Night Vision New To Night Vision/Thermals and Need Advice

[army_eod]

I will try to articulate my needs/requirements and then looking for info, advice, recommendations.

I have some pretty heavily wooded areas surrounding my little farm. I have some goats fenced in and well protected by double fences, lights and two guardian dogs.

However, we have coyotes in the area and stupid people who like to put out traps, perhaps not legal and not on their own property. No idea why. But, last night it sounded like somebody's dog was in a trap in the woods. Damn dog howled for hours, then coyotes found it and it was over.

I never had or used any night/thermal devices except briefly in the Army and that was the NODs.

I want to be able to:

1. See the animals through the wooded area.
2. Shoot the animals.

Now I am talking probably being able to see and ID the target out to maybe 100 to 200 yards through the brush/trees. Need to get good enough ID and picture to hit the target.

I have several choices of rifles I could mount on:

AR in 5.56
Ruger American 16 inch bbl bolt gun in either 7.69x39 or 350 Legend.
Zastava Mauser in B&C stock in .270 Win.

Keep in mind I am looking at dog and coyote size targets. Predator targets. Not long range (100-200 yards probably).

I do not have tons of money for a device. Need one that is RELIABLE and that has support from the manufacturer.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Lowdown3]

If that's truly all you need to use it for, a good thermal weapon sight might be your best choice.

@TheHorta check out his recent posts, tons of options and he probably owns them all and uses them, so good info can be had there.

 

[kirsch]

It's hard to beat the Bering Optics Hogster 35 thermal scope/scanner for price/performance and versatility for what you have described. It has a very good image for a mid 2K thermal. You will have no issues at all seeing and potentially shooting coyotes at 100-200 yards. However, with any thermal, you are seeing the representation of a heat signature. If you haven't hunted coyotes a lot, it may be hard to differentiate a coyote from a medium sized blue-healer for instance with any thermal. Yes, the tail, ears, and how they walk are different but it is something to keep in mind.

 

[Rollingrock308]

I will try to articulate my needs/requirements and then looking for info, advice, recommendations.

I have some pretty heavily wooded areas surrounding my little farm. I have some goats fenced in and well protected by double fences, lights and two guardian dogs.

However, we have coyotes in the area and stupid people who like to put out traps, perhaps not legal and not on their own property. No idea why. But, last night it sounded like somebody's dog was in a trap in the woods. Damn dog howled for hours, then coyotes found it and it was over.

I never had or used any night/thermal devices except briefly in the Army and that was the NODs.

I want to be able to:

1. See the animals through the wooded area.
2. Shoot the animals.

Now I am talking probably being able to see and ID the target out to maybe 100 to 200 yards through the brush/trees. Need to get good enough ID and picture to hit the target.

I have several choices of rifles I could mount on:

AR in 5.56
Ruger American 16 inch bbl bolt gun in either 7.69x39 or 350 Legend.
Zastava Mauser in B&C stock in .270 Win.

Keep in mind I am looking at dog and coyote size targets. Predator targets. Not long range (100-200 yards probably).

I do not have tons of money for a device. Need one that is RELIABLE and that has support from the manufacturer.

Thanks in advance.

I have used a bunch of different devices over the years. I like a rear mounted pvs 14. You could get one in the 2k range and use a mount to go onto any rifle scope. Try hightechrednecks site. If you wanna go cheaper dont. The quality will be junk. If 2I is outta range go with a decent red or green light. Trick I learned is slowly lower the light from a 45 degree angle and then shoot. Hope this helps you. Scope quality has a lot to do with image quality as well so use the gun with the best scope!