Just wanted to know what caliber is being used for your night time hunts. .223/5/56, 300 BO, 7.62x39, 7.62x51, etc.

I was planning to use either my 300 BO or 7.62x39, but now thinking about what other caliber for night hunts with thermal sights in particular, or even any of the latest night vision capable scopes.

I sold all my guns and night vision - didn't have a use for them anymore.

There is a guy who goes by Double Naught Spy and he has killed all the pigs in the county , so whats the use in trying...

What are you trying to kill?

Coyotes, bobcats .22-250

Coyotes, hogs .308

I love my AR in 223 with strike eagle 1x6 and XLR 250 light for shooting coons, yotes, pigs at night but now that I have one in 6.8 that may become my primary hog AR for daytime using an Aimpoint PRO. Considering building another 6.8 upper with a 16 in barrel which will prob become my go to everything AR.

I don't use a thermal scope, but use feeder light. I hunt with 308 or 300 BO

300blk or 308

I have a .308 but if I was starting again, I'd do 300blk.

Charlie

I use 6.5 Grendels and a 308. I have NV and suppressors on them but the Grendels are at least 3 lbs lighter.

I use 5.56/.223 for anything from pigs down to coons. Have taken plenty of one shot kills with that weapon on hogs and coyotes. Shot placement is key on any caliber for hogs. A hog gut shot with a .308 will still run as if he was gut shot with a .223/22-250/.300 BO etc....all about shot placement.

I will say the 5.56 allows easy follow shots and shots on runners once the sounder starts going, don't know how easy those other calibers are for follow shots, but I think I have heard most handle pretty easily as well.

6.5G

5.56 fits the bill nicely for hogs, yotes and any other varmint. Cheaper to shoot as well.

300 blk out for me. Love that round. Push a 125 grain bullet, Nosler BT, SST, or SP, and it will do anything you need from pigs on down. If pigs were not in the equation, I'd go 223. But since I'm not a huge fan of 223 and pigs, 300 blk out fits that role perfect.

fonzo, you just need to be sure the NV or thermal gear you are using will hold up to the caliber in question. Most thermal gear will handle up to .308, but some will handle .50 bmg. At lot of NV gear is going to be .308 limited and most PVS14 and some other NV gear will be .223 limited. Most centerfire rifles that are .308 and under will do whatever you need for night hunting at typical night hunting distances, though you may need to be a lot more choosy with your shots with smaller calibers like .223.

243 DPMS LR Lite model with either 87 grain v max for varmint hunting or 85 grain Sierra Game Kings for pigs.

I have rifles in lots of different calibers, but since i built my first 6.8 SPC, 90%+ of my hunting is with that round...day and night.

fonzo, I prefer 6.8 AR over .223/5.56 AR for pig hunting. I've used both with my Armasight Zeus 3-24x75mm lens. I've also used a bolt action .243 with night vision scope with good success too. What are you wanting to hunt with them? What ever Thermal unit you go with, find out the caliber rating it can handle or is rated for. Most are limited to .308/7.62x51. I myself went with the 6.8 spc round because often times at night judging the range can be difficult. I wanted something that was light enough to carry around and had somewhat a flat shooter out to 250 yards or so since I mostly pig hunt. For the places I hunt i could be shooting pigs at 50 yards out to 500 yards at night.

Sen me a PM if you'd like to check out my Thermal unit sometime.

I use a 308 with a light on the feeder for hogs

I agree on the 6.8 if hogs are on the menu. More than enough range for night time hunting (daytime as well) and stout enough for hogs. It's my primary rifle to carry in the truck when in the field.

6.8 smokes em dead

I disagree that a 6.8 is needed for hogs. Have dropped 10 hogs so far this spring with just a 5.56/.223 55 gr SP. Several were one shot drops and a couple were multiple shots on running hogs. I know we hit multiple other runners that we didn't recover as well. Hard to have good shot placement with running hogs.

Reality is a good shot placement will equal dead hog regardless of caliber. Have seen plenty of .22lr one shot kills from trapped hogs. Bad shot placement with a .308 or 6.8 or whatever will equal wounded non-recovered hog. Its not rocket science, its shot placement.

"needed?"

No, better than a 5.56? yes.
Shot placement and proper bullet selection trump everything.

But I can tell you a bad shot on a running pig with the 6.8 and the Hornady 120SST is much more effective than any 556 round.. and usually slow em down enough to put another finisher in him.

I have seen pigs run and be gone with numerous hits from 5.56 and 300 and the 6.8 is absolutely more effective then either.

I have 5.56 and a 308 AR10 and me and the boys grab the 6.8s for pig hunting over both of them.

no doubt better, but said pig may still run enough you can't put the killer in it and it will still get away. Just saying that shooting at moving pigs is not good regardless of which round/caliber we are using and getting a good first shot is good. I also don't mind wounded pigs running off to die later. Its about population control more than anything else for me.

Just saying there is not a magic gun that makes shooting running pigs die on impact (that we can employ in the field). It is all about shot placement and then getting lucky on the runners. Some skill involved, but mostly about getting lucky. Fun times for sure!

oh yea, defintely
The best guy I have seen at hitting moving pigs is Todd Huey for Lone Star Boars
He gets a lot of practice killing 2k a year and mostly with thermal

Damned that is fun.

We go for good shot placement, behind the ear, done.

Bingo, that is almost the only "guaranteed" way to drop a big one. That spot gets really hard to hit when they are running though. Nothing like stalking up to a sounder and then letting mayhem rain down on them. How fun would it be to drop some mortars or something on them?

22-250 for coyotes.
21" 8 twist Rock Creek/73 Berger@3300