Thermal has changed the way I look for downed game. He was bright as can be and it wasn't even very cold. I don't see any more blood tracking in my future.

Heavy cover:


After a moved to a more open spot:

Couple days ago neighbor called saying he shot 2 hogs. Found them both semi close to where he shot them with my thermal.

It really is a game changer. I've got 4.1 power spotter, but it was just a bit too much power for short to medium range. This one is 2X optically and is perfect for my needs.

Interesting.

What are you using?

That is pretty cool tech.

Game changer for sure.

Pulsar Axion 2 XQ35 pro.

Tending a scrape at night. Some of the definition is lost on the recording so it’s actually much sharper when I’m looking through it.

Good stuff. Love Pulsar.

Heck I'm still running the OLD Pulsar N-750 digital night vision scope on my dedicated night time pig gun (being used as we speak in West Tx/loaned to BIL again). Rig has killed hundreds of pigs, and 1 deer. Suppressed 300 BO. It just keeps on working.

Maybe I shouldn't have said that.......

Not a thermal but still serves it's purpose.

I’m a fan of Pulsar’s digital night vision also. I’m just spoiled with the thermal spotters for initially seeing game. Panning across an area fast and anything alive just pops sure gives me an advantage.

I need to get one of those. I am tired of looking for hours at night with a flashlight. That has got to be faster

This is an adjunct to blood tracking, not a replacement.

I am sure you all know that, but pointing this out for the new hunters here that might be reading this.

Thermal does NOT replace being able to track a downed animal

We had a guy who hunted out west with us who would come in about mid way thru the season. First day he comes in he ends up bringing a deer back to camp. Thought it was odd as we had been Hunting our arses off with no luck and he kills one’s within a few hours of being there.

Next year he gets one the 2nd day.

Year after same story.


Someone let it slip that he was using a thermal to locate bedded deer in these pastures that you could not see with the naked eye.

Using one to find downed game is one thing but imo there is a ton of room for abuse with these.

Depends on the state, but there are some states that outlaw the use of electronics such as thermal for deer hunting. Using them to locate bedded deer is using them for hunting….might have been illegal. Not sure where you were.

Blood tracking, as you know, is slow and is a PITA. This isn’t. Even the blood trail is visible on thermal for a good while.

I have never seen a blood trail visible on thermal unless you go looking right away.
The only way i go right away is when i see the animal drop and there is not a need to blood trail anyway.

This seems to me a easy way to lose fieldcraft and try to rely on tech that might fail (batteries) or worse you go tromping through early and bump the deer.

Remember, there are novice hunters that read this stuff and saying you can blood trail with a thermal is a very bad idea esp for novice hunters

I just looked at the price. I doubt that it is my future.

You need a better thermal if you don't ever see blood. As for bumping up a deer, people do it while blood tracking all the time. At least this way, it's obvious if the deer has it's head up. It's impossible to know if they have their head up while blood tracking. We get it, you don't like it. Keep doing what you're doing and don't forget to ice your back when you're done blood tracking.

Next time you go tracking blood with your thermal, i would love some video or pics pf said
Trail. i have seen blood splatter from
Shots and then within minutes it is indistinguishable from the dirt/ground matter.

Like I said, you need to up your resolution game if your device won't distinguish it from the ground.

Actually, blood goes ambient temp on the ground or other surfaces pretty quick and once it is ambient temp, it is very difficult to see. There is a reason you don't see a lot of thermal videos where they are blood tracking with thermal because the trail doesn't stay obvious very long.

Here is a quick example. The blood ends up on metal and so ends up at ambient temperature fairly quickly, but it does on the ground as well.



Sorry, YouTube age-restricted the video due to the blood.

I have found it lasts for a good 10 minutes or so on the ground in cold weather. The premise is really irrelevant though as the body is so easy to see. The last couple of dozen deer and pigs I’ve had that ran a bit, I couldn’t care less about if there’s a blood trail because I didn’t need it anyway.

^^^ talking about exactly what i said earlier. Tracking after 10 minutes when you dont need blood anyway because you saw it go down.

For a real tracking job, say an archery hit that runs a hundred or more yards (and thats a short archery track) and allowing some time for the animal to die, thermal
Is a useless modality except to find the body.

As stated above, it is a useful adjunct, but NOT a replacement for good blood tracking skills.