Night vision scope

[dverna]

A recent thread has me pondering getting a night vision scope.

I know nothing about them so looking for advice and recommendations.

Intended use would be coyote size to 150 yards. I would likely mount it on an AR15 in .223. Something easy to use, reliable and does not weigh a ton.

[Coopaloop86]

You’ll be hard pressed to get a night vision to 150 yards. The range is limited to your IR light source generally. Just my personal opinion from use hog hunting at night, night vision is ok for 100 yards and under but thermal is far superior. My club started with green lights then we went the NV route and now everyone has thermal and hasn’t looked back. You scan an entire hundred acre field in seconds with thermal.

[elmacgyver0]

I have an ATN X-Sight 4K It is a day/night scope, I got the 3-14 power one.
It is basically a camera with a good lens, processed by a computer and sent to digital viewing screen.
I have not used it much at night except for close distances.
So far, I have only used it on my .25 caliber PCP rifle in my back yard.
My goal is to use it on an AR15, but I am waiting for more temperate weather as I am a light weight.
ATN also make the thermal scopes but at a much higher price.
These types of scopes are really neat as they can take still shots and record video, they have digital readouts of distances (add on accessory) and elevation and cant of rifle.
You can move it from rifle to rifle, it saves the data, so you do not need to sight it in again, as long as you saved the profile.
The downside is learning how to operate all this neat stuff.

[elmacgyver0]

In Iowa we do not have feral hogs, seems the farmers around here know how to control their livestock, much to my chagrin.
We do have coyotes.
My plan is to get my AR set up with the night vision scope and suppressor and hunt some coyotes.
Will it happen? I don't know, at 70+ I don't have the ambition I used to have.
I wish I had this gear when I was 40 years younger.

[KenH]

at 70+ I don't have the ambition I used to have.

At 76 I can fully understand that statement

[dverna]

In Iowa we do not have feral hogs, seems the farmers around here know how to control their livestock, much to my chagrin.
We do have coyotes.
My plan is to get my AR set up with the night vision scope and suppressor and hunt some coyotes.
Will it happen? I don't know, at 70+ I don't have the ambition I used to have.
I wish I had this gear when I was 40 years younger.

I am 72 and dealing with bad neck issues....hear you loud and clear.

Your application seems very similar to what I want. Looking forward to reading how it works out on your AR.

[Outer Rondacker]

I have come to terms with the fact that i can not afford night vision. I wish you luck in finding what you need. Heck I only need to see 75 yards and it was way out of my budget.

[popper]

I have an ATN thermal monocular, good for spotting. Decent resolution. Little heavy and hard to use at higher mag. ID deer @ 200 on 1x, can't hold still enough at 4x. Heard good reports on the Agm Rattler scope clip-on. But pricy. Download the manual on any before buying to make sure you understand it's uses.

[megasupermagnum]

I have zero first hand experience in use. All I know is the research I did when SD opened up night vision scopes for hunting on public lands. That research ended when I saw the price of even "budget" night vision. It's simply not a practical option for most people. I would sure hope you would have no issue seeing 150 yards. If you couldn't, why wouldn't you just use a powerful spotlight, which can see 150 yards anyway for a fraction of the cost?

In my research I found two main types of night vision. There is infrared and there is thermal. One uses light, one uses temperature. Infrared scopes are a little less expensive, but they see black and white. If a coyote was out in a cut field, you would see him a long, long ways away. If he was in some tall grass, it would be tough to see. Thermal on the other hand would see him right through the grass, and also has the benefit of working during the daylight. The big downside I've heard on thermals is they have a hard time seeing during cold weather, which is when most people hunt for coyote.

I suggest you look at the prices first. Your search may begin and end there. Why we can't use spotlights on public lands, but we can use night vision is beyond me. As of now I mainly hunt dusk, or I spotlight on private land with permission.

[Coopaloop86]

Night vision works great and is much, much cheaper than thermal. My issue with night vision is that in most situations you are limited to the distance your IR spot light can project which even with a powerful one is 100 yards. Thermals are much more cost prohibitive but are far more versatile. As for cold weather, I have hunted down in the single digits and noticed no change in abilities but I have never used one in snow so I can't speak for that. I'm not knocking night vision, they have their place. Just speaking from my own personal experience and that's if you're going to be using it for serious hunting, save your money and go thermal. On average, we night hunt hogs once to twice a week. If practical, look into green or red spotlights. That's how we started and it can be very effective.

[megasupermagnum]

Night vision works great and is much, much cheaper than thermal. My issue with night vision is that in most situations you are limited to the distance your IR spot light can project which even with a powerful one is 100 yards. Thermals are much more cost prohibitive but are far more versatile. As for cold weather, I have hunted down in the single digits and noticed no change in abilities but I have never used one in snow so I can't speak for that. I'm not knocking night vision, they have their place. Just speaking from my own personal experience and that's if you're going to be using it for serious hunting, save your money and go thermal. On average, we night hunt hogs once to twice a week. If practical, look into green or red spotlights. That's how we started and it can be very effective.

While I'm sure thermal Scopes are fantastic, if you couldn't spend $4000, what advantage would a $2000 IR scope that sees 100 yards have over a spot light and weapon light that can see a couple hundred for 1/4 the cost?