Let me start by saying that i have night vision already, A mod-3 goggle built by ident marking rockwall. And also ir lasers and illuminaters. I am looking at getting a thermal that is going to be used almost exclusively less than 100 yards mainly 50 yards and in. I have never bought a thermal but have looked through a few. The stimulus really caught my eye because of the price and that i am not going to use it as much as most people but i do want one pretty badly. The problem with the night visin is the ir light bloom on all of the under brush and heavy trees and you can see much behind that. Has anyone used one or does anyone with more knowledge than me In the area that i am trying to research????? Be using in east tx in really heavily wooded areas. Thank you for any helpfull info

This is my video , go to the 30 minute mark and youll see actual video (recorded the screen with a camcorder) of hogs at 100 yards.

The video has blur but I assure you the stimulus screen is clear and you can clearly ID pigs at 100 yards.

The stimulus is exactly what you need based on your hunting criteria - if you’re being totally honest with yourself in stating the use then you will be happy !

However if you intend to engage running targets the 30 hz refresh rate is going to be an issue .

Whatever you end up buying be sure it has a manual focus adjustment for the image , I’ve seen many entry thermals in years past with a fixed focus and it isn’t optimal .

Just to add to what Pig_Popper said, when you look at the image in his video, you can see that the reticle isn't quite in focus and appears to be slightly astigmatic. That will not be in the Stimulus. That is the nightmare of trying to record behind the optic with another optic handheld. So as much as the reticle looks out of focus, the whole image will be out of focus.

+1 on the manual focus. Of the non-focusable low end thermals I have seen, they never seem to be quite in focus and you will strain your eye trying to make the image work.

The Spy & Popper are telling you the absolute truth IMO regarding fixed focus optics.

Throwing a slight curveball to you but considering your honesty about your frame of use and budget it may be worth your time reading a bit on the AGM TS19-256 or the 25mm version.
It's 5Hz lower refresh rate and a year shorter warranty but with that 12micron it appears to have a pretty respectable image, does have an internal recording feature if you're interested in that, and is even a few hundred $$ less expensive than the Stimulus.

I'm not at all affiliated with this dealer. Never bought so much as a sticker from them but at the end of this short video he has some decent field footage of what one could expect from the optic.

Thank all of you for the info i will watch the videos tonight when i have time! And yes the honest truth is i just want to be able to spot the pigs i have and i have almost no open spots to shoot at all 50 yrds is still a stretch for me to shoot and need something shorter range. Thank yall again!