This might sound stupid but I’ve never used thermal or night vision for varmits just a spot light. Do you approach it the same way with calling them from a truck but with the lights off? Do you scan the area with your rifle scope or should you have a separate night vision hand held scope as well?

Safety concerns say you should not scan with your rifle, but it is a common practice.

It is much easier to scan safely and to scan 360 degrees if you have a handheld.

I have no personal experience with night vision/thermal, but my BIL hunts with guys that use a handheld thermal/NV model for scanning, but shoot out of a light. He says it makes scanning a lot easier vs scanning with your scope, which makes sense for all the reasons double naught touched on. I'd say that in theory the only thing you'd switch up would be not cutting on a light until you pull the trigger.

DoubleNaughtSpy is right on! He's got LOTS of experience out there with night piggie hunts, so take what he says as the "Gospel According to St. DNS!" You won't go wrong.

Spend the money for a good quality quick release liking that way you can scan with the optic off the rifle, and within seconds have it mounted ready to shoot.

x2 The ADM mount on my flir will return to zero and has been great.

Quick detach for the scope is nice, handheld binoculars/monocular is ideal.