Insurance policy, and refresher on US importation laws. You will soon find out it would be easier and less paper work for you to assemble a nuclear power plant on the White House lawn.

AP

 
I in no way plan on selling these. My only plan is to find red illumination better and more cost effective than lights. I have no idea how this will work, this is purely an experiment. I'm aware of the dangers of lasers. Fortunately, while mounted to the end of the rifle, they're pretty safe if you follow some basic rules of gun safety. I would only look for this to be something to show to someone who would be interested. It would have multiple uses for me also, walking to an unfamiliar deer stand in the morning, spotting, in a field for deer. It's not 100% coyote hunting but that's the user group I have in mind. I'm not sure how bright this laser is to an animal on the other end. It can focus out to a wide beam that isn't very illuminating, or focus down and become very compact and bright.

"Bright lights usually aren't for scanning, but rather for shooting. Predators need time to adjust to bright lights that's why lights with adjustable intensity work well as the power can be increased incrementally."

This is helpful. If the laser is focused way out to find eyes, my questions I'm looking to answer myself are: "How bright is the unfocused laser to a coyote?", "How easy would it be to leave it unfocused to where it is very dim, then focus it before a shot?" The thing is, it will be aligned with the scope making it easy to zoom in and out while still being where the scope is looking.

Can you take a picture down a scope with any camera? It's not going to be useful to have a picture of 100 yards illuminated without any magnification since everyone uses a scope. I could also have someone walk up in front of where the laser is illuminating, stand to the side and take a close up.

I'm hoping to get out there and see if I can get some experience. It's either going to be more useful as a wide beam or a narrow bright one. Maybe both.
 
Unless you're planning on hunting with a couple of partners, scanning with the laser mounted on the rifle will limit the area you can actually scan. You could stand with a tripod and make out fairly well by yourself, but you'll be more exposed that way and will need to have something behind you to mask your outline except on completely dark nights. Scanning needs to be done fairly quickly and will require a lot of movement mounted on the rifle. Scanning with a rifle and nothing to hold it up is going to tire you out pretty quickly. Better to plan on separate ways to scan and shoot.
 
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Originally Posted By: DoubleUpUnless you're planning on hunting with a couple of partners, scanning with the laser mounted on the rifle will limit the area you can actually scan. You could stand with a tripod and make out fairly well by yourself, but you'll be more exposed that way and will need to have something behind you to mask your outline except on completely dark nights. Scanning needs to be done fairly quickly and will require a lot of movement mounted on the rifle. Scanning with a rifle and nothing to hold it up is going to tire you out pretty quickly. Better to plan on separate ways to scan and shoot.

Thanks for the advice. Good point.
 
Originally Posted By: DoubleUpSince you admittedly don't know much about coyote hunting yet, maybe it would be better to learn more about setups and calling, etc. before investing in equipment that may very well not work at all or as you thought.


Adam...This is good advice. Get yourself a good scan and kill light combo and concentrate on setups and calling. The advantage to night hunting is to get them in close and you don't really need a high powered laser that can light up eyes at hundreds of yards. You need to ID whatever eyes you light up anyway before shooting..........

 
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Originally Posted By: Gman757Originally Posted By: DoubleUpSince you admittedly don't know much about coyote hunting yet, maybe it would be better to learn more about setups and calling, etc. before investing in equipment that may very well not work at all or as you thought.


Adam...This is good advice. Get yourself a good scan and kill light combo and concentrate on setups and calling. The advantage to night hunting is to get them in close and you don't really need a high powered laser that can light up eyes at hundreds of yards. You need to ID whatever eyes you light up anyway before shooting..........



I'm aware of that. My brother and I also have a spotlight with a red filter. This is also going to have a dual purpose with nuisance deer hunting which we already do.
 
Here are beamshots at 75 yards. That's the furthest I could go in my location. They're not great pictures but they show an idea of what it's like. I think the advantage is that as you focus it at further ranges it doesn't lose the light that most spotlights do. I walked up to the beams as my brother shined the laser. I had trouble taking pictures through a scope. But you get the idea.





 
75yds eh? I took some nite fotos a while back and they didn't show the light as bright as the naked eye perceived 'em. Be good to know the yd diameter of the beam. Assuming it's bright enough at 75yds to spot eyes with a wide beam(10yds?), and bright enough to ID/shoot with a focused beam(5yds?), that'd be good for me. My hunting is a little different in that I don't plan to call from various stands. Just shoot around my cabin, maybe over bait, to keep predators pushed back some and give my pets a better chance of survival.
 
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The beam can be whatever size you want it to be. It's going to be hard to give good representation of the beam. The best part is that it's small and it can be equipped to your rifle. It may not fit the needs of a lot of the big time guys here but it could have use for a single man setup. Or possibly over bait.
 
If you can make out the roof of the small shed I am aiming on, I figure it is 15 ft. high at the peak or so. I don't yet know how to give a good shot of it being on some sort of animal. I'll figure something out eventually. I'd prefer to take pictures through a scope but I need to investigate that some more.
 
If you can make out the roof of the small shed I am aiming on, I figure it is 15 ft. high at the peak or so. I don't yet know how to give a good shot of it being on some sort of animal. I'll figure something out eventually. I'd prefer to take pictures through a scope but I need to investigate that some more.
 
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