Are there any special kinds of scopes to use? Will the glass glare scare yotes, bobcats, foxes off? I know Nikon used to make a waffle looking filter scope but I don't see it available anymore.

How about night vision scopes, how much do they cost? Or is one of the green night image lights good enough to use on top of the scope?

Sorry, I'm kinda scatter brained on the questions but basically I'm willing to listen to any info given by you fellas that do this type of hunting a lot. I want to learn and deer hunting just doesn't interest it me anymore. Thank you

Skip the green night lights and go buy a night vision
ATN X Sight can be had for $700

Grout,
Iam much in the same predicament as you. I'm a long time deer hunter that's just recently trying to get more into varmint and pig hunting. I've gathered quite a bit of info just reading the posts in this section of the forum. I'd add to your comment on scopes, that I've seen that Nikon scope you referenced with the glare guard. They call it the Coyote Special and I've seen them at various on-line vendors.
As far as buying night vision, that's out of my budget, so I went with the green light and purchased the XPLZ 300 from Xtreme Predator Lights. They're a routine poster and sponsor (I think) here on THF. I've taken the light out once and was very impressed with it. My bil had a much more expensive brand/model. His focused down to a small dot and had a more precise/defined circle of light, but mine was brighter and 1/3rd the cost.

Thanks guys! I was beginning to think nobody would respond. I'll look at both products, I don't mind spending the $700 if it's worth it; but saving money is always in my book too!

I've been reading through the post, lots of hog hunters, must sure be a lot of hogs running around.

I'd love to try night vision, never have. "In the day" we used a brinkman 500k spot light with a red filter lens, took allot of varmints with it. I can see an advantage right off with NV, no cumbersome wires and another person holding the light. Tried rechargeable's and they last for 1 set.

I will go out on a limb and say, stick to daylight calling for a while to get the "feel" of calling. Evenings work great since the animals have been holed up all day. Mornings are fun and you often can get them coming in from the night hunt. Learning the set up is more important IMO, at least for yotes. I always play the wind or pass on that set, second for me is sun location.

The lights are great and a cheap way to get into the night hunting world. I would highly suggest that you look at the Photon XT. It's gotten some great reviews and doesn't seem to have any of the problems other digital nv scopes are currently experiencing. The best part is they run around $500. An external IR is a must have with these scopes and that will run an additional $125 from us. With the use of an external IR you should easily be able to see out to 200+ yards.

Vortex viper pst series are good scopes and come with a sun shade to reduce glare. Good clear glass and are excellent with little light at night. Nightforce also makes a great scope. The SHV is their lower end scope designed for predator hunters. Throw an elusive wildlife XLR250 or a Wicked Lights gun or scope mounted light on and youll be able to easily see and identify animals at 250 yards at night.

Thank you sir, I appreciate the feedback.

YEP, and use it during the day also.

I agree with western. Start hunting in daylight and learn the animal and environment. Once you learn how a coyote will approach you will have a more successful hunt. I too cant afford nv or thermals. I have several lights. Elusive wildlife xlr250 is a great light. Not cumbersome and manages batteries well. With that being said those exact kit can be ordered for a fraction of the cost direct from china. 38$ for same set up compaired to 200$ I have both and cant tell the difference. learn how to hunt before dropping large amounts of bucks on equipment. There have been many varmints killed with the old red lens army flashlight and an old rem 700.

Try to find some one to teach you the ropes. There is a big difference in reading info on the internet and trying it and learning from someone who has been doing it for a while. Stay respectful and eager and they will prolly teach you a lot. Most of all get out in nature have fun and learn something new on every outing.

I'd actually prefer to call in the evenings or mornings anyways, the sound of a screaming animal and the pitch black gives me the willies! We used to do a little back of the truck calling when we had our ranch in west Texas, gave me the chills on those pitch black nights.




Yes, I am a bit of a sissy with certain things, darkness is one of them. Lol what was that noise?

You might be a sensitive/ psychic if you feel the willies

I can sense negative feelings in certain places on my lease ,
Makes the hair on my arms erect and a cold flush feeling

I hunted anyway but its pretty spooky

Grout,
What's your budget? What kind of gun/caliber r u shooting? What kind of hunting r u gonna be doing (sit in stand vs mobile spot and stalk)? How far r u from the hunting property? How often r u going to hunt? Do u have your own stands with feeders that u can add lights to?

Cheapest options--red/green light on gun, under feeder, or portable tripod mountable light.
1. A light with a solar panel that comes on and stays on when it's dark is better than motion sensored lights on feeders when it comes to spooking animals. If the light is already on when they walk up to the feeder they spook a lot less than when the light kicks on as they approach.
2. Gun mounted red or green light. Scan with and look for illuminated eye balls at farther distances. When the animal is 50-100 yds you can hit then with the light but u gotta make a shot in less than 3 seconds bc they'll probably spook soon. Or u can try pointing the gun/light up and slowly bring it slow on em hoping they dont spook and take a more precise shot.
3. Portable red/green light that runs off a 6v battery. Can mount to a tripod camera stand and can be used on different feeders different nights. Smarter hogs that have been frequenting a dark feeder that suddenly is lot up May be more hesitant to come eat than one that's dining at a feeder that has the same light on it every night.
For these options I suggest feederlights.com or lightmalls.com Feederlights are ugly rugged and durable and good for the cost. Lightmalls makes the same lights as the kill light xlr 200 for way less without the name brand.
For any of these setups I would consider a 3-9x50 scope with the best light transmission capable glass in your budget and possibly an illuminated reticle).
2nd cheapest option- digital night vision.
1. Sightmark photon. There's a 3x and a 5x. They're about to update and come out with a photon "XT" also in 3 and 5x. These are about 500$$ and will get u 100 yard shots with IR illumination (IR light is basically light for night vision. U can't see it with the naked eye in the dark but it acts as a flashlight when looking through nightvision. U can however see the dim red glow coming from the bulb/lens of the IR light).
2. Digisight N750 or DFA75- n750 is a scope. Dfa75 clips on to the front of your day scope. Both are also digital nv but perform better than the sightmark photon. These run more like 1500$. U could get a a good used one for $1000 maybe. Could make shots with IR light out to about 250 yds with these options.
3. ATN X-sight- the newest release to the digital night vision world that views in HD, has wifi, built in DVR, gps etc etc. Might even make pancakes for you.... But the one thing it seems to have trouble doing that it's advertised to be able to do is work at night. Apparently ATN has a lot of kinks to work out with the firmware getting everything to work in conjunction with all the other features. Runs about $700 and comes in 3x and 5x. Be warned though. I know several people that preordered theirs a year ago and got them in a couple months ago and after several phone calls emails updates returns for repair etc they all decided to just get a refund and buy a scope that works as advertised.
Next most expensive option- gen 3 night vision and/or entry level thermal
1. PVS-14 gen 3. About 2500-4000$$ depending on the accessories u go with. Very versatile. Can be used as a monocular and also in conjunction with a day scope or holographic sight.
A thermal spotter will be good to use in combination here. Start about $1700.
Most expensive option. Thermal scope.
1. I would suggest a thermal scope with at least a 320 (or 336) resolution, probably in 3x. About 4-5000$$
2. Thermal clip on. I would go with a 640 resolution bc anything less will lose too much clarity when u zoom. Can be quickly mounted and used in front of a day scope like the vortex viper 1-4 for shooting and as a monocular for spotting. These start at about 7000$$

Great info in here, thanks everyone. I just bought my first gun and went on my first hunt last Saturday. Unfortunately didn't see a thing, but heard plenty of coyotes and the game cams had some hogs from a few hours earlier. I think I'm already hooked!

Blakester, thanks for the post! I will be using a 5.56 bolt action rifle and I think I'm just going to go with the red/green light because I'll most likely do any calling in the evening or early morning. I have access to plenty of property but time is what I lack, so it's going to be an occasional outing to just get out and enjoy nature. If I get lucky and kill a dumb coyote then that's all the better. I've called up foxes before and I've yet to actually shoot one, I enjoy just watching them. Thanks all for the info.