Thinking about Night Vision

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Deltagunner00

New member
Hey Guys,

I have been hunting coyotes for a while now with red lights with some decent success. I am ready to make the move soon to night vision but don’t want to go all out at first. Anytime I would happen to hunt with a friend, they will not have night vision.

Just starting to look into this but found some threads here and then read some on the Sightmark Photon. Just in general terms, do you think I would see an increase in coyote sightings/encounters by moving from lights to night vision?

What are your thoughts on entry level NV and what scanner would you recommend?

I appreciate any help you can provide.

Thanks!
 
Dg, that is the route I took as well, but know this, it will just lead to more spending which is good if you need time to build up your budget, but want to hunt with something other than lights while doing it. The Photon XT is an entry level digital NV scope. The RT is a much improved version, but both are still plagued by the narrow FOV and the need for IR light to see well, but they work.

Some coyotes don't react well to the IR light if they look directly at the light source, while others seem to ignore it. You still get eye reflection which makes it easier to pick out the animal. They can be hard to find if you don't see eyes.

You will need a thermal scanner to find the animals easily. I recommend the Helion XQ 28 which you can get for around 2 grand. That's a big outlay for a lot of people, but is the game changer for finding coyotes.
 
You can kill coyotes with the photon xt and a cheap add on IR. If you go with the RT you really don't need the add-on IR but it will smoke your battery faster. A thermal scanner is a must have. The quantum hd19a or the xd19a or one of the lower end helions would be fine but as double up says be prepared to spend more because it's truly addicting.
If I was going to do it as cheap as I could I would probably buy a trail xq38 and skip the handheld and scan with the gun. Then if you wanted to add a hand-held you'd pretty much be set. With that said I shoot with a trail xp50 and it's worth every nickel. I have an xd19a but I don't use it since I'm normally hunting with a buddy who is also scanning with either his gun or handheld. As I said before lights are for finding your spent brass not coyotes LOL.
If you've got some tightwad Buddies I've got a photon and two of my buddies have photon XTS that we would sell. If you had a trail xq38 on your gun and your buddies had photons you guys could lay em out. You add thermal into the mix and it is a whole new level of coyote killing.
 
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How serious about the night hunting game are you?

If serious about really making/getting more out of your time afield, buy once, cry once... get a Pulsar Trail XP50 and don't look back. Companies offer finance programs, that with interest, will only cost a few hundred extra if that... $150 a month can put you where you want to be if you're not against doing the finance thing... some are.

Stepping up slowly will only lead to wanting to take the next step, over and over again... then, in the end, you've spent way too much.

Your time in the field and away from family is important... make the most of it by having quality gear, a thermal is where it's at.

My only regret is I didn't get my thermal sooner.
 
Bottom line don't buy any less than xq38 whether it's a trail or an Apex. The beauty of the trail xq38 is if you ever want to upgrade it would probably sell very well since everybody is in your boat wanting to get in the game but not sure about the investment. There is a reason my thermal scope cost more than the pickup I drive......
Without a doubt you will kill more coyotes with a good thermal scope then you will cheap night vision and a thermal handheld.
 
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My personal experience with the photon is it works great in wide open short grass. You throw in some tall grass and tree branches you will get blinded with the light being reflected back at you. You can see real good without IR on a moon lit night. I have the 4.6 RT and it eats batteries. 4 AA lithium are good for about 2 hours of intermittent use. Rechargeable do not seem to last as long. The older version the XT would have double the battery life but didn't have internal video.

I have a short video just messing around watching some deer in my field on youtube.


I plant to do other reviews on it showing moon lit nights with no IR, I just haven't had time.I do want to get a thermal scanner so i don't have to scan with the rifle.

I have not owned this scope for long and i can only use it for hog hunting at night here in Oklahoma. So i cannot say how it works for other varmints.Thanks ODWC.

Thermal scopes are out of my budget and since the only legal thing we can hunt at night is hogs now the photon will have to do for me. I do not have a large wild hog population so i do not hunt them unless i have fresh sign. They move through a few time through the year.
 
The cheapest trijicon is still more expensive than what you are talking about. BUT you can buy a trijicon Hunt with it and send it back whenever you want and have them upgrade it. It only costs the difference you would have paid anyway for it in the beginning. Maybe other companies do that too? I’m not sure.
Buy once cry once, but then if you have never looked through a trijicon you would never know the difference anyway. Once you look through and hunt with a trijicon you will understand.
 



It ia all about money, how much do you have? You can find some nice scopes for 2K to 4K $$$.
The ATN Thor's are nice starting at 2K.
 
Ok. I think I have the NV scope covered. I am getting a mount for my older Litton M995 Ranger.

Whats the cheapest thermal scanner that you would you recommend, that I will not regret buying. Would like to see what options are around the $1500 - $2,000 range, if possible.

Thanks!
 
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