5 coyotes down with thermal scope

[Theblakester]

Video below.
Landowner texted me a couple weeks ago with a coyote problem. Made it out last Saturday night and got 5. Recovered 4, but knew the unrecovered one was dead (4th one from his video-- u can see him spurting blood running and get wobbly and then fall over- found him last night after shooting/recovering another one).
12.5" ARP 6.8 spc from eric at Blackstone arms. Reap-ir thermal from Cliff at third coast thermal Sig 762 titanium QD can.
[video=youtube_share;fuj0HwIUGMA]

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[MikeD]

Wow. Surprised they kept comkng after the first couple shots and walking out to retrieve the first batch.

 

[MikeD]

How do you like the Reap-IR thermal scope? I would be very interested get a quick review from you on what you like, dislike, etc about it.

 

[CaddmannQ]

Wow! Amazing picture on the night scope.

 

[Theblakester]

Caddmann, the image looking through the scope itself blows away the quality of the video. Here are s couple "through the eye piece vids" but they're taken with an iPhone behind the lens so its still not as good as actually looking through the lens.

Mike the optic is awesome.
It's basically the same as the IR hunter MKII, but with a slightly better display screen, handier and lighter weight.
35mm germanium lens.
640x512 resolution (the higher resolution the better)
12 BAE micron core (the lower the microns the better)
Digital OLED display screen. (OLED better than LCD)
2.5x native magnification. (Perfect for a combination of shooting accuracy on 2x and 4x digital but still a good wide field of view).
(2x, 4x and 8x digital zoom which will cut resolution in half each time it double the current magnification).
I've detected hogs across a rice field over a mile away no joke.
12 degree FOV
Uses the Dloc mounting system which is really fast, easy to use in the dark, and returns to zero really well consistently. So it can be used as a scanner and a scope, swapping back and forth in about 10 seconds in the dark.
It also has 4 preset zeros (ABC&D) so u can zero it on 4 different guns (I use the Bobro QD return to zero mounts for my day optics so I can swap optics on 4 different guns really easy without having to go back and forth to the range to rezero optics.. well I use the GG&G QD return to zero mount in my eotech which works really well also).
It focuses automatically once u set the diopiter on the objective lens to your eye.
It has 3 different white hot and 3 different black hot settings and an "edge detect" setting that's kinda cool when u have groups of animals bunched together.
It has 4 different focus/sharpness settings
Contrast adjustment.
U can use all these options to really fine tune the image in different weather conditions and at different digital magnifications.
It uses a joystick to control so it's easy to navigate the menu with one hand/finger. This comes in handy when "nuc'ing/calibrating the image bc u can do it flip the lens cover down with your pinky and press down on the joystick to easily nuc it quickly.
It can also be helmet mounted though I don't really do that with it and don't have the mount for it.
This is my 4th and favorite thermal. I'll add more if I can think of anything else. Not to be all salesy but if you're interested, Cliff at third coast thermal is awesome, helpful, honest and has amazing customer service and if u mention me, he will give u a better deal.

My only "complaint, is that it's so small and lightweight it's hard to find a place to mount my mini DVR onto it for recording video. And it doesn't come with internal video recording which should start being more "normal" in the thermal world within the next 1-3 years.
It really is ahead of its time. Though this year at shot show Flir/armasight and Pulsar have some cool new technology updates and equipment that is supposed to come out this year. Whatever u do, stay away from ATN that's my suggestion.

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[Theblakester]

Wow. Surprised they kept comkng after the first couple shots and walking out to retrieve the first batch.

I saw the first group of 3 and got 2 of them. Then a couple hours later, got my 3rd coyote and I drug him to where the other 2 were and took pics and after I took pics, I pulled up my gun/thermal and saw my 4th coyote running off so I turned on the recorder real quick and "WooWoo'd" at him to get him to stop for the shot. Then a couple hours later saw the bobcat and wanted to see how it would react to my hand "distressed rabbit" call.. it made the bobcat run off.. but I scanned the opposite direction and that 5th and final coyote was coming running in towards me at full speed looking for that distressed rabbit sound that I had just made.


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[MikeD]

Whatever u do, stay away from ATN that's my suggestion.

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I, as well as at least one other here, have the ATN X-Sight. I've just been starting to play with it more, wish I could upgrade to the HD model. I have not tried any of their thermal scopes so I cannot comment on their quality. I am waiting for prices to come down on thermals, I cannot drop $5-7K on a scope....but I can dream!!

 

[dieselmudder]

I, as well as at least one other here, have the ATN X-Sight. I've just been starting to play with it more, wish I could upgrade to the HD model. I have not tried any of their thermal scopes so I cannot comment on their quality. I am waiting for prices to come down on thermals, I cannot drop $5-7K on a scope....but I can dream!!

What's the effective range on those ATN's. As in, how far can you comfortably see to shoot, on a dark night. I've been thinking of getting one myself.

 

[MikeD]

What's the effective range on those ATN's. As in, how far can you comfortably see to shoot, on a dark night. I've been thinking of getting one myself.

I'm not sure I can give a definitive answer on this. I honestly have not yet used it anywhere where I had the ability to test it over 100 yards so I cannot say how far the max range would be. To get the most out of it, you definitely need a stronger illuminator than the one included.

 

[dieselmudder]

I'm not sure I can give a definitive answer on this. I honestly have not yet used it anywhere where I had the ability to test it over 100 yards so I cannot say how far the max range would be. To get the most out of it, you definitely need a stronger illuminator than the one included.

I've tried to learn about the illuminators. I'm not quite sure of what it actually does.

 

[MikeD]

I've tried to learn about the illuminators. I'm not quite sure of what it actually does.

No mystery, it is simply an infrared flashlight. Unlike thermal NV works off of available IR light, Illuminators just provide more IR illumination where there is not a lot out there (i.e. no moon, stars, clouds, etc.)

Example: A NV scope does not work in a totally closed dark room as there is no IR light for it to pick up, therefore an illuminator is needed.

 

[dieselmudder]

Okay, from what I understood the "amplified" available light. Do the IR illuminators work more as a spot, or a flood? Or does it matter?

 

[MikeD]

I saw the first group of 3 and got 2 of them. Then a couple hours later, got my 3rd coyote and I drug him to where the other 2 were and took pics and after I took pics, I pulled up my gun/thermal and saw my 4th coyote running off so I turned on the recorder real quick and "WooWoo'd" at him to get him to stop for the shot. Then a couple hours later saw the bobcat and wanted to see how it would react to my hand "distressed rabbit" call.. it made the bobcat run off.. but I scanned the opposite direction and that 5th and final coyote was coming running in towards me at full speed looking for that distressed rabbit sound that I had just made.


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I thought they came in immediately after, I compressed the timeline.

 

[MikeD]

Okay, from what I understood the "amplified" available light. Do the IR illuminators work more as a spot, or a flood? Or does it matter?

The scope itself amplifies available light the illuminator just adds to that light if needed. The illuminator can be either a spot or a flood or both. Just like a maglight flashlight the beam can be wide or narrowed down to a spotlight. It really is nothing more than an a flashlight with an IR bulb. Think of the IR lights on a security camera, same thing.

Just as you need a flashlight to make things brighter at night, the illuminator makes things brighter for the scope. The light is just in the IR spectrum so you cannot see it with the naked eye

 

[dieselmudder]

So, a focused beam of IR, can be used to spot a target with the NV scope farther, than if you had a wide beam at a closer range?

And my apologies to the OP, I didn't intend to derail your original topic. The Thermal is some incredible technology, that for now I can also only dream about.

 

[MikeD]

So, a focused beam of IR, can be used to spot a target with the NV scope farther, than if you had a wide beam at a closer range?

And my apologies to the OP, I didn't intend to derail your original topic. The Thermal is some incredible technology, that for now I can also only dream about.

Correct.

 

[John A.]

I always run an IR light with my NV's. And most of them can be adjustable from spot to flood. Or able to angle the light more so it will be more in the center of your field of view on camera. This is especially helpful when you're shooting at longer distances. Not something that I am able to do much.

I have several IR lights. The one that comes with the Xsight is good out to about 65 yards, maybe a little more. It's also better for how I hunt at night due to less reflectivity from leaves and vegetation and such.

I also have a T65, which is better for longer range in open spaces. It's got a really big lens on it and puts out a LOT of light.

I have a bushnell IR weapon mount that does OK for brush hunting too. I think it's a step up from the one that's included with the x sight. I think the sight picture has more detail and clarity and contrast is better with the bushnell.

You can also get into the 850-940nm wavelength debate. The 940 isn't hardly as visible to the naked eye.

I have one of the gen 1 6-18 x sights. It's been a good optic so far. Other than having to focus between long and short ranges. Wish I had the 3-9 magnification though. For how I hunt 6x is overkill and detrimental.

 

[meanstreak]

Nice shooting.

 

[Theblakester]

Thermal performs in absolute darkness. Night vision does not. Thermal can't perform looking through glass windows. Night vision can.
IR lights are a different wavelength of light that the human eye can't detect. It's like a really really really dim red light. The housing of these lights are the same as an ordinary flashlight. They can have adjustable beams.
When there isn't enough ambient light for the given night vision unit to perform (gather the ambient light and multiply it to create an image), an IR light is used. The issue with IR light is when you are "shining" the IR light in a direction and there is something in the way like a branch, twigs, tall grass etc.. the beam of IR light (invisible to the naked eye, but allows the night vision unit to "see" just like a normal flashlight would do for our eyes in the dark) hits the branch, twigs, leaves or whatever and reflects back into the view of the scope washing out the image partially or sometimes almost completely. It would be like if u we're in a dark room and shined a flash light into a mirror and it kinda blinded you. When the IR light hits the tree between u and the target it blinds the image through the nv unit like pointing a flashlight into a mirror.
But IR light is just light for night vision that the naked human eye can't see. It's how a game camera takes pics at night. They use an IR flash rather than a white light flash that a camera would use in low light.


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[Theblakester]

So, a focused beam of IR, can be used to spot a target with the NV scope farther, than if you had a wide beam at a closer range?

And my apologies to the OP, I didn't intend to derail your original topic. The Thermal is some incredible technology, that for now I can also only dream about.

Thread not derailed at all! No worries. It's confusing stuff especially when you never use it.. but fair warning, the more u learn about it the more u want it! And it's addicting stuff man.. just walk away now while u still can! Lol.
Side note. Pulsar is supposed to be coming out with a new digital night vision scope (ATN Xsight is digital night vision), and I want to say it will be called their sightline series. Supposedly it will have much better light gathering capability than the Xsight and the xsight II. So on most nights u won't need a supplementary IR light unless there's very little or no moonlight and/or it's all cloudy and/or you're in thick woods.. basically won't need IR light unless it's a reeeaally dark night out where you are. The image won't be as clear or "HD" as the Xsight II. It will be a 640x480 resolution but gather light much better. Should be about $700-$800 I think. Might come out this summer. Anyhow just an FYI for y'all.


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