Who does NOT use a light shroud? Besides me?

DiRTY DOG

DiRTY DOG

Well-known member
I haven't felt the need for a light shroud. I call in a lot of critters with my red XLR-100 and XLR -250 and they come right in. I can't figure out how a shroud benefits anything while scanning. If I'm scanning, that means there's nothing watching me, so a little light spill over hurts nothing. Once I spot eyes, I shift the light up and keep the eyes in the bottom ring of the halo just enough to illuminate them while they approach. Once I'm ready to shoot, I fully illuminate them with the light for the shot.

I keep my movement to an absolute minimum as if it was daylight. They're pretty much blinded when looking directly into the light. And most areas where I hunt require hand held lights so I hold the light against the forearm of the rifle/shotgun. I'm pretty successful so I don't think not using a shroud hurts me at all.

How does a shroud "help" YOU while spotlighting at night? Are shrouds an old tradition carried over from old fashioned spotlights like a Q-Beam?

45 yards the other night:
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I don't shoot with one but I scan with one. Depending on the setup I sometimes hunt close to a partner, it keeps us from lighting each other up.
 
I see what you're saying about lighting up your partner while scanning, I also usually hunt with a partner. We partially light each other up with our halos while scanning all night long. By definition, scanning means you don't have eyes watching you, so it's not a big deal.

I don't think light spillover matters one bit unless perhaps a critter is looking at you. Same goes for movement. I immediately freeze my scanning when I see eyes, and lift the halo almost entirely off the ground, so there is very little or no spillover until I lower the light for the shot.
 
I don't scan with one, but do shoot with one on my scope mounted XLR250. It seems to reduce the haze in the optic when the shield extends past my objective lens and it also kills barrel and shooting stick glare. Here it is setup on a combo gun, but I do the same when using my light on any gun.
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Originally Posted By: DiRTY DOG By definition, scanning means you don't have eyes watching you, so it's not a big deal.

Is that what scanning is, I'll be dammed
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just ripped my halo shields up since they're no longer needed, I been doing it wrong all this time who would have thunk
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What I mean is that you "scan" your light back and forth looking for eyes. No eyes = keep scanning. Once you see eyes, you quit scanning back and forth. Now you are "spotting", keeping the light on the critter until you are ready for the shot. Then you "burn" it with the light and shoot. Pretty commonly accepted terminology, yes?

You're free to do it however you wish. I prefer to know WHY I should or shouldn't do something a certain way. Just because grandaddy did it that way doesn't mean it's the best way now, especially with different technology. I have used a Q-Beam and yes it needs a shroud, but I don't think a shroud is necessary for many of today's lights.
 
Originally Posted By: DiRTY DOG If I'm scanning, that means there's nothing watching me

Are you 100% sure about that.
 
Seems pretty obvious. You can't scan everywhere at once so something could be watching you from an area that you are not scanning. And the more light spillover you have the more whatever might be watching you will see.
 
Originally Posted By: fitzSeems pretty obvious. You can't scan everywhere at once so something could be watching you from an area that you are not scanning. And the more light spillover you have the more whatever might be watching you will see.

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I use a shroud on my gun light because there's a little bit of splash in the scope, no matter where I mount it on my Henry.

John
 
Originally Posted By: fitzYou can't scan everywhere at once so something could be watching you from an area that you are not scanning. Possible. I scan fairly quickly from side to side, it takes me about 2.0-2.5 seconds to scan from one side to the other 270 degrees and back to start. Eyes are usually pretty obvious, if I don't see any I don't slow down or stop swinging the light.

The absence of a shroud has not spooked critters in my experience using modern lights. I'm wondering if anyone has had personal experience spooking critters due to spill light while scanning? Or do you use a shroud only because the old timers say you should?

Here's my XLR-100 in the fog, the spill is not bad at all.
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Mounting a light directly above the barrel will result in light reflecting off the barrel and back into your scope. Mounting the light too close to the end of your objective lens also results in glare.

The solution is to mount the light offset and behind the objective lens like I did:
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The XLR-250 is mounted 45 degrees offset nestled between the elevation and windage knobs, and it's behind the objective lens. I have no scope glare and had no problem taking this particular coyote at 250 yards over a fresh plowed field. No shroud.
 
I persoanally like this setup. Works on the same principal we all use while standing behind our scanning light. "You can't be seen behind the light."

Your scope is not affected by the light if it's forward of it. There is no glare because the light source is in front of your objectve.. Hence the reason guys use a halo shield on scopes mounted near their scope. "To get the glare in front of the objective"

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Dog............Your not really serious that 45 degrees vs 90 degrees makes and difference on what you see looking through your scope are you
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that's too funny
 
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Originally Posted By: DiRTY DOGThe absence of a shroud has not spooked critters in my experience using modern lights.

How do you know that, have you seen every critter????????????????
 
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Lets say you and your buddy are close together and your scanning and as you swing far right you see eyes.
Now heres your buddy on your right and now he is lit up. And trust me the eyes will see him. Even if you raise the beam,you are still lighting him up some. With a Shroud this would not happen!! Also if your in the woods or heavy brush it acts like a mirror and bounce back and Light you up,A shroud will prevent alot of that.
P.S. Please never scan with a gun mounted light.
 
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Originally Posted By: pmackOriginally Posted By: DiRTY DOGThe absence of a shroud has not spooked critters in my experience using modern lights.

How do you know that, have you seen every critter???????????????? I'd ask them but dead critters can't talk. Seriously, I have no evidence to show I AM spooking critters without a shroud, just like you have no evidence that you are NOT spooking them with a shroud.

As for mounting the light 45 degrees, I'm just explaining that it's possible to mount your light compact and close to the scope, instead of sticking straight up 3" tall like some people I've seen here. Mounting the light directly above the bore in line with the scope will increase the likelyhood of glare problems from light reflecting off the top of the barrel. Mounting the light offset reduces or eliminates that issue. Plus it's a much more compact setup. Your AR setup looks great, but it's not gonna work on a bolt action rifle for most folks.

That's what I'm talking about. People do things a certain way but they don't know WHY they do it that way other than they saw a pic of somebody else doing it like that. I prefer to think through the reasoning for myself.
 
Mounting a light in front of the scope is a much better way IMO. You can get barrel mounts for this. I dont use a shroud on my head mounted xlr250 for scanning or on my gun light.
 
I agree mounting forward is better. Only problem is you need the pressure switch up near trigger area or by your hand. Reaching forward has cost me many kills. And make sure the switch works before each hunt.
 
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