Need a short tutorial on them for hog hunting. I don't need the best most expensive made, just a good quality one for killing some hogs on my ranch. I know nothing about them but would like to learn. One question is what's ballpark price for a decent one?
Thanks for any help.

Can get some really nice Pulsar Apex’s used right now for 1800-2200

I just recently purchased a Pulsar XP50, Definitely not the cheapest but not near the most expensive either. None of them are cheap. So far I love the way it works. I've only shot rabbits so far but hope to find a hog or two this weekend. Good luck on your quest. I should have never hunted with a friend who had one because it became and instant addiction There are many on here that have a whole lot more knowledge on the subject than I do, that I'm sure will be along shortly.

If you dont care about recording the Apex is a great thermal.

Like he said above- they’re not cheap, but once you hunt with one you’re hooked. I shot a good number of pigs with a Sightmark Photon before I got to talking to Jason over at Outdoor Legacy Gear. I don’t do a lot of spot and stalk, I’ve got a few blinds I sit in where I have up to 250 yard shots possible. So I settled on the FLIR PTS536 and I’ll tell you, a good thermal will spoil you. On a normal night you can see rats coming and going at the feeder 125 yards away.
Most of the spot and stalk guys seem to like lower magnification, so you can find the hogs when they inevitably scatter in all directions at the first shot. So you really need to figure out if you’re going to be mostly stalking, or mostly sitting.
I have learned that all the color palettes are not necessary, battery life is important, higher resolution and refresh rate is preferable, and onboard video recording is nice. All those things cost, so be ready.

Don’t scrimp, and maybe talk to Jason- he’s a good resource. There are also some places that rent them so you could try one out. But if you do, you will buy one- even if it means selling a kidney.

I'll be using this mainly out of a stand hunting over feeders and wheat fields.

Why not rent one to see which one is to your liking?

Thanks for the info guys and thanks for the pm's. Now I have a starting point to dive into this.

If you were closer I'd let you look through my Trail XP38. If I had to do over again I'd probably not go with internal recording capabilities, I forget to hit the button most of the time and the videos are a pain to convert as they are recorded in AVI. For what I paid I could have gotten 2 Apex and used one as a spotter. It will spoil you though, save up and don't go too cheap.

This is what I did^^^^^^^Got tired of the wife saying let me see, let me see. So I got a second Apex from Jason, Outdoor Legacy. Has been the best investment I have made. Wife loves to hunt and now we can extend hunting season far past deer season. Hunting at night is different. You see things you never see during the day. You will find out you will need more than 1 if there are 2 or more of ya going out. LOL

Thermals are a very subjective experience. Some like lower native magnification/wide field of view, others need/ want higher magnification in spite of narrower field of view. I have 3 thermals and prefer a 50 mm objective lens, period. Some don’t.

Have FLIR, Pulsar and N- Vision. Of the three, the Pulsar XQ50 is my favorite out to 100-150 yards (the XP50 native magnification is too low for my taste. Main advantages of Pulsars in general, in my opinion, are: long life battery pack, image quality, ease of NUC process and customer service. These four aspects have made Pulsar my favorite intermediate range scope. The other functions on the Pulsar are add-one others find useful.

Your budget and hunting style will be the deciding factor on the particular model, but any thermal on the market (except ATN, with history of bad customer service) with an objective lens at least 19 mm is hands down better than night vision, IMHO. The APEX line from Pulsar have been discontinued, good luck finding one, and the Pulsar Trails will be replaced with the AXION model line this summer. That said, if you can find either of the Pulsar ALEX or Trail models in you price range, you will be happy.

If you have the money, then N-Vision HALO or Trijicon are hands down the best image quality. Image quality from my HALO LR is simply amazing. Have to see it to believe it. However, perfect image quality does not kill any more hogs, so the money for these scopes is spent cause you have it to spend. My son is happy with the Pulsar, hogs died the same. Down sides to these two high-end scopes are the process to NUC (manual) and need for rechargeable external battery pack (and associated cable) to keep from buying lots of expensive CR123 batteries.

The above notwithstanding, I recommend you call Richard at Huey Outdoors or Jason with Outdoor Legacy Gear. Both are really good dudes, thermal gurus who hunt with thermals. They will run you through the process of your hunting situation/preference and budget. Do not, DO NOT, buy on Amazon. You will not get a better price there and will not be able to get help if you have questions or issues.

Hueyoutdoors.com Owner Todd Huey

The difference between the Trail XP38 and Apex XQ38 is more than just internal recording and rechargeable battery. The XP’s have a better processor that provides a much clearer picture. I have the Apex XQ38 and love it. I wanted simplicity and that what I e got. It makes hunting just way too much fun

What ranges are you typically hunting? I spent at least 30 hours researching which thermal to buy for my first one. I also hunt over feeders and in fields with oats plots. My shooting distances are typically 150 - 250 yards. I'd suggest at least a 3x native magnification my distances and at least a 2x native magnification for less. If you can wait... Pulsar has their Thermion series coming out this summer. Quite a nice range of specs. I ended up with a FLIR Armasight Zeus 3-24x75mm. Not sure I'd recommend FLIR for various reasons. Focusing on Pulsar for my next purchase.

I do recommend buying from a dealer. I had issues with mine and Myron @ Night Vision Outfitters in McKinney TX has been extremely helpful. You'll have to pay tax if you live in Texas so the total price will be slightly higher... but in my opinion... it's worth the small extra cost to have the piece of mind of being able to lean on someone for questions and guidance for technical issues.

Out to 250 yards, but most shots will be 100-175 yards. Thanks for the info.

General recommendation is buy the best you can in your budget. A good mix of some magnification and field of view is important for hog hunting. Pulsar is hard to beat for the money. If you can swing between 4 and 5 then you can get into a 640 resolution unit. Way more capable than anything in a lesser resolution.

Richard Todd Huey (AKA Todd Huey): Owns Lone Star Boars (hog eradication business), Huey Outdoors (thermal scope business) and some of the best YouTube thermal hunting videos. Not as glib as Jason, but is profoundly knowledgeable about thermals, night vision and hog hunting.
Jason ain’t no slouch for sure, the guy is a walking encyclopedia on thermals.
Either are a solid bet.

check out Ultimatenightvision.com, company out of north texas they rent models for the weekends for you to try as well as sell them.

I hog hunt on lease just south of you and would be happy to show you the 3 thermals I use. Trail xp38, RXQ30V Core and Quantum XQ30V handheld. (all are Pulsar units) I hunt virtually every Friday night.