Photon XT 4.6x Night Vision Scope Review

I might add, that the reason Photon XT's are hard to come by is because the night hunters have recognized that they are the best offering for the money. I think they are far better than the X-sight for night work and on a par with the Pulsar digi sight which is more expensive.
 
Originally Posted By: stupidnewbieI've used the on board out to about 100yds, but I have a secondary IR built by some guy the UK (I forget what model he calls it). With that one on zoom I have been able to positively ID a couple Coyotes well past 300 yds. Heck, I've been able to see racks on small bucks well past 200 with it.

I think it has been well worth the money for me, but I don't have anything to compare it to. I will say this - I've used lights for years, and when the LEDs got to where you could use them at long range I went to them. What I've noticed this year is that the coyotes don't know I'm there unless I make some type of noise. In years past I called in my share of coyotes, but they were always looking right at the light. Good hunters say the LEDs don't bother them but I'm becoming more and more convinced they "see" LED lights just like the old ones. What I see now with this NV is they are focusing on the FP and not on me. That's a huge plus where I hunt as there is pressure on them from October to March.

I think the reason they all of a sudden became so hard to find is because all the people waiting on the X-site jumped ship. As a matter of fact I think Site-Mark should sent the ATN X-sight engineers a sales commission check.
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Thanks for the info. I can't wait to give it a try! What thermal scan device do you use. I will have to continue to use a dimmed scan light until I can step up to thermal. The main reason I bought the Photon was for hogs though. The hogs around here run as soon as they are hit with any color light!

I agree with you on the X Sight--folks don't seem very happy with them.
 
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Stupidnewbie-
Sorry if I missed it but what part of the country are you hunting? How do you like that FLIR in really cold weather? Does it really light up the coyotes well when it's cold out?

Thanks for the input guys
 
1lobo -
With the red glow of the 850 nm ir illuminators, when a coyote sees the red glow does he turn inside out with the afterburners lit or what does he do?
Just wanting to know what your experience has been. I'm wondering if the additional brightness of the 850 is more important or if not having that red glow is more important.
 
Darknight, I hunt Western and Northern NY. The FLIR works well but you have to find the right setting for the conditions. So far the farthest I've picked up a yote is about 300yds and at that range you don't know for sure what it is.

As for the IR, I've lit up several that have, so far, not paid any attention to it, but that can happen with lights too. The jury is still out in my mind whether they can see the IR or they are just picking up on noise and movement as we try to find them in the scope.
 

On the subject of IR lights, 850nm, I had a coyote jump one time when I turned on the IR. I quickly turned it off and was still able to make the shot due to full moon and snow. I have had fox look directly at the IR too, several times, but they don't seem to be as concerned about it as that coyote was.

Personally, I think they see it. I can see it. But I think coyotes are just more jittery over such things than fox.
 
Darknight, I've never had one turn inside out when I turned on the IR. I generally turn it on after I've spotted him with my PS32 thermal. I've seen them notice the red aura and get nervous but not split like they've been burned. I think the added visibility from the 850nm is worth it.

Anybody ever try putting a filter on one to keep the red out? I've got a 730nm and below filter around here somewhere that I want to try if I can just find the durn thing. I bought it to put on a pvs14 and decided it cut my light too much. If you could use something like that to keep the red emission hidden, then that might work better on shy dogs. The reason you see the red is because the led on most lights is not a clean emitter of IR. It emits too broad of a spectrum.
 
Normally they don't turn inside out and run but they will stop forward progression and sometimes reverse course. Most of the time you can stop them with a bark and they will give you a good shot. Normally they don't spot the IR until they are well within NV range. But I like close shots better than long shots! The 940nm unit we sell is more difficult for them to see. The first time out this year we got a coyote to come in straight at us but he still noticed it at about 50 yards. It has a gen 3 range of about 300 yards. Kevin
 
I just shot this coyote standing in front of me with 24 Watts of 700nm RED LED completely lite up. A human being cannot stand in front of this very powerful RED LED day or night without closing their eyes or turning their head to alleviate the instant intense pain from viewing the hyper bright Red light.

The super blaster RED LED did not concern the coyote one bit whatsoever, but the 77 grain SMK sure did:


Larson%20Red%20Led%20Front.jpg


Larson%20Red%20Led%20On.jpg



HK%20Coyote%201.jpg
 
Got the Sightmark Photon xt 4.6x42s yesterday and sighted it in today (boresighting) & tonight (live fire). Much better than I expected.

Only 2 potential issues that I see so far:

1. Not sure how sturdy the battery gate is. It works fine but seems a little flimsy.
2. I like that the lens cap is attached & hinged; but it looks like it could possibly conflict with the external ir rail on the right side of the scope since the cap opens back in that direction. I haven't tried to attach anything to the rail yet but it looks like it could be close. Hopefully it won't be a problem later on.

What I like:

1. Very light & not bunglesome like other NV units
2. Easy to use menu
3. Good reticle & color options. In general I prefer the white reticle #4 but I like having the options for different situations. I may change my color preference after seeing some live critters in the crosshairs. Red may end up working well in the field, but I wish it wasn't quite as bright as it is.
4. Easy to sight in. It was a bit difficult boresighting beyond about 25yds; but live fire sighting was a breeze
5. Seems relatively accurate. At least accurate as "I" am anyway
6. Ability to record video is a plus, but I haven't looked into a mini DVR yet. Just something else to carry into the woods & get set up. Internal SD recording would be a lot more convenient, but would undoubtedly run the price up, so its a good trade off
7. Easy & quick to focus
8. Clear digital picture. My mailbox at a known distance of 170yds is completely visible & clear with the internal ir set on level 3. I can see pretty well beyond that, but I don't want to guess at unknown distances.
9. I like that it uses AA batteries. As most of the rest of my equipment runs on AA also, it means that I don't have to carry multiple battery types into the field. As far as battery drain, I will just have to wait & see how it goes.
10. UNDER $500!!!

Overall, I'm very pleased. I suppose other products might surpass the quality (and $price), but for my purposes (hunting hogs & calling coyotes) it seems to do everything I need it to & I'm happy that I bought it.

PS. I don't mean to hijack 6mm's review as it was a very thorough review & I appreciated immensely; but it is a very useful & easy to find thread for those considering purchasing one. Thanks to 6mm, as his reviews helped me make a good decision on the purchase.
 

Originally Posted By: BoogerredPS. I don't mean to hijack 6mm's review as it was a very thorough review & I appreciated immensely; but it is a very useful & easy to find thread for those considering purchasing one. Thanks to 6mm, as his reviews helped me make a good decision on the purchase.

You aren't hijacking anything at all. Glad you shared your information. That's what forums like this are for. As well, everyone may not see things exactly the same way I do, so that makes discussions like this even more valuable to us all. Thanks for your input.

You mentioned the scope has a lens cover that is hinged and attached, which is a good thing. I do question why it swivels over to the side where an external IR would mount. That doesn't make much sense from a design standpoint.

Also, you mentioned that the scope is easy and quick to focus. It certainly is different from the one I had. Clarity was not good, to my eye at least. The view seemed a bit blurry and I could never get it focused properly. As well, the focus ring was very stiff and difficult to turn until worked back and forth a bit. It became easier to use for a while, but each new time I tried to focus it, it was the same thing - difficult to turn.

Your scope is apparently a newer model than the one I had, so maybe some improvements have been made. I would like to think that the focus issue has been addressed. I'm not sure if that has or not. At least it's good to have the lens cap secured to the scope.

Thanks again for the input.

 
I got this one last night about 10:30. This coyote and her mate have been very wary and will not come to the bait site. I had to place a deer carcass much farther out in the field at 240 yds. I didn't try to reposition the alarms or cameras, but kept hoping I'd see them out there at some point. I opened the window and had a look out when I got home from an unsuccessful calling episode at about 10:30. Both of them were just coming out of the woods into the field. That gave me time to get the dvr set up and connected to the Photon 4.6XT with doubler. This was a big female in estrus and she went right straight to what remained of the deer carcass. The shot was 241 yds with my 204 using a 35 Berger at about 3,900 fps. I was using the T-20 at 50% IR zoomed and had no trouble making the shot. At the shot she started to spin and I immediately started looking for the other one, but he high-tailed it out of there. Unfortunately something happened with the dvr recording and I didn't get the shot even though I thought I had.



Here you can see the entry hole where the blood made a spot at just about the diaphragm which I figured with the spinning. As you can see in the above photo there was no exit. The blood on the leg is just drip from the chest wound.



All in all I was very pleased with the Photon, the shot, and the T-20. 241 yds in the dark is a pretty good poke. The Photon with doubler made it possible and also allowed me to see the coyotes and identify them when they first came out of the woods about 300 yds away. Incidentally neither of them paid much attention if any to the IR lighting them up. Just wish I could have doubled-up on them and gotten the shot on video. Stuff happens though!
 
Nice one DoubleUp. I missed one this past weekend at what Google Earth says was about 325 yds. At that range the dot pretty much covered the chest, but the scope +IR made her look like she was standing in the field at high noon.
 
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