I've got an idea for this season and wonder if anyone else has tried this. There are a couple of options on the market to make a iPhone view in thermal imaging with the proper attachments in the $250-350 range. Obviously this is much cheaper than any thermal scope, binocular, or monocular.

I'm thinking of using this iPhone thermal trick to scan for hogs on fields, scan for animals on the way into the stand on foot, watch for all deer to leave the feeder in the evening before heading to the truck, and possibly even use this feature to look for a wounded deer in the dark depending on how quick the search takes place.

I did order the below iPhone thermal camera and am eager to try it. It supposedly has the ability to detect objects up to 600 yards away.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/SEEK-THER...CFYQCaQod0I8DgA

I have hunted hogs with thermal scopes on my friends' rifles. A thermal scope is out of my budget for the time being but I do have a green Kill light on my AR with a laser dead on at 100 yards. I'm hoping that being able to detect and stalk with this thermal camera will allow me to get set up, turn on the green light into the sky, and lower onto hogs for a kill.

Has anyone else had these ideas and tried this? Any feedback? If not, I'll post my findings in November!

The short answer is you're not going to be scouting for anything further than maybe 40 yds. Even then you'll only see blobs, nothing near what you see through a thermal scope or monocular.

Walking to the blind, looking for wounded animal, good for those tasks.

You'll get exactly what you pay for.

Charlie

Detect and stalk? As noted, no. Do you normally point a flashlight at your face when you try stalking on hogs? That is what holding a phone in front of you will do. It won't be stealthy, never mind the very limited range due to the very low resolution.

it probably won't please you much but occasionally you may spot something with it from the truck. Trying to stalk something with it won't work due to the backlight splash on you.

http://s113.photobucket.com/user/johndeere5205/media/83950C3B-DC40-4634-8379-F8719006E33C.mp4.html

Picked it up today. Did a quick test on my street this evening. In the video, the first car seen crossing the street (seconds 4-8) is about 150 yards away. LOTS of adjustability and settings to configure but I think this will somewhat work. It does take steady hands and some manual adjustment of the lens. Stalking with this will be tough as mentioned above by forum members.

I'll post a full review after I've used it from the stand a few times. My feeder is 120 yards from the stand so we'll see.

I have the Seek XR and have used it as you described. It works. You cannot ID an animal but detection out past 100 yds and in woods is possible. I have a pic of my brother in the foreground and a deer about 80 yards away, I'll see if I can post it.

I considered one, but ended up going with a Bushnell Equinox digital NV monocular. I'm very happy with the choice I made.

I was able to compare the Seek XR next to a +$4000 thermal scope. Obviously no comparison but using them side by side was interesting. The below photo is a few deer at about 120 yards on the edge of a coastal field. The IPhone attachment thermal takes a LONG time to focus. From a still position and some manual focusing, detecting animals at distance is possible but identification is not possible. This iPhone will work from a still position in a stand but on foot is basically impossible. My AR has a green light so I'll be able to minimize green light usage with this thermal attachment but will still need my Leuopold on my AR through green light to identify. I'll test more from the stand in coming months.

Update

As long as you're sitting still, the thermal camera attachment works fairly well. I use the thermal attachment to watch deer before and after daylight. It's pretty neat to scan my oat field in the pitch black and see the deer and be able to tell how close they are.

I did learn that this thermal device has issues in heavy mist/fog which makes sense. The water droplets in the air provide too much temperature feedback to the lens to see through the mist/fog.

The thermal lens does pick up deer heat at 300+ yards but they appear as dots. The deer need to be within ~125 yards to determine what animal you're looking at.

For $300, the thermal attachment is a neat addition but doesn't compare at all to a true thermal scope. I'm excited to try the thermal attachment while still hunting for hogs paired with my green light

Anyone try the flir tk scout? Only about $200 more than this and would have to be better, right?

Finally had a clear morning to show what the Seek thermal XR can do in the dark on an oat field. Deer range from ~75 yards to ~300 yards.

No actual experience with one, but I looked through one at Cabelas today and was very unimpressed. Heat showed up as red/orange blobs, resolution was terrible. Could work better outside, who knows.

Tx aggie 10 thank you for the review!!