If you could only justify one piece of NV equipment now

cmatera

Active member
Would you buy a Pulsar 550N, a PVS 14 Pinnacle for scanning and use it behind a day scope on a quick mount or buy a FLIR PS32 now and save up for a D 740?
 
Flir and a gun mounted kill light for when they get close enough to shoot.

Hands down. you can add the NV later, but you can't evade the flir and when it is that close you can identify by both the flir and the scope.
 
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Only one piece skypup!
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flir and kill light..or pvs14 with ir. and kill light.
 
Never thought of an IR laser on the gun and a PVS 14 on a helmet to see it. How would that be vs. a dedicated NV scope (accuracy and useable range) with no magnification?
 
Originally Posted By: cmatera Never thought of an IR laser on the gun and a PVS 14 on a helmet to see it. How would that be vs. a dedicated NV scope (accuracy and useable range) with no magnification?

Thats my shotgun setup, PVS-14,helmet and rhino mount over left eye,dog comes in and I hit the momentary switch on the mossy,its set for point of impact,the laser spot shows up 2" diameter at 25 yards,just make sure your ready to shoot,Mr.Yote will not hang around after he sees your red laser.
The I.R.laser set up would be the icing on the cake.

If I could have one piece of equipment,PVS-14,if two add the Flir 32.......
 
I do the same thing on a SIG 556 with NV laser and PVS-14 on helmet out to 100 yards on hogs and coyotes....takes some getting used to, but once you get good at it, fur down!
 
Originally Posted By: Mr BenelliOnly one piece skypup!
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flir and kill light..or pvs14 with ir. and kill light.

Wouldn't Flir and Kill light be 2 pieces??
 
Originally Posted By: SkyPupI do the same thing on a SIG 556 with NV laser and PVS-14 on helmet out to 100 yards on hogs and coyotes....takes some getting used to, but once you get good at it, fur down!

Pup....that's still 2 pieces....IR lasers cannot be seen without IR gear.

DDW....a FLIR and a kill light is only ONE piece of NV gear.

CMATERA.....your question is about one piece of NV gear and then you mentioned a scope.

You have to SCAN before you SHOOT. If you buy a scope first then how will you scan undetected ? It's better to scan undetected and call them in for a shot with the kill light. You can forget scanning with a scope.....you will either miss seeing them or get busted more often than not.

The only way to kill 2 birds with one stone is the PVS 14.....scan and then attach to your scope. It sounds good but if you have one at close range and there is any moon at all there is a good chance you will get busted with that too.

If the coyotes could not see they would not be running around in the middle of the night looking for food. NV just helps YOU see better without detection....it doesn't make you invisible. (especially when you throw the switch on a 805nm emitter and give them a red glow to check out)

FLIR first if you plan to buy one.



 
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Now I have scanned with a NV scope only with good success , But it has been in open pastures where I can see several hundred yards, and I have a good idea of the direction the coyotes will approach, or when I have a cannel at my back and 180* to scan across an old rice field. Not in situations where I needed 360* or when I didn’t have other on thermal, like when I was with tony I spoted a coyote beyond 500 with the D760 the eye lit up in the IR, scanning 360* on the rifle that would wear your azz out in a short time,

I don’t think a coyote or bobcat has anywhere near the night vision we have with gen3, and if you have 100- 150 yards or so I think you can get away with a lot of movement . Often there are times when I’m bored or just like to look through the NV at more detail then I will scan with it for a while. I often go back and forth on a stand

Had I got my NV D760 or M845 first I would have been fine, but still would have gotten a FLIR . In my case I got the FLIR first and got discouraged quickly when I was spotting hog at 500 yards that I could not pick up in my XLR250.

It worked well for me using the FLIR and XLR250 or 100
Spotted game, went to the rifle, hit the light held high and scanned will I found eyes, dropped the beam full on ID and fired . Had to be a little quick sometimes with these light shy coyotes
 
You could do real well with a nice Red or Green LED light and a scoped rifle and use a FLIR PS-32 for scanning to find stuff from your stand and then zero in on it with the LED flashlight mounted on your rifle.

I have killed allot of hogs and coyotes over the years with just an Olight M-20 Crimson RED LED mounted on my rifle and one in my hand.

If I had had a FLIR PS-32 Thermal back then to know where they are at, it would have been much much productive and easier than scanning with the LED flashlight to get a reflection from their retinas with just the light.
 
Originally Posted By: cmatera Never thought of an IR laser on the gun and a PVS 14 on a helmet to see it. How would that be vs. a dedicated NV scope (accuracy and useable range) with no magnification?

I would get a dedicated scope before just buying a laser. Or get pvs 14 and ir laser.

Here is my two cents on visible laser and ir lasers. Great added feature to help with certain situations. If you are in an area where you can just fire away they are great, but if you are in an area where you need to worry about a back stop or only get one shot then i would suggest getting the ir or visible laser for shotgun first. With the AR there is a lot of movement in the gun when shooting and looking over the gun to see the target or from the hip.

The green laser is brighter than the red. I dont think the green lasers are worth the extra money. I see the red laser fine during the day at the range. If you plan on shooting during the day a lot then get the Green visible laser. LDI makes great lasers and I purchased both of my lasers from TNVC. I have the I2 on the ar15 and the dbal d2 on the shotgun.

With the laser on the AR and walking around with PVS 14 on helmet, I would say that I would not take a shot further than 50-75 yards...I am constantly have to worry about backstops and live in a populated area. When shooting from the hip you are balancing the gun at an awkward position. The laser is great when you have the ar and the animal is too close for scoping it or jumping predators in the brush, or you dont have enough time to scope. Example: I had a coyote on a bait pile and he kept jumping back and forth from behind a rock. i just left the ir laser on and when he jumped back out i had no head or hand movement and just fired away. Don't think you are going coyote hunting and walk around and use the laser at 200 yards. Maybe on a bigger target or you have a very large and flat field and just want to open up on it.

With some lasers you independently adjust/sightin the visible laser and then the ir laser. The new dbal d2 you just adjust one and they are both set, but keep in mind they are slightly off. Much bigger difference when shooting the .223 vs the shotgun pattern. Most likely you will sight in the visible laser (tough to find shooting ranges that allow night shooting) but i suggest testing your pattern or shot at night with the ir laser as well. The lasers for me have been a lot of range time. You can buy special targets that illuminate the laser during the day and they work great. So if you cant see the visible laser during the day once it hits the special target center it will cause a reflected bright shine.

Dbal d2 / shotgun - With t shot i sight the shotgun in at 50 yards, but i field test where i need to aim for 10, 25 50 yards. its a blast to walk around and shoot but i still use the flir on a lanyard to locate animals. Always better to have the laser at 12 oclock - Its much easier to adjust. If you use a laser/ir laser it would be great if you could add some comments on how you utilize them when you hunt/range.


Skypup has a lot of time with lasers and can offer some great advice.
 
Yes I did mention a scope. Kind of like playing pool. Looking at where I leave myself for my next shot. Sorry for the confusion.
 
I have hunted coyotes mainly in the day. Only time I killed any at night was on snow with a full moon. Never used a light to hunt with, but do own a focusable Chinese headlight and kill light with home made shield. I always hunt alone. I live in a semi rural area, houses every 20-100 acres or so but sometimes hunt more rural areas houses every 500-800 acres or so. I am careful about my backstop and learn the terrain I plan to hunt during the day first. The terrain I hunt in is typical Eastern. Because of the rolling terrain, fence rows etc. you can rarely see more than 100-200 yards. Multiple shots are very rare. In the blink of an eye, a coyote can be over a hill or in a fence row-and gone. I have ar15's in .223, .204 and am building one in .17-223. I have a Benelli M1 in camo with a 26" barrel with the steady grip stock in 12 ga.

I sometimes hunt over bait and have been known to shoot out the windows of my house at night. I have a nice hill behind my house about 160 yards away that acts as a shooting berm. The fence rows left and right are 150' apart. My nearest neighbor directly behind my house is about a mile away, with several hills and a small 6-8' wide creek between us.

I never considered the movement required to move a PVS 14 (as a next purchase) from eye to gun in partial moonlight with a coyote at close range.

I am concerned about the headgear and balancing of it issues, which laser(s) to get (I consider the lasers accessories not NV), and getting them sighted in so I can kill one at night.
I usually use a FoxPro CS 24B with FoxBang when I call, but have and use mouth calls too.
 
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