Night Hunting

fxred

New member
I have only shot 18 coyotes in the last ten years. Two of which were a recent double that came in hot before a big snowstorm. I have only killed one at night the other 17 were between daylight and 11am. I live in Va and have struggled with lights at night. I don't want to spend the money on thermal or night vision. It is bad enough now loading up for a good hunt and knowing that I have loaded up more than my truck is worth. Who has had consistent luck using lights and what lights? If no lights then what optics are recommended.?
 
Ur doin better than me at the kills and are u hunying solo at night or do u have a partner because i have found out it seems to be alittle easier at night if u have someone running the call and light then trying to do it all by urself i spooked one last night while moving to much tryin to get turned and get the cross hairs on him after dark i have a wicked 402 and love it its a great light for scannin the big feilds that i hunt but i feel that close range it might spook them real easy due to the brightness of it hope there is somthing helpful outa my learning night huntingfor ya
 
i hunted for 4 years with night lights and always got irritated knowing that i was calling in coyotes but never once got a shot. I've got some friends who get lucky and kill one here and there with lights. needless to say the first night my gen 3 scope came in.... i killed 2 and saw 4. killed almost 16 last year (which was my first year hunting with nv) what part of va are you guys in
 
fxred,

I feel fortunate to have had a pretty successful season considering my time was limited due to having a full-time and two part-time jobs.

I took a young newbie out this season and he is now hooked for life. His persistence and enthusiasm to go out, sometimes for even just an hour, definitely added to the fur count. It is a good feeling to bring a young hunter into the night hunting sport.

I shot three additional coyotes this season that I was never able to recover. I have to learn to condition myself to aim for the head or behind the front shoulder if I continue to use the .17 hornet for coyotes.

All were shot using the Night Eyes headlamp and gun light combination. Below is an article to help you better understand on how to use lights at night.



Some predator hunters just use their bright gun light to scan for eyes. However, a light that is made specifically for scanning would be a much better choice, and all scanning lights are not the same. It is a common misconception that brighter is always better with hunting lights, and some lights that are sold as scanning lights use high output LED's with smooth reflector housings and a magnifying glass lens to concentrate the focus of the beam. While this may show eyes over in the next county, it also may have the undesirable result of "burning" the eyes and spooking the predator.

The objective of a scanning light is to continuously scan the calling area while looking for the reflection of approaching eyes. A lower-intensity diffuse beam will do this at surprisingly long distances. The Night Eyes Headlamp was designed to pick up predator's eyes at over 300 yards, even if the center of the beam is not directly shining on the predator. The light has also been designed to minimize the odds of spooking the predator. The orange peel reflector housing fragments and diffuses the light beam and the fully adjustable brightness control lets the hunter dial up as little or as much of this diffuse light as desired. By keeping this minimal amount of diffused light on the predator conditions it to the light as it continues to approach. The predator gets use to the light and then when it is in shooting range, the hunter can switch on a brighter gun mounted light for positive identification and the shot. A Night Eyes gun mounted light will positively identify any predator at distances of 200 yards or more. Because the predator has been conditioned with the less-brilliant scanning light, the brighter shooting light does not immediately trigger the animal's photo-phobia (aversion to light), thus keeping it in range longer.

I am often asked if it is better to turn off the scanning light once the gun light is on the animal. Basically, it comes down to preference but because I am using a headlamp rather than a handheld light, I am able to leave the headlamp turned on when I switch on the gun light to make the shot. Not needing to turn off the scanning light gives me one less thing to worry about, and a halo shield on the scanning headlamp prevents unwanted peripheral light shining in the scope.

No lighting system, no matter how well designed, will make you a better hunter. You still need to be mindful of good hunting tactics. But ask yourself this: "Am I shooting as many as I could be, or are they hanging up and/or shying away?"

The goal is not just seeing the predator's eyes but to get them in close, and overpowering them with too much scanning light is not the way to do this. I guess you could compare scanning with a shooting light to hunting squirrels with a deer rifle. Sure, it might work, but there are better choices. Save the bright gun light for positive target identification and the kill shot.

Joe
 
I hunt at night with friends all the time. We never have much luck with coyotes but we shoot fox about every night we go out. Very fun. if your interested in killing some grey fox or red fox i would reccommend night hunting.
 
I am hunting in the Shenandoah Valley... Pretty much anywhere I can when I can. If someone was to get a night scope what scopes are the best for someone who doesn't want to break the bank.

I hunt in the daylight because I feel it is the most even playing field for me. They have the advantage at night and in the daylight we are closer to equals. Thanks for such a great reply night eyes do you burn a decent amount when you turn on the gun light?

Most of the daylight kills I have had have been shotgun kills in the timber just calling hollows one at a time. Coaxing them out of the timber in these parts has been rather difficult for me over the years to get a long field shot. I also use mostly mouth calls from kerry carver and a Dan Thompson howler.
 
I cannot remember the last time I burned a predator with the light. If conditioned to the light you should have no problem getting them in close. Actually, I think we have the advantage at night compared to daylight hunting. For one, the predators are more active at night and you can use the scan light as your concealment. They cannot see you as long as the light is shining on them. If you look at the below link you will see the gun rest that he uses. He stands in the middle of a field and calls them right up to him. I also hunt open areas such as fields.

http://www.huntingpa.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=3528484#Post3528484

I also prefer mouth/hand calls while hunting at night. This way they are looking directly at you as they are approaching. You will see their eyes further out and be able to condition them to the light sooner. When using an electric caller I like placing at my feet for the same reason.
 
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I use a noxx headlamp for scanning and a wicked 402 for a gun mounted kill light. Took down 59 greys, 14 reds, 1 cat (could have taken many more) and 4 yotes this year with the combo. Most of them taken in PA with a few from NY. Neither will break the bank either.

As long as you hit the kill light with it above them and work it down on them, it will not spook hardly any.
 
I hunted 2 years with lights and only killed one yote (but hundreds of foxes). Switched to thermal and wish I would have done it 2 years ago. To think about all of the time I wasted and all of the yotes I educated still makes me sick. I have also used some Gen2+ and Gen3 NV scopes and both are awesome for shooting longer distances. But thermal is still king by a long shot for spotting them. I hunted a farm in Grayson county this past weekend and spotted a yote crest a ridge covered in mature hardwoods 400+ yards out. Watched him trot right down the hill through the timber into a clearing at 160 yards. Game over. I would have never seen him through the trees without thermal.
 
Night eyes set ups for me. Called a coyote this year to 10 yards with a scanning light in his face, he never noticed us until the shotgun went off
 
Thermal IS the way to go no question about it. I've only seen video's but when you can see them through trees and thickets.. I want it!
Hard to argue with the numbers the PA, VA and NY night hunters put up with affordable lights though! Good job guys! wish we could take fox at night here...I call in way more fox than coyotes
 
Yeah fox are the first to show most of the time. And at least here they could care less about a light in their face. Last season I did a good bit of expirenmenting and for reds here the brighter the better. Out of the 76 fox last year I only did three daylight sets yielding 4 and all the rest were killed with a night eyes light after dark.
 
Yes i've heard Maryland has excellant fox numbers but coyote numbers are on the rise?
Grays come close and are usually in pairs. reds have been in Maine forever while the grays are migrating northward. In the Southern part of the state there are good numbers.
 
I have used the Hog light from Boondocks.

I love it.. While some don't like the bright light.. Out here in the west, i was having coyotes come in and not seeing eyes until they were within 200yrds, but they were busting us like crazy.

I now use the hog light with white or red, (i like to use red, since its easier on my eye's, and my friend likes using white)
We spot the eye's at closer to 500 and they come straight in and it's been a lot more productive and not as expensive of a set-up as some other types..

We tried to use the spot light to spot them, and then Thermal to shoot.. Let just say a top end thermal.. The issue we had is that unless i called distances, it was a challenge with Thermal to tell how far out it was.. We called a fox in and he was thinking it was a Coyote and thought that it was farther out than it was.. When it was all done, i asked if he needed me to go to town and get more ammo.. lol Good thing fox are stupid.
 
Do yourself a favor and get the nv and thermal. Between the 7 guys I hunt with including twistedcummins we have killed over 200 coyotes at night in Virginia in the last two years. There are people that will bash the price, say you don't need it, tell you it doesn't make a difference, etc. If you want to kill yotes consistently at night in va this is your only option period. There is a not a man in the state that will be anywhere near as successful as a man using nightvision and thermal. Go to our fbook page Virginiapredatorhuntersclub scroll through the photos from the last 4 years tell me how many Coyotes you see in pics with red lights sittin in the background and how many you see with nv scopes.
 
Well....I gotta tell ya. This ^^^^^ is the simple truth. Me and a buddy dropped 20 or so this year and didn't hunt all that hard. Nv and thermal just has no match or comparison. I don't mind hauling all my expensive stuff in my old Chevy either lol
 
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