Best Thermal Optics 2018

So, there are a ton of options out there and I know that this subject has been discussed many times, but coming into Fall of 2018, what is the best Thermal Optic on the market? Specifically for coyotes?

Cold weather durability and battery life?

Picture quality?

ATN has a number of options at all prices. Makes for a hard decision!

ATN's customer service is the worst i have ever experienced. Eli Brown is the person there that for a while communicated with me. Total mess. Still have my night vision scope since Jun 9 2015! Steer clear. Ridiculous.
SnT

There is a guy on here that does great night videos of hog hunting. He goes by Zen Archery. I bet if you contact him he can answer any questions you have. The last I heard was he was headed to trail head for an elk hunt. He didn't say when he would be out. He helped me. He was not a fan of ATN.

Consider renting before you buy. I have rented several models. The Reap-Ir is at the top of my list.

I looked at quite a few while at shot this year, the best for samples in my opinion are the new trijicon elctro optics

geo4061 said:

Consider renting before you buy. I have rented several models. The Reap-Ir is at the top of my list.

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Now that is a very good option. Any reccomendations on where to rent? I have really been scared to drop $2k+++ on an electronic scope I don't know much about.

Hatrick said:

There is a guy on here that does great night videos of hog hunting. He goes by Zen Archery. I bet if you contact him he can answer any questions you have. The last I heard was he was headed to trail head for an elk hunt. He didn't say when he would be out. He helped me. He was not a fan of ATN.

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What is wrong with ATN day and night scope? I have been looking at these for a while now and was thinking about getting one. They seem very reasonable for the price point of 699.00, do they hold zero with a magnum rifle? Do the batteries last long enough for a full day of hunting, is the optics clear through all power ranges? I have never held one or looked through one to know anything about them, if someone has one or experience using one, I would love to hear all good and bad.

I have always rented from Ultimate Night Vision. The best units rent for about $225 for 5 days. I can't help you with ATN. My thought is it sounds way too good to be true. You probably could get it to work if this and this and this were all correct. Here is what I have found. I rented three different price levels. One 3k$, one 5K$ and one 7k$ the Reap. Driving around looking through the 3k$ optic a white target was in the road 100 yards ahead. That is all I could tell just a target in the road. I pulled up the 5k$ unit. I could tell it had rounded ears and was bobcat sized but was not 100% sure. I pulled up the 7k$ unit. It was not only a bobcat sitting in the road but he was licking his paws. I was amazed at how good the images are on this unit.

There are some good reviews in gun magazines on FLIR thermal vision optics.

And Leupold has a nice hand-held scope that does not break the bank.

Eric B.

$7k would buy one helluva spotlight.

7 grand is way over my head. That is why I rent. Thermal is nothing like a spotlight. Thermal is like buying a ticket into a whole new world. It does not spook or disturb the night in any way. Thermal allows you to become one with the night. You will see things you never realized were going on. You do not have to spend 7 grand to be welcomed in this new world. The question is how good do you want your vision to be when you get there? For a grand or less you can read the BIG E on the eye chart. For 3 grand you can see well enough to get around, 5 grand 20/40 you can drive, 7 grand 20/20 awesome.

I run a xp50 pulsar. Legit!
You can see everything like night vision with the added heat. Perfectly clear out to hundreds of yards.

Kmccord said:

What is wrong with ATN day and night scope? I have been looking at these for a while now and was thinking about getting one. They seem very reasonable for the price point of 699.00, do they hold zero with a magnum rifle? Do the batteries last long enough for a full day of hunting, is the optics clear through all power ranges? I have never held one or looked through one to know anything about them, if someone has one or experience using one, I would love to hear all good and bad.

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I bought one of the new 5-25 4K pros when They came out. I was thinking that I could use it for deer hunting without the ir light and put it back on for hogs/coyote. What I found is that in low light you have to have the ir light on to see, its real grainy without it. Scope was crystal clear during the day and I thought the scope preformed very well at night with the ir light. I will say the included ir light was only affective for 100 to 135 yards. They offer a longer distance ir light (300 yards) According to them for like $275 or so. I ended up selling scope due to it not performing without ir light for deer hunting. I also couldn't get the scope to zero like it should. It uses a one shot zero, meaning that you shoot and move crosshairs to where bullet impacted and that's supposed to be it. However i couldn't get it to work for me.

TJ thanks for the info on the scope.