lighting systems for predator hunting
- Thread starter dunraven
- Start date
http://www.elusivewildlife.com/index.html
Dusty Stevens
Shiner
Man i wish i could hunt em at night legally here in ark. Its so much easier than during the day due to pressure from clowns trying to hunt em during the day
timeout
Silver $$ Contributor
I am also interested in the lights somewhere down the road. I went to both websites listed above and must say the coyotee light looks a little over priced. Realizing that one usually gets what he pays for, have you used one? If so, are they worth the price? If they are worth the extra $$, what particular features justify the expenditure? So far I have only called at night with a snow cover on the ground. No light is needed for that. I tried a high end night vision scope setup once when calling, and I just hated the constant panning back and forth with the rifle on my bog pod. With that in mind I'm thinking that either a hand held or hands free head band light, in addition to a scope mounted light, would be prudent. Of importance to me would also be batteries that have some staying power in cold weather. Weight should not be excessive. I remember from Marshal telemetry collars that green LED's are more efficient with regards to battery useage, than red. Would there be an advantage to a green light for scanning and then a red light mounted on the scope? I always have to buy two or three times before obtaining what works for me. It would be nice to avoid that just this one time! All product reviews appreciated.
I have hunted with a coyote lite and they are good and they are overpriced in my opinion. My current setup is a vrl-1 from boondock outdoors as a scan lite and a wicked 400 as my gun lite. They are lite weight and are about half of what you will spend for 1 coyote lite. Just last month I called in a triple (coyote) and got all 3 with this setup. Shots were between 100- 150 yds. Stick with red lites for fox and coyote.
I have one of these. Extremely bright, much brighter than a laser genetics version and you can focus the beam down to a small dot. Comes with scope mount for 1 in and 30mm scopes. Can be mounted to a picatinny rail. Also built in windage/elevation adjustments.
https://stalktech.com/shop/laser-designator/
https://stalktech.com/shop/laser-designator/
Yes I have used the coyotelight and though they seem overpriced,imho you get what you pay for. I have made kills with it over 300 yds. in complete darkness. It will light an animal up way past that. Battery life is very good.6 hrs on full power.I also like that the battery is built into the light.No extra wires or batteries to hang on you belt loop.
I used a head mounted scan light for detection and only turned on the coyotelight to id/shoot.
You can adjust the throw to be a flood or keep it tight.I always kept mine tight.
The external dimmer switch to me is a waste of money.The switch on the back of the light works fine.
One night my shooting buddy and I were doing some predator hunting in an alfalfa field when we picked up some eyes with his Killight. We estimated the eyes to be about 250 yds out. All he could see was the eyes.We couldn't get the animal to commit to the Foxpro caller so I lit it up with my coyotelight and through our scopes we could see it was a cow.Could have been a bad ending.
So to me being able to ID the target the farther the better is money well spent.
I used a head mounted scan light for detection and only turned on the coyotelight to id/shoot.
You can adjust the throw to be a flood or keep it tight.I always kept mine tight.
The external dimmer switch to me is a waste of money.The switch on the back of the light works fine.
One night my shooting buddy and I were doing some predator hunting in an alfalfa field when we picked up some eyes with his Killight. We estimated the eyes to be about 250 yds out. All he could see was the eyes.We couldn't get the animal to commit to the Foxpro caller so I lit it up with my coyotelight and through our scopes we could see it was a cow.Could have been a bad ending.
So to me being able to ID the target the farther the better is money well spent.
I have a friend that shoots hogs at night He uses a ND.3 green laser scope. LarryIMMORTAL said:
the wicked 400 is a far better light than the xlr250. once i bought a 400, i sold my xlr!
useful range for positive identification is nowhere near what most claim, but at night you should not need to shoot that far anyway.
almost all of my night shots have been under 100 yards.
useful range for positive identification is nowhere near what most claim, but at night you should not need to shoot that far anyway.
almost all of my night shots have been under 100 yards.
I also have the wicked light setup and really enjoy it. Battery life, range and ease of operation is very good IMHO.
They just came out with a head light and that would be super handy to have, just haven't pulled the trigger on ordering one yet.
As for color, both of mine are green and haven't had an issue with them yet.
Foxpro is coming out with a light called the Fire Eye, kinda pricey, but sure looks like a sweet setup to me.
They just came out with a head light and that would be super handy to have, just haven't pulled the trigger on ordering one yet.
As for color, both of mine are green and haven't had an issue with them yet.
Foxpro is coming out with a light called the Fire Eye, kinda pricey, but sure looks like a sweet setup to me.
I ran the laser genetics 3x50 sub zero for 2 years before I went right to a dedicated night scope.
I did not have any issue past 400 yards with it, green light, never spooked a coyote as I always held it over them watching them as its bright enough then dropped it on them and shot.
I liked how you can turn the beam to wide open or narrow for longer ranges.
I did not have any issue past 400 yards with it, green light, never spooked a coyote as I always held it over them watching them as its bright enough then dropped it on them and shot.
I liked how you can turn the beam to wide open or narrow for longer ranges.
We hunt out of a dedicated varmint rack that slides into a pick up bed. We use Lightforce Sl 170s with the neoprene Boondocks hoods that mount on your rifle scope. They work awesome and we have made several 300 yd kills and you could completely make out the coyote at that distance. Good Luck Y'all this season and keep us posted with your results.
quickkillaught6
Gold $$ Contributor
It's been my experience hunting coyotes in the Midwest that if you're looking for the best light. IMHO wicked has the market cornered I use the z400 and the 402 the 402 is super bright and have crazy range. The 400 is best bang for your buck at $99 on sale. I'm not exactly normal as I use a 6-24-50 variable scope but on the low end up to 12x it works great for night hunting. Buy tenergy 18650 batteries for best battery life. It's been my experience having hunted with guys that have green kill lights they're super bright but mess with my eyes and I have seen them spook coyotes. It's not the color of the light as 5spd and others said earlier but how the light is applied to the critter being dispatched, problem with that is coyotes that have been called and pressured get a little skidish. A red light works best in my experience they're a safe bet as night hunting doesn't always work as planned. Besides taking a shot at 3-400 yards around here at night just doesn't happen and verifying that dog that's working in isn't the neighbors German Shepard will keep your huntin spots longer. Good luck with your choice an keep us posted
Looks good
I'm sorry that I resurrect the old topic, but it's just that I myself once encountered this issue, and spent a lot of time to find really useful information
If you're going with LED, which I think it a good choice, look at the best performing reflected lights like the DBS, Tiablo A10, and Jetbeam Raptor https://bestoutdooritems.com/predator-hunting-lights-reviews/ The aspherical lights (ones that use a shaped lens) have a very narrow beam and restrict searching or scanning. If you're target shooting or locating animals with a 2nd light, then you might be able to get away with an aspherical. For varmint hunting though, where you might know now from what direction an animal is going to show, or at what range, where a quick shot might have to be made, I'd really lean away from the aspheric. The best-reflected lights will still throw visible light 200-300 yards depending on the amount of ambient light. Hopefully, there's not much of that where you're hunting though. On YouTube there are a lot of interesting videos on this subject, yesterday I watched one of them because my friend also asked for advice on choosing. Look, I hope that helps. Good luck
If you're going with LED, which I think it a good choice, look at the best performing reflected lights like the DBS, Tiablo A10, and Jetbeam Raptor https://bestoutdooritems.com/predator-hunting-lights-reviews/ The aspherical lights (ones that use a shaped lens) have a very narrow beam and restrict searching or scanning. If you're target shooting or locating animals with a 2nd light, then you might be able to get away with an aspherical. For varmint hunting though, where you might know now from what direction an animal is going to show, or at what range, where a quick shot might have to be made, I'd really lean away from the aspheric. The best-reflected lights will still throw visible light 200-300 yards depending on the amount of ambient light. Hopefully, there's not much of that where you're hunting though. On YouTube there are a lot of interesting videos on this subject, yesterday I watched one of them because my friend also asked for advice on choosing. Look, I hope that helps. Good luck
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