Hunting & Fishing Calling Thermal Hunters

[Brian300]

Ok guys I've recently decided to up my coyote hunting game and start looking at Thermal scopes. Whats everyone running and how do they like it.
Pros/Cons?
Superior brands?
Must haves?
Price range for quality optic?

Thanks in advance.

 

[awonder]

I’m running a Pulsar XM38 wish my base magnification was lower. It’s 4x now. holds zero and I’ve had no issues. I have $2800 in it.

 

[diggler1833]

Pros: Once you get past the learning curve you'll kill way more shit with one.
Superior brands: N-Vision, Trijicon
Must Have: A separate handheld scanner is nice, but not a must have.
Price Range: $6-9K

I have two Pulsars, a $3,200 Trail XQ38, and a $5K Thermion XP50. The Thermion has a pretty good picture, but I've had a lot of problems with it. My first unit arrived to me DOA, and it took almost two months to get a replacement...after I had to pay out of my own pocket to ship the dead brand-new one back to Sellmark. The replacement works, but I've had at least three dozen dead pixels pop up...and will eventually have to pay to ship it again to Sellmark for warranty service/replacement.

My old Trail XQ38 has been almost flawless for the two years I've owned it.

I no longer reccomend Pulsar products.

 

[JfarmshooterW]

I also have a trail xq38. Plenty clear and super reliable. Hard to beat the old trail models. I use a Helion XP50 to scan with. The scanner is probably more important then the scope to me. Just my .02

 

[REID2168]

i would look at the ALL NEW for 2020 Pulsar Thermion XG50 released 9/1/20 due to the internal recording ability and the new for Pulsar BAE sensor the unit untilizes & if i didnt get that unit i would go straight to the NVision Halo LR...buy once cry once....Good Luck!

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Ok guys I've recently decided to up my coyote hunting game and start looking at Thermal scopes. Whats everyone running and how do they like it.
Pros/Cons?
Superior brands?
Must haves?
Price range for quality optic?

Thanks in advance.

There aren't that many thermals. Let's try a different perspective.
How much do you have to spend on a thermal?
How far do you typically want to shoot coyotes at night?
What would your farthest distance be to shoot coyotes at night?
Do you want to make vids of your hunts?
Is weight a factor?

Best brands are Trijicon and N-Vision, also the most expensive.
Most practical brand is Pulsar.
Riskiest Brand to own is ATN. I would be kind in saying that they have 'challenging' customer service.
FLIR and Armasight are nearly as risky as ATN as both are FLIR products and FLIR doesn't sell rifle scopes to the general public anymore.
Bering Optics is a very interesting, inexpensive, typical distance (inside 100-150 yards) new comer.

Generally speaking...
The larger the front lens, the better the image.
The more resolution, the better the image.
The smaller the micron size, the better the image
Hz needs to be over 30 (now common) and higher is better for moving targets
mK (millikelvin) sensitivity - the smaller the better.
Magnification - depends, but generally speaking the larger the native magnification, the farther you will be able to identify a target, but the narrower the field of view. Most people like a native mag around 3x as a general compromise between distance and FOV, but that may vary if you want to be shooting well inside 100 yards or beyond 200 most of the time.

Note that these are not readily compared directly across the board and not all are of equal weight.

 

[Brian300]

There aren't that many thermals. Let's try a different perspective.
How much do you have to spend on a thermal?
How far do you typically want to shoot coyotes at night?
What would your farthest distance be to shoot coyotes at night?
Do you want to make vids of your hunts?
Is weight a factor?

Best brands are Trijicon and N-Vision, also the most expensive.
Most practical brand is Pulsar.
Riskiest Brand to own is ATN. I would be kind in saying that they have 'challenging' customer service.
FLIR and Armasight are nearly as risky as ATN as both are FLIR products and FLIR doesn't sell rifle scopes to the general public anymore.
Bering Optics is a very interesting, inexpensive, typical distance (inside 100-150 yards) new comer.

Generally speaking...
The larger the front lens, the better the image.
The more resolution, the better the image.
The smaller the micron size, the better the image
Hz needs to be over 30 (now common) and higher is better for moving targets
mK (millikelvin) sensitivity - the smaller the better.
Magnification - depends, but generally speaking the larger the native magnification, the farther you will be able to identify a target, but the narrower the field of view. Most people like a native mag around 3x as a general compromise between distance and FOV, but that may vary if you want to be shooting well inside 100 yards or beyond 200 most of the time.

Note that these are not readily compared directly across the board and not all are of equal weight.

Awesome info thank you.

Price will depend on what I see here and what research tells me ill get a quality long lasting optic for. But yeah realistic price range let's say between 3k to 6k.

Distance I think 300 and in would be plenty.

Videoing would be awesome. Honestly not needed. If it going to cost me more for it probably not. I do have the Tactacam 5.0 with FTS adapter. Hoping that fits a thermal.

Weight not a factor.

 

[Brian300]

Guys thanks for the reply's. I'm loving this. Never even thought about a scanner. So looks like I'm looking for 2 scopes now haha.


Thanks again, lets keep this up.

 

[M76]

I second Double Naughty Spy's recommendation. I bought an Armasite Zues 640 2-16x a couple of years ago. Right after I bought it Flir bought them out. I spent a year researching before I bought mine. I was fortunate enough to find a dealer who carried Armasite, Trijicon, Flir, and ATN so I was able to compare them side by side. Trij was about 7k at the time. It was awesome. The Armasite was great too and about $3500. The Trij wasn't twice as nice so I went with the Armasite. Pulsar was just getting started in thermal at the time but they have come a long way since then. I would give them a look for the money. If you are going to be shooting 300 yds your starting magnification should probably be 4x. You are going to lose some field of view but out past 200 the 4x will give you more detail. The size of the lenses will help with detection and identification at distance. I would not go with anything smaller than 75mm for distance.

 

[Geeb]

i would look at the ALL NEW for 2020 Pulsar Thermion XG50 released 9/1/20 due to the internal recording ability and the new for Pulsar BAE sensor the unit untilizes & if i didnt get that unit i would go straight to the NVision Halo LR...buy once cry once....Good Luck!

I think pulsar is purposefully trying to misled their customers; the XG has a BAE 'sensor', not a BAE 'core', big difference. The sensor is basically the eye of the system and the core is the computer/processor; the XG still uses pulsar's proprietary core. The pulsar XG will not be on the same level as Trijicon nor Nvision, although it is priced fairly similarly.

Brian, you may want to check EBay or some of the Facebook groups for a used trijicon or Nvision, both brands are about as solid as they come and can be found used in your price range.

A 'cheaper' scanner to check out is the Iray MH25, it has some lag while scanning and is made in chyna, but it has good clarity for the price range. Nvision is also supposed to release a new scanner in the near future and is a U.S. Company.

 

[REID2168]

first my post says BAE sensor...not core.....secondly i would be more concerned with a top quality BAE sensor for the visual it provides over others ILO the computer running it BUT on that note Pulsar with their computer figured out how to record audio and video with their proprietary portion of their device using the BAE sensor....the others havent done that so whos computer running the BAE sensor is best really.......i have seen all the reviews out thus far which arent many and the XG is not a Halo but its as close as you will get for now with more features and save 1500 minimum from the best of the best if thats your desire.......Pulsar also has only had this sensor for a few months and has this out already.......now where is the clarity gonna be after an algorithm update or two that Pulsar always seems to come out with that seem to improve quality.....i dont have either and was Halo all the way BUT this unit has made me rethink for a minute before i jump..Good Luck!

 

[Geeb]

first my post says BAE sensor...not core.....secondly i would be more concerned with a top quality BAE sensor for the visual it provides over others ILO the computer running it BUT on that note Pulsar with their computer figured out how to record audio and video with their proprietary portion of their device using the BAE sensor....the others havent done that so whos computer running the BAE sensor is best really.......i have seen all the reviews out thus far which arent many and the XG is not a Halo but its as close as you will get for now with more features and save 1500 minimum from the best of the best if thats your desire.......Pulsar also has only had this sensor for a few months and has this out already.......now where is the clarity gonna be after an algorithm update or two that Pulsar always seems to come out with that seem to improve quality.....i dont have either and was Halo all the way BUT this unit has made me rethink for a minute before i jump..Good Luck!

Yeah, I know you did; I did not mean for that to be an assault on what you were stating, I just wanted to clarify that the BAE sensor would not make it on par with the higher end units utilizing the BAE cores.

I was intrigued by the XG until I realized it wasn't the core and only the sensor from BAE that they were utilizing. The XG is in the same price range that you can find a used trijicon or Nvision.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Awesome info thank you.

Price will depend on what I see here and what research tells me ill get a quality long lasting optic for. But yeah realistic price range let's say between 3k to 6k.

Distance I think 300 and in would be plenty.

Videoing would be awesome. Honestly not needed. If it going to cost me more for it probably not. I do have the Tactacam 5.0 with FTS adapter. Hoping that fits a thermal.

Weight not a factor.

You are going to have to look at warranties and such when you consider a "long lasting optic." I have owned FLIR, Armasight, and Trijicon and they have all had to go back at least once. I have been a Pulsar tester and had to send one back as well (but did not own it personally). I use my therm a LOT. For your price range, you are in the Pulsar ballpark for a new scope (or ATN). Remember that advertised prices are meaningless. All the vendors have contractual agreements to not advertise below a given price (MAP), but they can sell below that amount. Check prices with various vendors and check (dare I say it) Optics Planet. Once in a while, between sales and coupons, you can get decent deals. I am not a fan of OP, but if you are trying to maximize your pocketbook, they may be an additional option to consider.