1st Hogs - Armasight Predator Thermal Scope

[Double Naught Spy]

I posted that I was testing a new scope for a local vendor (http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f18/new-armasight-predator-thermal-158437/) and now the testing has moved to application.

We out last night in hopes of encountering a sounder that is occasionally running through my client's property. I had plans to stay until dawn to get them, but was surprised during my hike into the stand to spy a big old boar at a distant feeder in broad daylight. I trekked up a hill to get into a reasonable firing position on it at 125 yards, but stayed low so that he would not see me, and I set up with the tripod from a seated position. As I started to look through the scope, I have having trouble making out the hog. Something wasn't right. Then he turned and I got my shot.

Turns out, I was sighting and shooting through a lot of grass (blue stem and other vegetation) and that plants were heated up from being in the sun all day. This distorted the image.

Many hours later, in the stand, I got a crack at another hog. It was smaller and more distant, but without the vegetation in the way, it was a very reasonable shot with the budget-level Armasight Predator thermal weapon sight. The hog went down, DRT.

I will have this sight for a few more hunts to assess it fully, but right now, it definitely looks like it is a hunter!

[ame]https://youtu.be/i2ucCWwFM5s[/ame]

 

[scrmblr1982cj8]

How does one get in the fortunate position of testing new thermal sights for hog hunting?

 

[scrmblr1982cj8]

Could you describe the process you use to sight in thermal units?

 

[Coy Franks]

Good shooting DNS! But you missed the nuts!

 

[snox801]

Thanks for the posts need more people like you so we can make more informed decisions when we purchase.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

How does one get to test new gear?
I don't have a good answer for this. I was asked to be a pro staffer for Third Coast Thermal because the owner liked my videos, my write-ups that sometimes accompany them, and that I was out enough, getting kills with enough regularity that I could test gear and show some real world application in a relatively short period of time. Obviously, companies would love to have big name professionals, but they tend to be expensive. I don't get paid. My only real perqs are that I get loaned gear to try out for a few weeks.

----

Sighting in a thermal is pretty much like sighting in any other electronic scope (buttons to move electronic crosshairs instead of turrets [except on the IR Hunter MKII that has turrets, but still has electronic crosshairs]). The basic process is the same as with sighting in a regular daylight scope, but you need to have a different target that what is typically used. Obviously, a thermal scope isn't going to see a pattern of lines on a piece of paper at 100 yards. It needs to see differences in temperature.

With that said, I have been able to see the black 9" solid circle on a white paper target from 100 yards after it was in the sun a few minutes and the black heated up more than the white, but that isn't really the norm. Obviously, the black is just the the main area and there were fine lines inside the black indicating rings, none of which I could see. I just saw a big solid circle in the middle of a rectangle (the piece of paper).

So you need something thermally different. I often use steel targets. They are present on my range and they heat up in the sun and stand out from their surroundings on thermal. This is not as precise as using some other methods, but I generally try to shoot the center of the head of a silhouette at 100 yards and keep making adjustments until that is where my shots land.

With paper, you put up your target and then in the center of the target, you place something that will be thermally different from the paper. Lots of folks use small, chemical hand warmers and tape them to the paper. The handwarmer gets really hot and the shooter can check the holes in the paper to make corrections until s/he is shooting the handwarmer.

Folks also use other materials such as squares of duct tape, metalized tape, and other such materials. I have simply cut out some pieces of aluminum foil and used them, the foil radiating head faster than the paper and appear cooler than the paper, hence standing out enough to be a good target. Again, I just walked my shots in until I was hitting the foil.

The one thing I personally find harder about it is that the crosshairs in an electronic scope are not as thin as crosshairs in a daylight scope. So obviously if you can't aim as precisely, then it is hard to attain as tight of groups (some people do better with this than me). For example, my Grendel will shoot sub MOA groups with the ammo I use, if I use a daylight scope with sufficient magnification and fine crosshairs to precisely aim at the exact same point each time. With my Armasight Zeus scope with the less fine reticle, I am more apt to shoot a 1.5" group or even slightly larger. So basically my goal for sighting-in with a thermal scope is that the bullet impacts in the center dot at 100 yards such that I know that where I put my dot on a hog, the bullet will somewhere in what the dot covers. That is usually more than sufficient.

Sorry if that was a bit long-winded - just trying to explain some of the similarities and differences that I thought were relevant.

 

[HARPERC]

This will be a fun situation to watch develop.

 

[Spurwing]

We hunt the Ferral pigs here in The Western Cape, South Africa...would love to have one these Armasight Predator Scopes!!

Maybe you can send me one for evalauation..LOL!!!

 

[scrmblr1982cj8]

How does one get to test new gear?
I don't have a good answer for this. I was asked to be a pro staffer for Third Coast Thermal because the owner liked my videos, my write-ups that sometimes accompany them, and that I was out enough, getting kills with enough regularity that I could test gear and show some real world application in a relatively short period of time. Obviously, companies would love to have big name professionals, but they tend to be expensive. I don't get paid. My only real perqs are that I get loaned gear to try out for a few weeks.

----

Sighting in a thermal is pretty much like sighting in any other electronic scope (buttons to move electronic crosshairs instead of turrets [except on the IR Hunter MKII that has turrets, but still has electronic crosshairs]). The basic process is the same as with sighting in a regular daylight scope, but you need to have a different target that what is typically used. Obviously, a thermal scope isn't going to see a pattern of lines on a piece of paper at 100 yards. It needs to see differences in temperature.

With that said, I have been able to see the black 9" solid circle on a white paper target from 100 yards after it was in the sun a few minutes and the black heated up more than the white, but that isn't really the norm. Obviously, the black is just the the main area and there were fine lines inside the black indicating rings, none of which I could see. I just saw a big solid circle in the middle of a rectangle (the piece of paper).

So you need something thermally different. I often use steel targets. They are present on my range and they heat up in the sun and stand out from their surroundings on thermal. This is not as precise as using some other methods, but I generally try to shoot the center of the head of a silhouette at 100 yards and keep making adjustments until that is where my shots land.

With paper, you put up your target and then in the center of the target, you place something that will be thermally different from the paper. Lots of folks use small, chemical hand warmers and tape them to the paper. The handwarmer gets really hot and the shooter can check the holes in the paper to make corrections until s/he is shooting the handwarmer.

Folks also use other materials such as squares of duct tape, metalized tape, and other such materials. I have simply cut out some pieces of aluminum foil and used them, the foil radiating head faster than the paper and appear cooler than the paper, hence standing out enough to be a good target. Again, I just walked my shots in until I was hitting the foil.

The one thing I personally find harder about it is that the crosshairs in an electronic scope are not as thin as crosshairs in a daylight scope. So obviously if you can't aim as precisely, then it is hard to attain as tight of groups (some people do better with this than me). For example, my Grendel will shoot sub MOA groups with the ammo I use, if I use a daylight scope with sufficient magnification and fine crosshairs to precisely aim at the exact same point each time. With my Armasight Zeus scope with the less fine reticle, I am more apt to shoot a 1.5" group or even slightly larger. So basically my goal for sighting-in with a thermal scope is that the bullet impacts in the center dot at 100 yards such that I know that where I put my dot on a hog, the bullet will somewhere in what the dot covers. That is usually more than sufficient.

Sorry if that was a bit long-winded - just trying to explain some of the similarities and differences that I thought were relevant.

I would go without pay if I got to try out new thermal scopes!

 

[scrmblr1982cj8]

We hunt the Ferral pigs here in The Western Cape, South Africa...would love to have one these Armasight Predator Scopes!!

Maybe you can send me one for evalauation..LOL!!!

How big do the hogs get on The Western Cape?

 

[Spurwing]

One Boar was shot about two weeks ago weighing 93kg carcas

[/URL][/IMG]

 

[djones]

got this over the weekend. a thermal recording would have made for a spectacular display. curious why you didn't put that on a semi-auto if you were after a sounder??

ps - any good pro staffer needs a publicity assistant. now that pakkrapp has been fired from the other thread, i'd like to volunteer his services to you

 

[scrmblr1982cj8]

One Boar was shot about two weeks ago weighing 93kg carcas

[/URL][/IMG]

Nice one! I'd be very proud of that one!

 

[scrmblr1982cj8]

got this over the weekend. a thermal recording would have made for a spectacular display. curious why you didn't put that on a semi-auto if you were after a sounder??

ps - any good pro staffer needs a publicity assistant. now that pakkrapp has been fired from the other thread, i'd like to volunteer his services to you

I love the gore factor in a number of your photos.