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Thermal scope
#9052721
05/26/24 08:24 PM
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 4,930
patriot07
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Started looking around at entry level thermal monoculars and ended up wondering if I could just get a scope with QD for not much more. I was pretty well set on an axion XQ35, so something around that price or a hair more is where I’m looking. Does anyone use a scope as a monocular and a QD mount to stick it on the rifle if you find something? If so what models are worth considering in this price range?
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Re: Thermal scope
[Re: patriot07]
#9052723
05/26/24 08:55 PM
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Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 1,005
duffas
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Consider the time required to mount it, re-acquire target and shot. Even if it does really keep zero after re-mounting.
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Re: Thermal scope
[Re: patriot07]
#9052894
05/27/24 01:45 AM
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 4,930
patriot07
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The QD mounts I’ve seen say they hold zero
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Re: Thermal scope
[Re: patriot07]
#9052908
05/27/24 02:16 AM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 603
VAFish
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How well can you quietly install a QD mount scope in the dark while hunting?
Before I got a hand held scanner, I'd just look through the scope on the rifle.
"If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children." -- Confucius
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Re: Thermal scope
[Re: patriot07]
#9052913
05/27/24 02:27 AM
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 4,930
patriot07
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Let me clarify - I need to look around off my front porch for hogs or coyotes. If I heard coyotes close by from inside, I'd have it on the gun when I went out. The other 99.9% of the time, I'd take the optic out and look around, see nothing, and come back in and put it down to look out next time. If I did see something, I could come back in and throw it on the rifle and go shoot.
I've currently got a sightmark wraith on the AR. I hate lugging that thing around to just scan around when 95% of the time, I don't see anything.
But it doesn't make much sense to have a $1500 thermal monocular and a $600 scope IMHO
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Re: Thermal scope
[Re: patriot07]
#9052953
05/27/24 08:20 AM
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 7,657
hopalong
THF Trophy Hunter
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I have 2 of the agm thermal scopes and a pulsar thermion xp50 (owners gave me that one).
I have one of these
AGM Rattler TS25-384 Thermal Riflescope
DETAILShttps://www.scheels.com/p/agm-rattler-ts25-384-thermal-riflescope/81002777809.html 1895.0$1,895.00
and one of these, 500.00 off
AGM Rattler TS35-640 Thermal Riflescope DETAILShttps://www.scheels.com/p/agm-rattler-ts35-640-thermal-riflescope/81002777919.html Discounted Price $2,995.00 $3,495.00
the 384 is good resolution for out to 150 yds. the 640 is good out to 500 probably.
they have an app for the phone that puts the view on it, I use the phone to scan, just sweep the area. works great in a stand, out the back door quick scan just use the scope but for longer use the phone.
the agm run on 2 123 batteries, if you get one of them get the rechargeable. I added a battery pack that mounts to the rail on the gun for extended run time.
lake fork FISHERMANS COVE MARINA - 903 474 7479 reservations
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Re: Thermal scope
[Re: patriot07]
#9055859
06/02/24 01:23 AM
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 10,018
RiverRider
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But it doesn't make much sense to have a $1500 thermal monocular and a $600 scope IMHO
Oh, but it does and especially when there are budget restraints. The beauty of thermal is that virtually nothing can hide from it, and that makes thermal ideal for locating your target. Once it's located, then a DNV should be perfectly adequate for the kill. I started out on the wrong foot (or maybe I should say feet) when I began night hunting. I put all the emphasis on the scope for the rifle, but I soon learned that I would be spending A LOT more time scanning for detection than I would shooting. I would advise anyone getting their feet wet to buy a decent thermal for scanning (lightweight, compact, etc.) and go with a relatively decent DNV to start out with if the budget so dictates. Get a good scanner, then upgrade the scope to a decent thermal later on. Trust me. A thermal weapon sight is highly desirable, and DO get one when you can swing it, but get yourself a good, dedicated thermal scanner first. Or, learn the hard way like I did. 
![[Linked Image]](https://i.imgur.com/D39eNbT.jpg) "Arguing with you always makes me thirsty." -Augustus McRae
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Re: Thermal scope
[Re: patriot07]
#9055894
06/02/24 02:29 AM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,424
Double Naught Spy
THF Trophy Hunter
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The beauty of thermal is that virtually nothing can hide from it, and that makes thermal ideal for locating your target. Once it's located, then a DNV should be perfectly adequate for the kill. Just to dispel a few myths here. Stuff can hide from thermal from with as little as clear plastic sheeting or clear glass. Thermal does not see through stuff. Hogs hide from thermal in tall grass all the time, especially hogs you have shot and drop below the level of the grass and then they are invisible to thermal. If you do spot something with thermal, your DNV MAY be perfectly adequate for the kill, unless of course you have foliage in the way, reflecting a lot of the UV light, making seeing your quarry nearly impossible. DNV is best for open fields, but can be terrible for hunting in the woods where you have a lot of trees and limbs between you and your target that you might be able to see just fine with thermal thermal gaps in the foliage, but not with DNV and IR light. There have been lots of times I could see a critter with thermal that I could not get a good shot on with DNV. Everything else was spot-on.
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Re: Thermal scope
[Re: patriot07]
#9055909
06/02/24 03:51 AM
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 10,018
RiverRider
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Yes, that's true. Maybe the best way to put it is that if you can't detect a critter with a thermal, there's just no detecting it at all. And washout from IR illumination using DNV is a real thing as well, esp3cially with any foliage out in front of you. That's not something I've had to think about at all since I went thermal and my hunting is 97% from an elevated blind in the middle of pasture for several years now anyway.
Good clarification.
![[Linked Image]](https://i.imgur.com/D39eNbT.jpg) "Arguing with you always makes me thirsty." -Augustus McRae
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Re: Thermal scope
[Re: patriot07]
#9056102
06/02/24 04:57 PM
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 7,657
hopalong
THF Trophy Hunter
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I got the extra battery pack so I can leave the thermal on and use the phone app for scanning if in the sxs or blind.
I can set the phone on the floor and just swing the thermal to scan, scope is on/ready and pretty close to target once you find something.
just what works for me, your results may differ.
lake fork FISHERMANS COVE MARINA - 903 474 7479 reservations
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Re: Thermal scope
[Re: patriot07]
#9056250
06/02/24 10:32 PM
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Joined: Jan 2021
Posts: 209
Inge0071
Woodsman
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Woodsman
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For the $, Pulsar w/h QD setup is the best buy I've found. Battery life is fantastic. I get 26 hours on one pack. With the range finder, I'm wacking hogs at 600+. The downside is you can't drive with a windshield. I've started using L3Harris NVGs to drive and spot. Really just looking for movement and shapes. When movement needs investigating, the rifle is powered up and ready to roll. One other interesting point. https://www.arkenopticsusa.com/zulus-hd-5-20-day-night-digital/The range finding version is $100 more, but out to 300 yards, you're making head shots. Absolute best buy for the $, especially when paired with a Vampire IR light. I'm notoriously frugal, and I bought 2.
Last edited by Inge0071; 06/02/24 10:33 PM. Reason: fat fingers
Pro Deo et patria
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Re: Thermal scope
[Re: patriot07]
#9056387
06/03/24 02:31 AM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 603
VAFish
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Let me clarify - I need to look around off my front porch for hogs or coyotes. If I heard coyotes close by from inside, I'd have it on the gun when I went out. The other 99.9% of the time, I'd take the optic out and look around, see nothing, and come back in and put it down to look out next time. If I did see something, I could come back in and throw it on the rifle and go shoot.
I've currently got a sightmark wraith on the AR. I hate lugging that thing around to just scan around when 95% of the time, I don't see anything.
But it doesn't make much sense to have a $1500 thermal monocular and a $600 scope IMHO I've got a $550 384x288 thermal monocular off of Amazon that pairs very well with a $600 digital night vision. It also pairs well with a more expensive thermal scope. It's nice to just hold the little thermal monocular up and see a heat signature and know it;s something probably worth investigating.
"If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children." -- Confucius
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Re: Thermal scope
[Re: patriot07]
#9056517
06/03/24 01:43 PM
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 9,540
scot
THF Trophy Hunter
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How cheap can you go on a monocular if you will still identify and shoot with digital night vision?
Spending $1500-2000 on a monocular seems like it would make sense to just buy a thermal scope for the rifle.
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Re: Thermal scope
[Re: patriot07]
#9056594
06/03/24 03:32 PM
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 10,018
RiverRider
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You'll find out pretty quick that scanning with a mounted thermal sight is very inconvenient if you haven't already.
All the monocular really needs to do is let you know that there's a critter on the move. If you can spend enough on a monocular that let's you positively identify an animal at 300 yards then by all means go that route. I would if I thought it was worth it and maybe I will at some point, but for now I can rely on my thermal sight to make sure I really want to let one fly.
I think a $600 thermal monocular might be good enough for initial detection, maybe. I haven't used one though. Maybe someone here HAS used one and can chime in.
![[Linked Image]](https://i.imgur.com/D39eNbT.jpg) "Arguing with you always makes me thirsty." -Augustus McRae
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Re: Thermal scope
[Re: patriot07]
#9056637
06/03/24 05:46 PM
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Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 1,005
duffas
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ATN OTS-XLT 160 2.5-10X is sufficient for scanning. Not the best but works. Internal batt and memory. Don't use it much anymore but watched 2 doe 150yds across a pond, easy to ID. Recorded stuff looses some resolution.
Last edited by duffas; 06/03/24 06:11 PM.
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Re: Thermal scope
[Re: RiverRider]
#9056852
06/04/24 01:02 AM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 603
VAFish
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You'll find out pretty quick that scanning with a mounted thermal sight is very inconvenient if you haven't already.
All the monocular really needs to do is let you know that there's a critter on the move. If you can spend enough on a monocular that let's you positively identify an animal at 300 yards then by all means go that route. I would if I thought it was worth it and maybe I will at some point, but for now I can rely on my thermal sight to make sure I really want to let one fly.
I think a $600 thermal monocular might be good enough for initial detection, maybe. I haven't used one though. Maybe someone here HAS used one and can chime in. I said up above, I have a $550 384x288 thermal monocular I got off of Amazon. It will easily detect an animal at 300-400 yards, but you kind of have to figure out what it is by the way it moves, and knowing the areas you hunt. You don't get a nice clear picture in high definition. A bunch of white dots moving in a line across a field, lower to the ground, pretty good chance they are hogs and we are moving to intercept them. I have had times that after walking a couple hundred yards what I thought were hogs were actually cows laying down in the grass. Or maybe there was a little rise between you and the cows so you only saw part of their bodies. But, that's why you don't shoot until you really know what it is. No doubt that higher dollar thermal works better. But even inexpensive thermal detects animals you wouldn't otherwise know were there.
"If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children." -- Confucius
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Re: Thermal scope
[Re: VAFish]
#9057017
06/04/24 02:42 PM
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 10,018
RiverRider
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I said up above, I have a $550 384x288 thermal monocular I got off of Amazon. It will easily detect an animal at 300-400 yards, but you kind of have to figure out what it is by the way it moves, and knowing the areas you hunt. You don't get a nice clear picture in high definition. A bunch of white dots moving in a line across a field, lower to the ground, pretty good chance they are hogs and we are moving to intercept them. I have had times that after walking a couple hundred yards what I thought were hogs were actually cows laying down in the grass. Or maybe there was a little rise between you and the cows so you only saw part of their bodies. But, that's why you don't shoot until you really know what it is.
No doubt that higher dollar thermal works better. But even inexpensive thermal detects animals you wouldn't otherwise know were there.
The details are important...and there they are. Good info. It's interesting to me that for the better part of a lifetime I had fantastic vision and never needed to make mental notes while observing animals in the field because I could simply see what they were. Even while spotlighting jackrabbits and coyotes it was just about always no problem to ID something. Night hunting with DNV and thermal changed that up. It's taught me to be a lot more observant of how the critters move, size variations in the group, the speed and order in which they move, etc. etc. Now I observe and think about things things I never would have noticed in days gone by.
![[Linked Image]](https://i.imgur.com/D39eNbT.jpg) "Arguing with you always makes me thirsty." -Augustus McRae
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Re: Thermal scope
[Re: VAFish]
#9057590
06/05/24 03:10 PM
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Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 1,205
B Razorback
Pro Tracker
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You'll find out pretty quick that scanning with a mounted thermal sight is very inconvenient if you haven't already.
All the monocular really needs to do is let you know that there's a critter on the move. If you can spend enough on a monocular that let's you positively identify an animal at 300 yards then by all means go that route. I would if I thought it was worth it and maybe I will at some point, but for now I can rely on my thermal sight to make sure I really want to let one fly.
I think a $600 thermal monocular might be good enough for initial detection, maybe. I haven't used one though. Maybe someone here HAS used one and can chime in. I said up above, I have a $550 384x288 thermal monocular I got off of Amazon. It will easily detect an animal at 300-400 yards, but you kind of have to figure out what it is by the way it moves, and knowing the areas you hunt. You don't get a nice clear picture in high definition. A bunch of white dots moving in a line across a field, lower to the ground, pretty good chance they are hogs and we are moving to intercept them. I have had times that after walking a couple hundred yards what I thought were hogs were actually cows laying down in the grass. Or maybe there was a little rise between you and the cows so you only saw part of their bodies. But, that's why you don't shoot until you really know what it is. No doubt that higher dollar thermal works better. But even inexpensive thermal detects animals you wouldn't otherwise know were there. You mind posting the details of that thermal monocular from Amazon? I'm curious to look into it.
You may all go to hell and I will go to Texas! -Davy Crocket This is duck hunting...shirts and shoes are optional
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