Ok...time to declare war on the raccoons and skunks on my place. I trap them pretty hard and then set up w/ a green light (moultrie feeder light) underneath the free choice protein feeders, but they are starting to catch on and I'm getting 5 - 10 in each picture per feeder (6 feeders) each night. Raccoons prob eating more than the deer.

I have a Ruger .22LR Precision w/ DeadAir Mask Suppressor. Most shots would be 20 - 50 yards so pretty close.

Any suggestions? Don't want to spend $10K, but don't mind spending $3K-$5k.

JA

It would be our pleasure to discuss the correct Pulsar scope for your use, please give us a call, 516-217-1000

Pulsar makes some great ones in your price range. I'm very satisfied with it.

JA,

It sounds like you're fattening up some coons alright!ha! I'll be 100% honest and tell you that you can kill every coon you'll ever see at 20-50 yards with a $1,900 thermal. At the same time, if you're willing to spend the $3k-$5k you mentioned, then you're going to get into a totally different level of thermal that has a great deal more capabilities. I'm also assuming you might end up doing some hog or coyote hunting, so you'd have a setup for that as well.

For the super close range shooting you're talking about, you are really going to want to stick with the lowest magnification and widest field of view you can get for the most part. I would not advise going over 2x base mag for those close shots. In this price range, I'd stick to Pulsar for the best bang for the buck on the market right now.

It's at the higher part of your price range but the Pulsar Thermion XP38 640x480 1.5x base mag for $4,499 is a heck of a scope. Super wide FOV and amazing image quality.

If you wanted to just go with the top of the line, the Pulsar Thermion XP50 640x480 2x base mag for $4,999 is an obvious choice that still offers a good FOV and the same image quality as the XP38.

Pulsar has a new model that's just starting to ship, it's the Thermion XQ38 384x288 2.5x base mag for $3,299 and it's a heck of a scope and would definitely get the job done but the narrow FOV is going to hurt you some on those closer shots. It's worth considering if you're looking to stay in the lower end of your price range.

The benefit of the XP50 is going to be if you want to do some other hunting and need a little more magnification, you'll be happier with the 2x base mag for slightly longer shots. You can zoom up to 4x and still have a very good image quality and take the next bump to 8x and still have a usable image for the long shots if need be. On the XP38 you're looking at bumping up to 3x and then 6x. That's still plenty of magnification if you're going to be keeping most all your normal shooting under 150-175 yards and the 200+ shots being the rarity. The XP50 is going to be better at the 150+ yard shots if you have to take them.

As you may or may not know, the Thermions are Pulsar's current scope line and while they look like a traditional daytime scope in a 30mm scope tube housing, they are still a full featured thermal. They all include rechargeable battery packs, video/audio recording, smart phone app, picture in picture, multiple color pallets etc.

We have Youtube reviews of every Pulsar model on YouTube on our podcast The Late Night Vision Show. My co-host Hans also has reviews of most all of the scopes on his channel HansETX that might help as well.

I hope this info helps.

Jason

As you're shopping around, take a look at the Bering Optics Hogster lineup - these scopes offer the user the ability to focus the image for ideal clarity whereas other entry level offerings may not have a front focus capability.

As always if you can support the forum vendors here that's nice too - Both Doug and Jason are good folks with a lot of knowledge.

I'm just not sure they carry Bering scopes....

I am not trying to sell you anything, but for your distance and situation, you could use a Sightmark Wraith and being killing them left and right and be very functional for $500.

If you have higher grass and obscured views, then I would suggest the thermal. However, for shooting under feeders, thermal would be unnecessary for your task as you described it.

I absolutely agree with this. The Wraith is a very effective tool and extremely affordable. The only reason I didn't mention is that JA seemed to be set on thermal but even at that, as I mentioned, he can get by with a much less expensive thermal. The only bad thing about the Wraith for his usage is the high magnification and extremely narrow FOV but for $499, that's a pill that's easier to swallow.

And you're dead on with your points about grass, open ground under feeders etc.

Jason

Thanks for all the replies. Good information.

Thankfully we don't have any hogs...but do have a few coyotes. The past 2 years we've had really thick grass. Thinking I'd also like the scope to be a scanner type deal. I like to get into the blind way early. I've seen some coyotes on full moons come through, but never could get a shot. Thinking if I had a thermal I could. Most shots would be less than 150 yards. I also have a 300 BlackOut that I could put my NOMAD 30Cal. suppressor on. I'm assuming the bigger / more expensive scopes aren't quick on and off? Is there a model I could swap back and forth easily from my .22 to my 300BO?

Jason,

What is the $1,900.00 scope you have?

Thanks for the added info. The Thermions I mentioned are not idea for taking off to use as a handheld. They are too long to easily hold in one hand and balance well. You can hold them with two hands but it's just more awkward. No different than holding a long daytime scope.

The $1,900 is the Pulsar Core RXQ30V 384x288 1.6x. It's a great entry level thermal and would by all means get the job done. It is a fixed focus, so the image quality is not going to be anywhere near a $3,000+ monocular but you should be able to easily ID coyotes at 150-175 yards. It's definitely made for closer range shots under 100 yards but the 125-150 yard shots are do-able and in the right conditions with experience a 200 yard shot isn't out of the question but I would definitely suggest keeping most shots down under the 100-125 yard range. It is one of the smallest thermals on the market and with a QD mount you can absolutely take it off your rifle and hand hold it. It isn't much bigger than many thermal handheld monoculars.

The RXQ30V's are in very very low production and supply for 2020 and in very high demand. Pulsar is focusing their production capacity and components on making many of their new thermal optics that were announced this year. They are great little scopes and definitely something that should be considered if you're looking for a thermal under $3,000.

Jason

A Hogster-R 35mm with upgraded RTZ mount would be a viable option for a scope that you could readily taken off the rifle and use for scanning and put it back on.
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