Need a hand - night hunting

[royinidaho]

Ok so I snagged an entry level night hunting scope. An ATN X-Sight with an 850mw illuminator.

Spent a couple of evenings messing with it. It has it's limitations but that isn't my problem.

Went out in the pasture this evening and couldn't even spot my dog that was out there someplace.:roll eyes:

If a fella is in a stand with caller calling, how ya gonna scan 360 degrees with a rifle and IR scope. Day time I'm used to. Night time is a whole different thing.

Any hints would be appreciated.

 

[FearNoWind]

Scopes are for sighting, binoculars are for scanning. For scanning you need night vision binoculars.

 

[royinidaho]

Scopes are for sighting, binoculars are for scanning. For scanning you need night vision binoculars.

Darn! That's what I was afraid of. More money out the door.

 

[Blue Ridge Hunter]

Wicked Lights that's what I use at night. I have absolutely no complaints. That set gives u a rifle light and a scan light

 

[royinidaho]

Wicked Lights that's what I use at night. I have absolutely no complaints. That set gives u a rifle light and a scan light

Problem solved!
Night Hunting

It is legal to hunt unprotected or predatory animals (coyote) on private land after obtaining written permission from the landowner and on public lands after obtaining a "Permit to Hunt with Artificial Light." This permit is available only at a Fish & Game regional office in those regions where they can be legally used. Not all regions allow spotlighting.

The ATN ate the micro card - so it's going back.

I hunt public land and have land owner permissions for anything I want to do.

Gonna go the WickedHuntinglight route. Way more effective and a ton less expensive.

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Blue Ridge Hunter]

No problem, I highly recommend the predator pursuit package. Let me no how u like wicked lights.

 

[dstark]

This is helpful to hear as I was just about to purchase an ATN X-sight. Made me reconsider. Thanks!

 

[westcliffe01]

In SE MI you only get to illuminate a coyote 1 time. The second time they will run. In addition, on private land, if there are livestock behind your intended target you are exceedingly unlikely to see them with a light setup. I personally started with the 2 light Wicked lights setup and stopped using it because of the risk of shooting the owners pitch black carthorses. If the terrain is absolutely wide open, it may not be that bad, but when there is brush involved and livestock I would not do it.

Moved up to a gen 3 ATN scope and looking to go to thermal now. Thermal separates inanimate from the living so defeats most camouflage. Even with G3 NV you still can't see under living trees with heavy foliage or into the woods. The darker the night, the higher the AGC on the amplification and the grainier the images and the shallower the depth of field. Depth of field is something not often discussed. If I focus on the far side of a field that is 250 yards away with the ATN scope, a coyote could be sitting 20 feet away and he would be so out of focus that I would not see him.

I have not used a thermal scope yet, so can't comment on what it is like, but one can certainly recognize the presence of a living thing, even when there is some brush blocking your direct view.

 

[Blue Ridge Hunter]

I use wicked lights around my livestock, Black angus cows, I don't have any problems with seeing beyond my target in Southwestern Virginia.

 

[westcliffe01]

When all you can see are the reflections from the eyes, then there is no chance whatsoever that one would be seeing black angus cattle, unless they happened to be looking directly at you.

 

[Blue Ridge Hunter]

I can see the bodies of my cows. I don't need to see the reflections of there eyes. 200yards you can easily see the whole bodes of cattle. Even calves. Especially when using my vortex 10x50 binoculars with my scanning light. I'm not going be taking a night shot past that anyways. With a 402zf and my binoculars, I can count the points on a deer at 200 yards

 

[Blue Ridge Hunter]

Better glass, better results I'm sure, mine are razor hd 10x50

 

[westcliffe01]

I have never scanned using binoculars at night. I only use 7x binoculars during the day, so can't imagine using 10x at night. Certainly would not suit the brushy terrain we have in SE MI. The ATN G3 scope is a 6x and I think that has too much magnification for my use. With the ATN scope I can count sheep and horses, where with the lights I could tell something is there but not be sure what it is.

Lets not forget we all have different standards of vision. Others may have far superior night vision to me. But it was not working for me in the situation I was in and I still do not feel that the Gen 3 scope is ideal. There are perhaps 2 nights a month that suit hunting with the ATN, the balance are too dark, foggy or whatever.

 

[Rutvick1]

Ok so I snagged an entry level night hunting scope. An ATN X-Sight with an 850mw illuminator.

Spent a couple of evenings messing with it. It has it's limitations but that isn't my problem.

Went out in the pasture this evening and couldn't even spot my dog that was out there someplace.:roll eyes:

If a fella is in a stand with caller calling, how ya gonna scan 360 degrees with a rifle and IR scope. Day time I'm used to. Night time is a whole different thing.

Any hints would be appreciated.

Sniper Hog Light with IR pill in light! Clear