I'm toying with one of the cheaper night vision monoculars for hog hunting. I'll be using a light for the actual shot, but I'm thinking about a monocular so that I can look at the feeder without having to turn on the light. Has anyone played around with them?

I'm looking at something like this one...
http://nightowloptics.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=13:nonm3x-g&Itemid=4
I don't want to spend more than $200 or maybe $250... its really a toy to play with than anything else.

I don't have any personal experience with one, but having talked to some of my customers who had purchased one they felt like they wasted their money on the unit and were pretty disappointed with the performance. If I were you I would save a little more or look for a used N750 recon http://www.pulsarnv.com/pl78023.html . I know it's more than you want to spend, but if it's between spending $500 or not buying one I would suggest you save yourself the $250 or maybe look for a used unit.

Doers your feeder have any lights on it? I have two solar lights set up on mine nad use regular binoculars to watch the animals come in.

Their is a bushnell digital monocular on Craigslist for 100 bucks

Night vision is like everything else. You get what you pay for. We all start somewhere. I had one of the cheap Gen I monoculars and when I had it I thought it was great because it was so much better than nothing. In time you learn you want more and appreciate the difference. Nothing beats thermal.

If you want a monocular, I have a Zenit NV-100 that I rarely use any more. I would sell it to you for $50.00. You can drive out to Corsicana and take a look at it and see what you think. It is important to remember that ALL NV requires some ambient light in order to perform. It is in excellent condition and like new.

http://www.kremlinoptics.com/catalog/item/night_vision_scope_zenit_nv_100_1m.html

I own both thermal and NV. I use the NV much more than the thermal. The thermal is horrible in the daytime in Texas, things are just too warm. NV is great as I have an ATN add-on that fits over my Nightforce changing it to a NV scope without any other adjustment.

Neither of my feeders have lights at the moment. Right now, the hogs only come in about once a month at best so until I get them patterned a bit more, I'm not going to bother.

The real purpose for this one is when I got on weekend hunts with friends. I usually do a couple a year. I don't get a choice whether there are lights on those feeders.

Thanks for all of the info everyone.

Capt, for $50 its probably worth playing with. I live in Mansfield, but my lease is in Jacksonville. I come through Corsicana when I go. I'll send you a PM about meeting up. Thanks!!

I shot my first 2 hogs with the help of one of these! It was certainly good out to 70 or 80 yards with little illuminator that came with it, maybe further, but my feeder was at 50 yards and it worked fine to there and all around it. For $50, that is a worth a go.

Be warned, BrianMc, getting this will be like buying crack. Gen I is gateway nightvision. Sure, for a while you will tell yourself that you don't need NV and that you can stop using it at any time, and will continue to do so even as you are buying your next NV scope. Me, I went next to a Gen II monocular, just to take the edge off. Then it was a Gen I rifle scope followed by digital rifle scopes, another Gen II monocular to share with guests, and somewhere along the way, speedballing illuminators and recorders. Now? I can't hardly get off on NV anymore. I have been mainlining thermal.

My experience has been similar to DNS. My gateway was the green light mounted on the the rifle, but I soon found myself with a set of Gen I binocs and then a Gen I scope. I tried to slow the progression to ever stronger nv through a rehab stint of actually hunting in the daytime. It worked for a few days, but I was soon back to using nv, any nv I could get my hands. I would hang out at dark, dingy deer camps and the sort. The spiral continued.

Last week, in an effort to get back to the lighter stuff I carried two digital scopes into the night (X-Sight and Photon XT), just hoping they would be enough nv to keep me from getting back on the strong stuff. Don't get me wrong, I did carry my thermal monocular along for an extra bump if I needed it. But alas, by weeks end I had sworn off the beer of nv and accepted I was hooked on the crack of nv, thermal. It got worse over the weekend as I will be taking a look at adding another thermal scope and monocular to the arsenal this week. I'm a thermal junky. I have to admit it or there will never be a way out...

Just when you think they are patterned, you'll learn they aren't. They are nomadic. No rhyme or reason to their movement...

I have one of the nightowl optics, I did not go with the 5x , they work ok, I was watching a coon under the feeder at 100yrds with no issues, walking around it was good with decent moonlight, in the woods however it was maybe out to 60yrds max with the ir it has on it. all in all for the price it works for what I need, until I get an x-sight. but will still use it even then.

I've got a cheap one and have used it successfully. It's certainly not great and its a little persnickety on focusing the image, but it works for watching a feeder. I think its greatest deficiency is the illuminator. I definitely would like a better one, but I can get by with this one for a while. I think the brand name is Firefall or something like that.

If you can spend more and get a better one first time, I'd suggest you'll be happy you did.