FLIR PTS536 comfortable range

I have been hunting hogs and coyotes with a FLIR PTS536 for over a year. Most of my coyote hunts end up with 60 to 100 yard shots. The 536 images are great at those distances. Most of the time I realize the dogs were closer than I thought when I walk out to find them.

Hunting hogs at night I have a hard time judging the distance to target. I have killed several that I later figure out were 100 to 150 yards. Do you guys using thermal simply rely on how good the crosshair looks on the image to decide to shoot or not. I think with the FLIR on 2X ( the first magnification increase) I would be comfortable shooting a hog at 200. What are your thoughts.

I did set up a 200 target in daylight and using 5" square aluminum foil could easily group within that shooting from a bench.

Do you thermal users experience range and hog size judgement issues? I just pick out the largest relative to others but it is hard to actually tell if it is very big.

My rifle always looks for the largest, not matter what I try to get it to do... My farthest shot so far with a thermal is 135 yards (via rangefinder) and he was a one-shot drop. I've done the carnival shoot with a whole bunch of shots at 40 as well.

I'd say I have a distance limit (200 yds) I wouldn't exceed... how close? I try to get as close as I can based on moonlight and any noise (pump jack for example) around me then let her rip. 50yds is a fun distance, have walked up as close as 15-20. Was sitting with a bud in my Pioneer a few weeks ago running the caller, boar walked right up to us from the side. He tried to leave. :-)

We walked up on a sounder with some new night shooters a couple weeks ago with me leading with a helmet mounted monocular. Kept thinking we were still too far out for new guys and after noticing them getting antsy, I had 'em light things up. It was a large sounder of 30 hogs or so, but turned out they weren't far away, they were just little. Never seen one like that I bet didn't have a hog over 100lbs.

Charlie

I have a 536 and have taken quite a few animals with it so far. I have a smaller place and have box blinds set up in 2 of my fields. In one field most shots are 100-180 yards to feeders but this sow was with a group a couple of weeks ago that were skirting the edge of the field and not coming in. I popped her at close to 200 yards.


The other field has feeders at 80, 100, 180 and 220 yards and I’ve taken hogs at all of them. I tend to forget about the zoom feature and take most of my shots on 4x. This boar was Saturday night at 150 yards.
The coyote was at 80 yards.


I chose the 536 after much discussion regarding the type of hunting I normally do (stand vs spot and stalk), but I have had some luck stalking too. It helps that I know the distances well based on familiarity, but the 536 is good at most distances I can encounter on my place. As the weather gets hotter, I move to shooting them off the front porch and those feeders are 200 and 300 yards and I’ve killed several at the 300 with the FLIR. It’s a great scope. The more you see through it, the better you’ll get with guesstimating.

TX_LT230FH,

300 with the FLIR is impressive and gives me confidence that the FLIR is up to the job. I do get pretty darn good images at distance with it and easily ID yotes from doe from pigs. I just did not know if holdover was true to image at that distance.

Mine is on a 6.8 SPC Daniel Defense and I’m shooting Hornady factory 120SST loads. I have or sighted in 1.5” high at 100 and hold at the top of the shoulder at 300 and it’s good.

I have mine mounted on an AR platform chambered in Ruger 204 which is very flat shooting which helps me out since I am like you in the fact that I have a very hard time judging distance and size. I think what throws me off is the range in size of animal, especially hogs. I always question myself of am I looking at a big hog at 150 or am I looking at a small hog at 50 but both of them would appear similarly through the scope. All in all I am no help because I am horrible at judging size and distance through the thermal. The 4x magnification probably throws us off more than anything. I shot the one below and I thought he was going to be a 75 or 100 lb hog but I am guessing he was somewhere between 150 and 175.

I have found the 536 to be pretty comfortable from 50-250 or so. You could get out further than that assuming you've ID'ed the animal properly first. With the magnification your shooting range could easily exceed the identification range. Much closer than 50 then your field of view is a bit narrow for my taste.

You need to go to the range, plain and simple. Figure out what your ammo does from your gun and where it is impacting at various distances. Note the POA vs. POI differences within in your scope given your preferred reticle. Do that and take notes and then you can behind to shoot more confidently in the field at various distances.

So are you saying that different reticles in the 536 will produce different POI?

On another note, now that FLIR is not selling to the public, does anyone know what the repair future looks like on their thermals?

No, but I'm about to find out. Sending mine in tomorrow...

Is it still under warranty? Came with 2 years, 3 if you registered it online. My concern is after warranty.

What is the issue with yours?

Still under warranty.
Started having image issues- milky, washed out, and the NUC didn't clear anything up. Tried all types of batteries, same deal. It also has been shutting off when firing sometimes.

They will probably give you a refurbished unit. From what I have been told by the retailer I purchased mine from they no longer repair. They send refurbished units. I suspect that since they have been through so much reorganization the last 2 years and moved that division from CA to NH they have no techs that can repair. I also suspect that when they get a bad unit that has intermittent issues, they turn it on and if it works right then, they throw it on a shelf and pass it on to the next return up. Two of the refurbs I got still have pictures and videos stored on them.

1st return. My first unit shut off from recoil. It was a month from ship to return. All they did was put a little rubber disk under the battery cap to add pressure to the battery pack. That fixed that issue.

2nd return Then it started having screen issues. They sent me a refurbished unit that was filthy dirty, and scratched up. After the forth or 5th hunt it started shutting down at 1/2 battery life showing on indicator.

3rd return Sent it back, got another refurb. That worked fine for several hunts then had same issue you described.

4th return Sent back and got another refurb. After a few hunts it shut down and would not power back up.

5th return Spent a week calling every number I could find at FLIR and emailing every contact I could find. Finally got an email telling me they would give me a refund for full purchase price. I sent it back with receipt, and copy of the email . After I confirmed delivery I emailed and asked status of refund. I received reply that it would take 30 days to process but they did confirm that I was going to be receiving a full refund.

Monday I received another refurb. UPS delivered it no signature required. A $3795.00 item sitting by my gate on a public road 1/4 mile from my house for 2 days before my wife discovered it.

So far that unit looks and works fine.

good luck.

So are you going to get a refund or not? Or maybe end up with a refurb and a refund?
I think I'll push hard for a refund...

The Customer Service Administrator I corresponded with said after the 3rd issue I should have been offered a refund. I do not believe they are going to send me a check after they sent me a refurbished scope. If this is your first return for repair I doubt they will refund.

https://flir.netx.net/file/asset/11506/original

This a link to the warranty policy.

This gives me hope.


Repair or replacement, and it sounds like they’re not repairing them.

I’m hoping they adjudicate a refurb is insufficient.

If they send a refurb, then I guess I’ll do like you-
Lather.
Rinse.
Repeat

I don't know what "adjudication" means to them. If it is 4 returns and being told without asking for a refund that they will give a refund, I suppose from internal deliberation, then sending a refurb without notice after saying a refund is on the way, I'm thinking there is a lot of folks there at FLIR that have no idea what other folks are doing.

I love my 536 when it works. Do you think any issues could be a result of using external battery sources? I use one that meets the guidelines they set for them. I may just stick with CR123 non rechargeables and keep a pocket full with me and buy stock in Energizer Bunnies.

I've only used rechargeable CR123s that exceed what I was able to decipher as the recommended mv. Never any problems with battery life- 2 nights of 3-4 hours hunting (with off and on times) and wouldn't move off fully charged. Same thing with factory CR123s. Also same wrong things happening.

There is still hope.