Red LED Torch Vs IR Night Vision Scope

[qldreloader]

Went out last night chasing pigs. Took my rifle with an ATN LTV 3-9 night vision scope and Sniper Hog IR illuminator. When I got set up I found that I had brought the red led illuminator on the Sniper Hog and left the 850IR illuminator back home. I have the rifle set up with QR mounts and keep a GPO 3-9×40 rifle scope (also in QR) rings in my car as a 'just in case' backup so I swapped the scope over, confirmed zero and headed out.

I didn't see any pigs but I did find a few hares (European hares are a feral pest in Queensland) and was able to stalk to within 50 yards of them and head shoot them with the GPO and red led torch.

Having shot many hares with the IR setup in the past I found that they didn't react any differently to the red led torch and that I got a lot less 'flare' from high grass and bushes than with the IR.

I'm starting to think that I should ditch the IR and go back to just using the red led torch. Using the standard scope is also easier (no buttons to push) and it is heaps lighter. As a bonus it also works much better in daylight than the ATN in day mode.

Anyone here ditched IR Night vision and gone back to a red led torch?

 

[Wolfdog91]

Went out last night chasing pigs. Took my rifle with an ATN LTV 3-9 night vision scope and Sniper Hog IR illuminator. When I got set up I found that I had brought the red led illuminator on the Sniper Hog and left the 850IR illuminator back home. I have the rifle set up with QR mounts and keep a GPO 3-9×40 rifle scope (also in QR) rings in my car as a 'just in case' backup so I swapped the scope over, confirmed zero and headed out.

I didn't see any pigs but I did find a few hares (European hares are a feral pest in Queensland) and was able to stalk to within 50 yards of them and head shoot them with the GPO and red led torch.

Having shot many hares with the IR setup in the past I found that they didn't react any differently to the red led torch and that I got a lot less 'flare' from high grass and bushes than with the IR.

I'm starting to think that I should ditch the IR and go back to just using the red led torch. Using the standard scope is also easier (no buttons to push) and it is heaps lighter. As a bonus it also works much better in daylight than the ATN in day mode.

Anyone here ditched IR Night vision and gone back to a red led torch?

Been listing to alot of predator hunting podcasts and seems lately there has been a resurgence of using lights instead of NV. On the lower cost of things. That being said less and less people are using colored light and are moving to warm white

 

[qldreloader]

Been listing to alot of predator hunting podcasts and seems lately there has been a resurgence of using lights instead of NV. On the lower cost of things. That being said less and less people are using colored light and are moving to warm white

Whats the reasoning behind warm white? The ferals I hunt all bolt when confronted by white light. Pigs in particular.

 

[Wolfdog91]

There's a lot of debate on it but apparently the main thing is when you get that eye shine with you lights properly set up their not blinded but that can't see you . Idk how to really describe it but the boys over on the night crew do a ton.

That being said animals are different in different places . I know guys I talk to in the UK just plain cannot understand that our rabbits are different from there's and generally wont just walk into a shiney cage trap bait with carrots .

 

[AckleymanII]

Coyotes, Bob cats, foxes, and deer cannot see the color red due to their Inability to only see colors in a certain range in the color spectrum. I do believe that hogs are different in their range of color spectrum.

Dark lens in red work better than light colored red lenses. You want to pick up their eyes, preferably with the halo of the light, then coax them in closer. NEVER shoot at eyes as you Must identify your target first. NEVER use green or yellow lenses, predators will spot you in a heartbeat! Yearlings may not react to the green or yellow lenses as an "alert" as the 2-year-olds do.

We hunted predators at night from the late 70s to the early 90s in Mexico. We made our own spotlights out of 100,000 candle power aircraft landing lights, had a 10" shroud on the front of the light with a spring-loaded red flapper lens. We scanned with Dark red lens, then called for the "Burn", pulling the trigger on the spotlight going from Dark Red to White light.

Fast forward to the present, when I walk into the woods now before day light, I walk in using a AA Mag light with a red lens. I do not alert deer to my presence and have walked right up on deer due to the red lens, till I got close enough for them to smell me. They can hear my footsteps, but they are mesmerized due to nothing to see.

I have hunted with the old Viet Nam infra-red scope on one occasion, only. Coyotes do come in closer before getting alerted with this type of night vision scopes and goggles. We could only guess that there is a small amount of white light that was escaping in the shroud of our regular Red/white spotlight.

 

[qldreloader]

There's a lot of debate on it but apparently the main thing is when you get that eye shine with you lights properly set up their not blinded but that can't see you . Idk how to really describe it but the boys over on the night crew do a ton.

That being said animals are different in different places . I know guys I talk to in the UK just plain cannot understand that our rabbits are different from there's and generally wont just walk into a shiney cage trap bait with carrots .

Lots of great videos there. Thanks!

 

[qldreloader]

Coyotes, Bob cats, foxes, and deer cannot see the color red due to their Inability to only see colors in a certain range in the color spectrum. I do believe that hogs are different in their range of color spectrum.

Dark lens in red work better than light colored red lenses. You want to pick up their eyes, preferably with the halo of the light, then coax them in closer. NEVER shoot at eyes as you Must identify your target first. NEVER use green or yellow lenses, predators will spot you in a heartbeat! Yearlings may not react to the green or yellow lenses as an "alert" as the 2-year-olds do.

We hunted predators at night from the late 70s to the early 90s in Mexico. We made our own spotlights out of 100,000 candle power aircraft landing lights, had a 10" shroud on the front of the light with a spring-loaded red flapper lens. We scanned with Dark red lens, then called for the "Burn", pulling the trigger on the spotlight going from Dark Red to White light.

Fast forward to the present, when I walk into the woods now before day light, I walk in using a AA Mag light with a red lens. I do not alert deer to my presence and have walked right up on deer due to the red lens, till I got close enough for them to smell me. They can hear my footsteps, but they are mesmerized due to nothing to see.

I have hunted with the old Viet Nam infra-red scope on one occasion, only. Coyotes do come in closer before getting alerted with this type of night vision scopes and goggles. We could only guess that there is a small amount of white light that was escaping in the shroud of our regular Red/white spotlight.

Red led lights seem much more effective than white light with a filter.

I'm going to take the Infrared NV scope off the rifle and hunt with the red led again using some of your suggestions on technique.

 

[Knotwild]

I don't have a red light, but I do have a green - Streamlight TLR 1. I use it mainly for killing deer in my fields at night with a permit. I have had occasion to use it on coyotes I stumbled on too. If I have a pair of coyotes, I can get the first one, but the second is gone probably due to noise. I have noticed the green light can make shadows if you move it on the ground around your target. If I drop it down on them, they don't know I'm there. In the days before all this technology, a white light worked just fine. But once you found eyes you had to keep it on the target or it would bolt.

The video about the hogs and white light is an eye opener to me. I think I'll order a Wicked Light.

 

[BradY]

Red for foxes/dogs, green for pigs mate. Or save the pennies and go thermal. I don’t regret investing in a heap of pulsar gear last year at all…

 

[qldreloader]

Red for foxes/dogs, green for pigs mate. Or save the pennies and go thermal. I don’t regret investing in a heap of pulsar gear last year at all…

I use a Pulsar thermal scanner to locate animals. Wouldn't be without one. I have a green led for my Sniper Hog light which I'll try out next time on pigs.

 

[BradY]

I use a Pulsar thermal scanner to locate animals. Wouldn't be without one. I have a green led for my Sniper Hog light which I'll try out next time on pigs.

I still use a red torch from time to time. Normally if I have not got my thermal scope on the 223. Have called in heaps of foxes with the red light. Not too many pigs around here

 

[qldreloader]

I still use a red torch from time to time. Normally if I have not got my thermal scope on the 223. Have called in heaps of foxes with the red light. Not too many pigs around here

What thermal do you have mate?

 

[BradY]

What thermal do you have mate?

Pulsar thermion 2 xq35. It’s a nice scope for its cost. I rate the pulsar images better than others. Just don’t seem as cartoonish.

 

[Rocketvapor]

I use a 20 watt 850nm 90 degree illuminator for IR photography.
Bought on sale but higher now

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Set it up on tripod and run off a LiFePO4 12 volt battery. Set it out in the field , comes on at dark and it doesn't spook the animals.
Combined with a Sightmark wraith hd 4-32x50 the 20 watt wide beam easily covers a field for over 100 yards.

 

[qldreloader]

Nice.

 

[UpstateNYer]

I hunt predators in upstate NY and use, white, red and NV. I am new to NV so I haven't put enough time in using it to say it's better than an LED torch. Coyote up here are spooky. As soon as a light hits the field, they are gone. It is my understanding they see the shadows cast when the lights are shown.

The NV I am using is the Wraith HD Max with an upgraded IR torch and I plan on going with the next size up IR illuminator. There are a lot of moving parts on a Wraith. It takes a lot of practice to be proficient with it. On top of that, it's heavy.

 

[qldreloader]

A mate has the Wraith and they certainly are heavy. I'm finding I can transition from the thermal scanner to a red led light and rifle scope more easily than to a NV scope. I can get a shot away more quickly.

The closest thing we have to coyotes are dingoes and I've belted plenty of them with red light. They seem to notice it but if you keep it dispersed and not spot focussed they don't seem to care.

I think I'll upgrade my thermal scanner when the current one dies and not bother with either a thermal or NV scope. The hand held thermal scanner is essential. I hunt alone and on foot and without the scanner I think I'd be walking a lot further.