Ran the hog off

Somebody explain what happened tonight. I was in the elevated blind, waiting on the 7:15 hog, and he showed up an hour early. Here he is, as he first stepped into the open (caught on the Tactacam SK).


I could see him faintly in the binoculars, so I put the rifle in the window, turned on the Wraith Mini and then turned on the illuminator on the max setting. The hog immediately turned and went back into the woods. Seemed very odd to me that he’d do that. When I got back to the house to look at the Tactacam pics, this is what I found.


That light is coming from where I was sitting. The only light was the IR illuminator. The camera saw it as a bright light. Did the hog see it like that too? He must have, but I thought the IR light was invisible.

I’m new to the Wraith Mini and night vision, so help me out here.

Believe I would call them and ask

850 IR is not invisible, 940 is less visible. I've never had hogs react to the IR but deer almost always notice it, they will look in my direction but don't seem to care.

Ive heard of that w night vision more than once

Go thermal and don't look back

My experience as well. The 940 also shortens the range of lit area somewhat for me.

Your hog has or may have seen the light before.

I had hogs clearly react to 800nm ir light on several occasions. Next time, point your ir well above the hogs, then smoothly drop the edge down on to them, being ready to shoot instantly if you notice a reaction.

603, how far is your stand from your feeder? You may want to widen the IR beam so its not so bright especially if you're close. Honestly, I've killed 70-80 hogs using IR and have never had an issue with the IR spooking them. My son and my hunting buddy who have killed more hogs than I have also use IR and they have never had an issue with IR spooking hogs. That said, most of our stands are 120-160 yards from the feeders so I don't have much experience close in.

The biggest problem I have is the hogs winding me.

Game cameras typically use IR flashes and are setup to see IR so thats why your light looks so bright in the camera.

My dogs can see the IR beam . They will react to it .

BigDad, the stand is 150 yards from the feeder. Being new to using the Wraith, I turned the unit on, pointed the gun in the direction of the hog, and went straight to max illuminator power and max focus. Probably not the best way to go, but at the time I didn’t know better. I’ve been after that hog for a while, and here was my chance, and I messed it up. Oh well, sooner or later he’s mine.

Prior to the hog showing up last night, I was fiddling with the Wraith monocular and the Wraith mini. The monocular had a great view - really clear and sharply defined at 150 yards. The Wraith Mini, in comparison, was not as sharp. That seemed odd, so I had to be missing something. I just needed to narrow the illuminator beam, and with that adjustment, the Wraith Mini view was great.

Next time I’ll try at all 3 illuminator power settings and vary the beam focus up and down and see if I can find a setting that works good at the 150 yards with less light intensity. And I won’t point it at the critter, but will point it up and then lower it to shoot.

I want that Boar…

And I wondered if the game camera was seeing IR light better than the pig or I would.

I always heard it's the shadows caused by the ir that the pigs are reacting to. I've not had any issue with it though. Like stated above, I bring the light slowly over to them.

You'll get him, just playing with it and you'll get it dialed in.

Do they 'see' the light or 'feel' the heat? IR is 'heat'.

Interesting, I shot a lot of pigs with a Wraith before I went to thermal and never had an issue. I would have suspected it was something other than the light....noise, smell, etc.

Same thing happened to me also last year. I was in the blind at 135 yards away and as soon as I turned my unit on he was gone. There is a red light that can be seen coming from the ir. maybe he saw the motion of that red light? I am not sure why?

I went out after him last evening. I gave up at 8 pm. He showed up on camera at 8:26. Sooner or later…

He’s got you patterned.
😂

Back when I used an IR sight, occasionally the hogs seemed to notice it when I aimed at them with an illuminator. Generally they'd just raise their head and look my direction but not run. I figured they saw the slight red glow but that it didn't alarm them because they didn't know what it was. For the most part I was able to shoot them before they became wise. Perhaps your boar has had some experience in this matter, or maybe he's just extra cautious. Whatever, keep after him. It's possible that having seem your IR and not suffered any consequences he'll be less concerned the next time.

I haven’t had the Wraith mini for long, but I do believe I have it set up just the way I want it and know how to get it in action quickly while adjusted properly. This next time I see that hog will be his last. I do like that Wraith Mini, and the Wraith monocular is great.

Since he showed up, I’m not seeing any sounders, which means my trap is empty. I was catching so many previously, I offered a free pig and now can’t deliver.

Does the Wraith monocular require constant focusing with changes in distance? Does it tire your looking eye out?

It took a little fiddling, and reading instructions, but once it’s set (mine focused for 150 yards) it seems good for up to 200 and maybe 250 yards. I have not had to refocus. Keep in mind I’ve only had it a week or two. It was money well spent, because lifting the rifle to look can get tiring. My Grendel is pretty heavy and is called “the Pig”.

Hasn’t tired my eyes. It is rather bright at the setting it’s on, so night vision in my eye is degraded for a short while after use, but that’s no problem. To save battery life, I turn it on, use it for a short while and turn it off.

Yes the hog saw your IR and moved off they have senses like we do when a situation is less than safe

Your monocular may have different lens or eyepieces then the wraith 4k scope , you’d have to ask Sightmark if there are hardware differences

Even so over product life cycles manufactures may change hardware from time to time and you’ll see variance even among the same product from different lots/batches

Seems with that certain pig you’ll need to invoke the 90 min rule, show and stay 90 mins ahead and after the 7:15 target time .

Take you a snack to the stand you won’t starve

That's what I was thinking! Hahaha!

I haven't had any instances where I thought a pig noticed or was spooked by my night vision. On my IR scope, I have noticed that if the moon is out, I don't even have to turn on the illuminator. Just the scope. Next week, you should be able to hunt the first few hours after dark without the IR illuminator

Since the dang hog had become irregular in his feeder visits, I baited the trap with a big dose of corn and of Hog Wild. It worked, and I now have his muddy butt incarcerated. Got a fellow coming for the free pig, fully aware that work is required. A couple of other guys also want a free pig, so as I catch them, I’ll call those guys. Neighbor and I are booked up on pig right now, so give ‘em away or drag em to the boneyard.

The wife, using that recipe I posted recently, cooked up a roast from a hindquarter of the recent big sow. Sooo good.

Maybe, with this big boar gone, the sounder will return.