Want/need a thermal scope as coyotes are getting bold

[warren5421]

I live in the outer suburbs of Indianapolis and raise horses. The coyotes are after my young foals, one was attack and not killed but not saleable at the price offered. Most shoots will be 50 yards or less so with pole lighting around the barn the old first gen Russian I have does not work. Need some recommendations that don't run $8000 or even over $3000 that you use. Day light they stay away from the barn most days but have got 3 young ones using a .22 Ruger 10-22, a 1903 Colt hammerless .32 ACP, and an STI 6" in 10mm. All 3 were just an opitunity kill.

[popper]

https://www.agmglobalvision.com/thermal-imaging/thermal-weapon-sights/agm-rattler-v2-19-256
These work good but rather large for a pistol. Would be good for the 10/22.

[deltaenterprizes]

https://www.agmglobalvision.com/thermal-imaging/thermal-weapon-sights/agm-rattler-v2-19-256
These work good but rather large for a pistol. Would be good for the 10/22.
Nice!

[Adam Helmer]

I live in the outer suburbs of Indianapolis and raise horses. The coyotes are after my young foals, one was attack and not killed but not saleable at the price offered. Most shoots will be 50 yards or less so with pole lighting around the barn the old first gen Russian I have does not work. Need some recommendations that don't run $8000 or even over $3000 that you use. Day light they stay away from the barn most days but have got 3 young ones using a .22 Ruger 10-22, a 1903 Colt hammerless .32 ACP, and an STI 6" in 10mm. All 3 were just an opitunity kill.

Warren,

With a 50-yard Ground Zero , I suggest a 12 gauge and #4 Buckshot. Tuck the horses in and wait patiently. I control all problem critters on my 60 acres in the nighttime and have no critter complaints. LOL.

Be well.

Adam

[Hogtamer]

Leg traps are a whole lot cheaper.

[warren5421]

Can't use leg traps as have visitors I don't want caught. Gildings are given free egress as I don't like to stall unless it is needed. I very seldom have breathing problems with any of my horses, do to not putting up at night or all the time.

[Three44s]

Cheap and thermal do not go in the same sentence and thermal is the real tool.

I rather lucked out in finding a very careful trust worthy hunter with a ton of dough invested in night coyote hunting and he keeps our coyote population fairly in check. Does not charge a dime either.

Maybe you can find some like that in your area?

You might try the forum called Predator Masters?

Good luck

Three44s

[MaryB]

Low cost rifle scope https://www.amazon.com/Sightmark-Wraith-2-16x28-Digital-Riflescope/dp/B07MW21G53?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1

[huntersdog]

With a hog sniper IR, you can get out to almost 400 yards with the Sightmark 4-32x50.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyRjKkCnFCY

[huntersdog]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZa0TitWH0c

[HWooldridge]

I bought a Sightmark Wraith Thermal last year for about $2K and like it. I don't have any shots past about 125 yards so I don't need something that a professional hunter might use. It's nice and clear at night (or even daytime - it doesn't care about anything except temperature variations). It's easy to identify animal types and you will see a lot more than with a white light, especially predators. I started with a standard Sightmark night vision scope with an illuminator but the the thermal is a huge improvement. I have mine mounted on a Mossberg MMR in 5.56 and have no regrets spending the money for a thermal.

[fordwannabe]

I do not have a thermal but I do have the sightmark wraith as mentioned above and it works well. I did upgrade the IR to a HOG sniper unit and that made it even better. You do you but it is a much less costly alternative that does work.

[huntersdog]

The key for using the sightmark wraith and getting maximum light, either using the factory IR or Hog sniper light, is get it as far to the front of the gun.

[Outer Rondacker]

Lets make sure we separate the thermals from the night light scopes. I run and did loads of testing on the sightmark wraith Thermal. It is a middle of the road for budget pricing. One thing to note when looking at it if you are going to use it on a bolt action or airgun you will need a set back mount. On any type of AR platform it does not need this mount. The sightmark is a 35 by 384x288. The first one suggested is only a 19x256. I had one and it works well but its night and day in definition. If I was in the market I would look at the clip on models. You can use your current set up and just add the thermal when wanted. Currently the 384 is the standard with the 640 being considered the high end at the moment.


This is a great sight. The blueberry farmer next to me bought one and I helped him set it up. No bs I can hit a dime over and over again at 100 yrds with it. https://www.agmglobalvision.com/thermal-imaging/thermal-weapon-sights/agm-adder-ts50-640

This is a great price for a middle of the road thermal. Better than the sightmark with more options but a bit bulker and does come with the setback mount. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TCL5RSP/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?pd_rd_i=B08TCL5RSP&pd_rd_w=Xixjs&content-id=amzn1.sym.eb7c1ac5-7c51-4df5-ba34-ca810f1f119a&pf_rd_p=eb7c1ac5-7c51-4df5-ba34-ca810f1f119a&pf_rd_r=JJWQ75K5XARZN3FHFX12&pd_rd_wg=QxuUo&pd_rd_r=c12beff6-016e-4a1b-9fe1-20374ad0f138&s=sporting-goods&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWw&th=1

AGM makes a good clip on. The AGM's have a great option. You can link them to your cell phone or tablet to view in real time what the scope is seeing. I used to set the gun on a tripod looking out at the target area and the wife and I would be watching a movie with the tablet next to us. We would see all sorts or critters come in in pitch black conditions. She could not believe all the mice we saw and was happy when the predators would get shot as she raises chickens. This function is also great as you do not have to move video from on device to the other to show your buddies. You just record on the phone/tablet.

I will try to post a pic of a 384 from the sightmark. Oh another thing you can not get rid of that sightmark logo in the corner no mater how hard you try. I hate it.

326925 this is about 65 yrds out on 2 power.

326926 pitch black with wife holding a flashlight at 45 yrds in winter.

The sightmark wraith mini 4k is no the same as the sightmark wraith mini thermal. You need no light what so ever with a thermal. Heck I can see the bark lines on the trees with thermal in pitch black. If you are still deciding on what to do I might even sell my sightmark to upgrade to a clip on.

[Outer Rondacker]

I was able to find one picture from the 256 agm rattler. Here it is. Notice it is not as crisp. Also notice the Picture in picture, one picture can be on a higher power zoom so you can get a better field of view. Sightmark can not do picture in picture like the agm but it is half the size and weight.

326927 once again pitch black with a flashlight.

[Outer Rondacker]

Did I kill the thread?

[Nobade]

I'm not saying much but sure learning a lot. It's amazing that a $4K riflescope is starting to look reasonable.

[warren5421]

I keep checking but like what I hear about AMG

[huntersdog]

Did I kill the thread?

No. I'm sure folks found your post very educating also.

[Outer Rondacker]

I should add this one fact. No mater what the image or video you see on your computer or tv it is so much better in the scope. This goes for all digital scopes. The data is compressed so many times in the uploading and storing that it looses some of the crispness.

Fun story I will share. My buddy has an outdoor wood boiler piped to four outbuildings. He developed a leak so I went over to his house with just the scope and looked on the ground. Found the leak as it was loads hotter than the other ground around it. We dug it up and fixed it saved him tons of time searching and digging. You can not hide from thermal well you can but its a task all in its own.

[MaryB]

I should add this one fact. No mater what the image or video you see on your computer or tv it is so much better in the scope. This goes for all digital scopes. The data is compressed so many times in the uploading and storing that it looses some of the crispness.

Fun story I will share. My buddy has an outdoor wood boiler piped to four outbuildings. He developed a leak so I went over to his house with just the scope and looked on the ground. Found the leak as it was loads hotter than the other ground around it. We dug it up and fixed it saved him tons of time searching and digging. You can not hide from thermal well you can but its a task all in its own.

Give me 2 thermal blankets(space blankets etc) and 3 old wool blankets. Sew them together with wool, thermal, wool, thermal, wool then cut the edges in random patterns. Add leaves and sticks to the outer layer. Drop to the ground under this and disappear to thermal... make the outer wool blanket dyed in blobs so it is random local colors. The ragged edge imitates nature and makes it harder to pick out against the ground.

[HWooldridge]

What I’ve found fascinating is how animals look in a thermal. We have several great horned owls around our place and the thing that lights up are their eyes; the feathers are clearly good insulation. On the other hand, deer light up all over so the entire animal is hot, except for the antlers. I saw a possum a couple months ago and he was completely visible and easy to identify - rabbits are the same.

[Texas by God]

Thermal scopes are very nice, but in your case a predator call and a spotlight will serve well until they get smart. Use lightweight varmint bullets in a .223 or 22-250 to drop them on the spot.
We killed coyotes this way for decades here on our farm.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Grayone]

Low cost rifle scope https://www.amazon.com/Sightmark-Wraith-2-16x28-Digital-Riflescope/dp/B07MW21G53?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1

I agree this is what you need for your situation.

[Iron369]

Thermal isn’t your best option unless you want to spend big monies. Night vision is a much better choice. You can get a reasonably cheap handheld monocular to find the coyote coming in and then a good nv scope for the shot. I can’t afford a good thermal scope but my sight mark wraith mini on a 6.5 Grendel is awesome inside 200yards.

[Three44s]

Thermal is #1 and NV is a non-starter IMO. Next would be a spotlighting option.

You need a handheld light and a second person to run it as you must keep a bit of light on the predator at all times IF there is much natural light about. The reason is the coyotes will bust you if they are not kept "in the halo" as they approach.

The other way would be to set a constantly lighted area on their approach. You may need to force them in a certain way with fencing. Then a cell based trail camera to alert you they are lurking into your kill area.

Three44s

[IHuntDragons]

Did I kill the thread?

sent you a pm.

[Tripplebeards]

I just had my sighmark warranted out for a wraith 4k. Can't wait to play with it. It has a built in battery so I don't have to go out and buy batteries and a charger for it. I also had an an illuminator already with rechargeable batteries. Think the wraith was down to $449 on Amazon last I checked 2 months ago. Got the replacment and it's been sitting NIB in my sock drawer ever since because tuekey hunting kicked off. Had the photon 4.6 and the photon4.6 RT. Never used either of them and they went bad just from sitting. Sellmark warranted both out for each other and then the wraith 4k. I'll have to try and actually USE the the 4k...lol. I like my green hog light better. It floods a good 15/20 yards in both directions. Way easier to scan with and not straining my eyes. It's just your going to alert people with the green light vs a night vision optic. It gets old real quick trying to hold up a 10 plus pound rifle with night vision scanning. The other issue is most start at 4x power. A running coyote under 100 yards is going to be next to impossible to get a follow up shot with it. Waiting see how my 3x works on the wraith. Can tell you I had trouble finding things with the 4.6x on my photon under 100 yards when they weren't moving. I use to take it out loose and play with it but never hunted or mounted it or the rt.version. probably great if I lived in Wyoming and can see for miles. I can't see past 25 yards in my woods.

[popper]

Deer @ 100 with Rattler. Base mag x 2.
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