Night Vision hunting Thread

[keatonskidmore]

You shooting that pig extremely close? Seems like you were using a hold over.. or under in that case?
.

Haha I was waiting for that. My buddy was using my blackout with the photon to shoot it and I was videoing it through a thermal. I just didn't turn the reticle off.

By the way coach about a month ago I got rid of the brace and got my form 1 approved! Figured you'd approve of that lol

[Coach W]

Haha I was waiting for that. My buddy was using my blackout with the photon to shoot it and I was videoing it through a thermal. I just didn't turn the reticle off.

By the way coach about a month ago I got rid of the brace and got my form 1 approved! Figured you'd approve of that lol

That makes sense... and congrats on going legit!

[keatonskidmore]

That makes sense... and congrats on going legit!

Thanks! Hopefully I'll quit putting off getting a DVR so I can make some better videos for yall.

[wade _s]

You shooting that pig extremely close? Seems like you were using a hold over.. or under in that case?



I've been hunting pigs over a feeder for decades now. I've always done it the same way. i set quietly, sometimes asleep , and listen. I also use a pair of 10x50 nikon binocs and most of the time as long as I let my eyes adjust i can see well enough to notice new black spots around the feeder (at a feeder you have the added benefit to be able to memorize the terrain). Lone pigs come in very quietly. a Group of hogs under a feeder will wake you up they're so loud. but a pig eats corn...well "like a pig" its loud and very distinctive. listen for that noise.

One thing i do to pass the time is play on my phone. Get you a real good filter that darkens out your phone screen or its going to blind you even on the lowest dimmer setting your phone can be set to from the factory. (I use "screen filter" for my android and usually set it from 27-17%.

Now that I have my photon I realize that sucker will blind you at night too. ITS WAYYY BRIGHT at night. So I dont scan with it. I just use my ears and the same ole way Ive been doing it for years scanning with a good pair of big objective binocs.

Thanks for the advise. I'll give it a try. I bought the Photon because I think the pigs have become wise to our lights (we would sit in the stand and keep them shining at the feeder). Sitting in the dark is nice. I agree that the Photon is bright and will blind you and give you a 2 day headache afterward if you look through it for a few hours straight LOL! I thought about using my small portable DVD player hooked to the video out port on the photon to monitor instead of looking through the scope itself.

[35remington]

Night Vision hunting Thread

Wade, the guy who's running this setup told me he likes it a lot.

[Coach W]

Thanks for the advise. I'll give it a try. I bought the Photon because I think the pigs have become wise to our lights (we would sit in the stand and keep them shining at the feeder). Sitting in the dark is nice. I agree that the Photon is bright and will blind you and give you a 2 day headache afterward if you look through it for a few hours straight LOL! I thought about using my small portable DVD player hooked to the video out port on the photon to monitor instead of looking through the scope itself.

Oh ya if you set there with your light shined directly on a feeder the entire night I bet they see that as different and dont come in... Pigs are pretty smart.

If I am hunting with a visible light I take the beam above them and lower it slowly onto them over a period of time. If you just hit em with a direct beam they bolt. I've found red works best for me.. but its not as bright. I used a green light for that dirt colored pig the other day just so I could see him better and was taking a calculated risk because Ive had em dart with the green light before. But he stayed.

I think that portable DVD player Idea would be pretty neat to use a little through out the night. I'd be afraid to run it too long and waste the batteries in either unit, but turning it on here and there to check noises or dark objects wouldn't be bad. However, I don't like leaving my rifle in the window... my main pig hunting blind is 18 foot to the floor and that's a long ways to drop a rifle lol. so I just rest it inside until I find something with the binocs worthy of being reached out and poked.

[wade _s]

Oh ya if you set there with your light shined directly on a feeder the entire night I bet they see that as different and dont come in... Pigs are pretty smart.

If I am hunting with a visible light I take the beam above them and lower it slowly onto them over a period of time. If you just hit em with a direct beam they bolt. I've found red works best for me.. but its not as bright. I used a green light for that dirt colored pig the other day just so I could see him better and was taking a calculated risk because Ive had em dart with the green light before. But he stayed.

I think that portable DVD player Idea would be pretty neat to use a little through out the night. I'd be afraid to run it too long and waste the batteries in either unit, but turning it on here and there to check noises or dark objects wouldn't be bad. However, I don't like leaving my rifle in the window... my main pig hunting blind is 18 foot to the floor and that's a long ways to drop a rifle lol. so I just rest it inside until I find something with the binocs worthy of being reached out and poked.

Do you have any problem with the hogs spooking when you hit them with the IR light? I have only been using the onboard IR that comes with the Photon and have had no issues with deer, coons and rabbits spooking from the IR light. I haven't seen a hog yet while I have had the Photon out. I just ordered a Sniper Hog Light with the IR module and dimmable tail cap today and hope to try it out this weekend. I have heard the external IR really improves the image/visibility out of the Photon.

[35remington]

Do you have any problem with the hogs spooking when you hit them with the IR light? I have only been using the onboard IR that comes with the Photon and have had no issues with deer, coons and rabbits spooking from the IR light. I haven't seen a hog yet while I have had the Photon out. I just ordered a Sniper Hog Light with the IR module and dimmable tail cap today and hope to try it out this weekend. I have heard the external IR really improves the image/visibility out of the Photon.

Most people say no. A few say yes. They're crazy.

Legitimately though, the IR light does have a very small visible signature, so when the light is shined at you in total darkness (DO NOT DO THIS) you can see a faint red glow.

[bloodtrailer28]

Do you have any problem with the hogs spooking when you hit them with the IR light? I have only been using the onboard IR that comes with the Photon and have had no issues with deer, coons and rabbits spooking from the IR light. I haven't seen a hog yet while I have had the Photon out. I just ordered a Sniper Hog Light with the IR module and dimmable tail cap today and hope to try it out this weekend. I have heard the external IR really improves the image/visibility out of the Photon.

About 95% of the time they dont notice the IR light but I have had a few spook from it as well.

[wade _s]

Most people say no. A few say yes. They're crazy.

Legitimately though, the IR light does have a very small visible signature, so when the light is shined at you in total darkness (DO NOT DO THIS) you can see a faint red glow.

Too Late! I've seen the glow. Couldn't resist taking a peek at the illuminator. No way that I would see it at 100yd though. One thing that I noticed the other night was every time that my game camera took a pic, I could see the IR flash through the scope. If the animals see this, they don't give any indication. Maybe they are just used to the IR flash.

[Coach W]

Do you have any problem with the hogs spooking when you hit them with the IR light? I have only been using the onboard IR that comes with the Photon and have had no issues with deer, coons and rabbits spooking from the IR light. I haven't seen a hog yet while I have had the Photon out. I just ordered a Sniper Hog Light with the IR module and dimmable tail cap today and hope to try it out this weekend. I have heard the external IR really improves the image/visibility out of the Photon.

I have not.. but I'm not a good person to ask.. i don't use mine as often as I should.

I will tell you the external IR is a must have. I can see a ton with it. Just going off memory here but you could easily see eyes at 300.

[keatonskidmore]

I've hit pigs with several different IR illuminators and never have had a pig spook from them

[gonehuntin68]

Most people say no. A few say yes. They're crazy.

Legitimately though, the IR light does have a very small visible signature, so when the light is shined at you in total darkness (DO NOT DO THIS) you can see a faint red glow.

Too Late! I've seen the glow. Couldn't resist taking a peek at the illuminator. No way that I would see it at 100yd though. One thing that I noticed the other night was every time that my game camera took a pic, I could see the IR flash through the scope. If the animals see this, they don't give any indication. Maybe they are just used to the IR flash.

I can tell you without a doubt that at least some pigs can see the IR, what they see exactly I don't know but they can see something. Now they usually don't spook from IR but have seen several spook from it. I have lit up a lot of them so that several is only very few in the big picture. We were using a Gen 3 scope one night with our 66LR IR light and we had a big boar come out on the corned road at about 1200 yards and every time the light hit him he would run off the road. This was all the proof I needed to tell they can see something because there is no way he could hear or smell us from 1200 yards and he did spook off the road about 6 times when the IR light hit him before he finally left. Now this property gets hunted with IR all the time so I'm sure that had something to do with it. My bet is as more people use IR over the years the more they will find pigs spooking from them as the pigs learn to avoid IR light just like they do with other color lights. This is why in my opinion a good feeder light that mounts away from the feeder that runs all night every night is the best way to go other then thermal. With a feeder light that runs all night every night the pigs can't associate the light with danger because it's on all the time versus a light that comes on and then they get shot. Of course with all this said I can still light them up with a red light without spooking them but it takes a lot of experience to get it done almost every time without spooking them.

[Chuy]

I can tell you without a doubt that at least some pigs can see the IR, what they see exactly I don't know but they can see something. Now they usually don't spook from IR but have seen several spook from it. I have lit up a lot of them so that several is only very few in the big picture. We were using a Gen 3 scope one night with our 66LR IR light and we had a big boar come out on the corned road at about 1200 yards and every time the light hit him he would run off the road. This was all the proof I needed to tell they can see something because there is no way he could hear or smell us from 1200 yards and he did spook off the road about 6 times when the IR light hit him before he finally left. Now this property gets hunted with IR all the time so I'm sure that had something to do with it. My bet is as more people use IR over the years the more they will find pigs spooking from them as the pigs learn to avoid IR light just like they do with other color lights. This is why in my opinion a good feeder light that mounts away from the feeder that runs all night every night is the best way to go other then thermal. With a feeder light that runs all night every night the pigs can't associate the light with danger because it's on all the time versus a light that comes on and then they get shot. Of course with all this said I can still light them up with a red light without spooking them but it takes a lot of experience to get it done almost every time without spooking them.

Agreed. I've seen this too. Straight up bolting after I click on the light.

[Coach W]

Agreed. I've seen this too. Straight up bolting after I click on the light.

If you slowly drop it on them like you do a red (visible) light would that work?