Who still uses red lights?

J

jwebster34

Member
I can't afford thermal, yet, so was just looking for a few opinions on the newer lights out on the market. I had wicked lights, but they were just okay. I'm looking at Night Eyes, Coyote Light, Sniper Hog, and Predator Tactics. Going to get new gun light and scan light/headlamp.
 
Identification and detection range were definitely not as advertised and they seemed to lose intensity rather quickly. One of the 403's I had also would shut off intermittently. Just wanted to know if anyone's lights could actually light up an animal at 300+ yards like a lot of them say (some state quite further).
 
If you aren't quite ready to jump into the thermal market, I believe the next best option is Digital Night Vision. I purchased a Sightmark Wraith Mini 2x16 last fall on a black Friday sale from Amazon for $599. I was really surprised at how well this scope did. I hunt with thermal, but have a bait pile set up here at my home where I was able to test the Wraith. I will include some video of a red fox that visited. I was using a T-20 IR mounted beside the barrel. At 100 yds. it was more than adequate. I have a Sniper Hog with 50mm and also with a 66mm lens but didn't need the extra weight of either of them.



 
Not interested in infrared scopes. Had one, not impressed. I would rather have a good optic so that works better in day time and throw a light on for the occasional night hunts. Thanks though.
 
I, in the past ran SH 66 and EWT on the gun. Then went to a night eyes on the gun. NE was best in my opinion, but don’t think 300 id is attainable. 200 it can do. Have always ran the night eyes headlamp.
 
Thanks for the reply. Good luck with the lights. I used a Coyote Light and Sniper Hog 66 both in red when using lights. I don't believe either of them were capable of 300 ID and they were top of the line at the time.

Here is a little crow shooting video of the Wraith Mini just as a comparison for what you had.



 
..never had an issue with ID with my WickedLights set-up to 300 yards. I have 2 of the "Predator Pursuit" kits(probably 10 years old) that had both a hand held and gun light.

Depending on the field we would keep fairly wide and faint light cone. For the bigger fields we would tighten the cone a little--If we could faintly make out a deer and it's eyes at 300 the light was bright enough for scanning.

Quality of batteries seemed to be the key...once they started to "wear out" we trashed them. I had over 12 18650 batteries that I numbered and cycled on every hunt. I also kept the on deck batteries on a smart charger..generally hunted 2 full nights a week--sundown to sunup.

**I killed the far right coyote in my avatar at 278 yards...he wouldn't come any closer after my partner shot his mate at 100 yards....and that was after I had shot the pair(on left) a 30 minutes earlier ...all on the same stand.
 
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DU, the Mini literature claims 300 yard range. Is yours effective at that range? If so, that is quite a bit farther than my experience with a lightforce, especially with red filter.
Wish the Mini had been available 5 or 6 years ago; would have been well worth the difference in price.

Regards,
hm
 
Honestly hm, I don't know since I've never tried it, but I would have my doubts. The only place I've used the Mini at night is here at my home just to look at a few animals. I know I could see deer at over 300 and ID them using the T-20 Infinity light but I didn't try the light which comes with the Mini at that distance.
 
Thanks for the info, DU. I did a little night hunting a few years ago, but doubt I'll have the opportunity to do so in the future, but it was fun while it lasted.

Regards,
hm
 
I have a Thermion 2 XQ38 and I still prefer the red light for predators.

I have had good luck with the Wicked 403, but prefer my Coyote Light Pro. I don’t know why you need to identify at 300 yards. No way you should be taking 300 yard shots at night. I doubt many people are even with thermal. You can’t reliable identify 100% at range even with thermal.

Your scope will have as much to do with identifying at that range as the light. Coyote Light is hard to beat.
 
Quote:I don’t know why you need to identify at 300 yards. No way you should be taking 300 yard shots at night. I doubt many people are even with thermal. You can’t reliable identify 100% at range even with thermal.

I agree ^^^, but I seldom shoot much over 200 yards even in day time. At night with the Lightforce could not reliably ID over 100 or so.

The ranch I was hunting at the time had an occasional Ocelot pass through, thus my hypothetical question was just curiosity as to how much (if any) better the night vision was than the Lightforce.

Regards,
hm
 
We don't have the option of using thermals or night vision in AZ.

Big issue with identifying your target at those ranges with lights is your optic.

I use the Wicked Shot Pro but I upgraded my scope and that makes all the difference. I lit up a coyote at 300 yards and could easily id it.

That wasn't the case with my previous scope.
 
It's pretty apparent no one who has commented has used a good thermal for those saying about identifying a target. This is why I was hesitant to post questions on here. Kind of like every average old guy at the gun club trying to give pointers in skeet shooting when they can barely crack a 20 out of 25 I suppose. Oh well, thanks anyway. I will just keep doing homework and make my own educated decision.
 
I thought your question was what is the best red light?

Can’t do better than the Coyote Light Pro on top of a good scope.
 


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