Night Vision NV and thermal kills...

Last night to break up the dry spell a bit.

Three sub-100lb juveniles...but three more than I've seen in the previous five or so outings. I did connect with a fourth at least twice, but neither hit was very good apparently as it got up and moved off while I was recovering the solo back in the woods.

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6.8 at this point again. As hard as it is to find brass it is becoming more of a necessity to save what I use. When it only ran me $1 / a shot for premium factory hunting ammo, not so much then.
I got a ping from targetsportsusa.com that 110 grain v-max are back in stock....at $29.99 a box......last batch I bought was $19.99 a box prior to the ammo shortage.
 
Yeah. I used to only reload for precision rifle. I now reload for everything rifle.
I run brass catchers too, especially on my high volume guns. It beats digging through uncut pastures to police my brass after getting onto a sounder. During winter it's less of a problem especially when policing with a 1x thermal monocular - quick to find expended casings.
 
I'm pretty sure that when my land gets developed and turned into housing complexes 200 years from now they'll stop the digging for a while until the archeological team finishes excavating all the cartridge cases.

I can see it now...the great battle of Nashoba, OK, ca. 2020. One force was using 5.56, the other 6.8. Must have been a lot of hand-to-hand too as there is no definitive battle lines anywhere...

I bet they'll even have a local native in the TV show talk about the history of warring tribes in the area.
 
I don’t know how I’ve forgot about this thread. I’ll post a few of my highlights from the last 6-8 months.



We had gotten in a sounder of pigs pretty good, and I had an ass shot piglet run over the hill from me. Pretty soon after we hear her screaming bloody murder while we’re still shooting, and walk over to see what the commotion is. A young coyote was taking advantage of her circumstances, and trying to make a meal of her. I dropped both at 214 yds.
 
A few weekends back was our first actual night of hunting in a while. A bit slow, but we still did work.
 

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I don’t know how I’ve forgot about this thread. I’ll post a few of my highlights from the last 6-8 months.



We had gotten in a sounder of pigs pretty good, and I had an ass shot piglet run over the hill from me. Pretty soon after we hear her screaming bloody murder while we’re still shooting, and walk over to see what the commotion is. A young coyote was taking advantage of her circumstances, and trying to make a meal of her. I dropped both at 214 yds.

Noticed a lot of dead pixels in this video and another newer video on your YT channel.
Thermion ?
Did you have it mounted on a heavy recoiling rifle before the .22 creed ?
 
I'm pretty sure that when my land gets developed and turned into housing complexes 200 years from now they'll stop the digging for a while until the archeological team finishes excavating all the cartridge cases.

I can see it now...the great battle of Nashoba, OK, ca. 2020. One force was using 5.56, the other 6.8. Must have been a lot of hand-to-hand too as there is no definitive battle lines anywhere...

I bet they'll even have a local native in the TV show talk about the history of warring tribes in the area.
Finding Brass cartridges will be future generations version of finding arrow heads
 
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I probably blew out ~40 pixels on my replacement Thermion after the first one came to me DOA.

It hasn't happened at all lately, but I'll be putting it back on my .308...so we'll see what happens.
 
@diggler1833 always enjoy these videos.

what powder are you using? I’ve got a mess of these bullets to burn through.

I am exclusively using AA2200 for the 6.8. Everything that I researched showed it to produce about the best velocity...so I bought 8lbs of the stuff.

Unfortunately, I can't get near max published load data with my setup (virgin Hornady brass). I get serious cratering and ejector swipes about 5% below max. I run near 2.260 COL. The 6.8 forum seems to think I need to run modified mags at 2.295...but I don't see how .035 is going to allow me to fit 1.5gr more powder. I've not tried any other powder in my 6.8, so I have nothing to go off of for comparison.

Before I ramble too much; 28.5gr gave me MOA for only three shots, with an average velocity of 2,714 FPS out of an 18" barrel. ES was 36 and SD 17 for five rounds IIRC.
 
You can get 2.295 in PRI mags. I load 120SST's to that but also well below what they say on 6.8. I can only load 26.5 w/o major ejector and extractor damage to brass. Cavity back sells the modified mags but I haven't tried them. I don't think that's my problem.
 
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Shot these 2 ;last night. In the second photo I am standing just to the right of the tree edge. Shot is about 35 yards.
The big one taped out at 48". Not as big as I thought.
 

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Finding hogs right now is like trying to find primers.

View attachment 7666832


We don’t have that problem right now, but finding the time to kill them is about like finding primers. We killed 6 sitting around the campfire a few weeks back, but I haven’t had any time to go out all night killing when it’s dry enough. If I’ve got time it’s wetter than shit, and we can’t get in the fields. If it’s dry I’m too damn busy!
 
Hey folks!

I sold my Halo LR and finally received my new Halo XRF two weeks ago! Here is some video from 7-28-21, this thing is incredible! Conditions were less than ideal ( 92° and 86% humidity), but the image quality was still phenomenal through the eyepiece. The new lower f-stop lense is definitely an upgrade!
Shooting engagement are at: 1) beginning, 2) approximately 8:00, 3) approximately 15:00 and last minute of video.
Shooting a Daniel Defense 6.8 SPC with factory 120 sst.
Note: in engagement #2 I dropped a big sow with my first round, diverted a boar coming straight at me with the second round, my rifle jammed, had to clear it twice, and was able drop him at 190 at a dead run🤪. I finally have a scope that records video to back up some of the tall tales that I'm known to tell😁.

 
Hey folks!

I sold my Halo LR and finally received my new Halo XRF two weeks ago! Here is some video from 7-28-21, this thing is incredible! Conditions were less than ideal ( 92° and 86% humidity), but the image quality was still phenomenal through the eyepiece. The new lower f-stop lense is definitely an upgrade!
Shooting engagement are at: 1) beginning, 2) approximately 8:00, 3) approximately 15:00 and last minute of video.
Shooting a Daniel Defense 6.8 SPC with factory 120 sst.
Note: in engagement #2 I dropped a big sow with my first round, diverted a boar coming straight at me with the second round, my rifle jammed, had to clear it twice, and was able drop him at 190 at a dead run🤪. I finally have a scope that records video to back up some of the tall tales that I'm known to tell😁.


Weird. My halo lr and nox do not see antlers well. Maybe he is in velvet and still has blood flow? Looked like it could be the case.


Here is my latest, lil pup i caught sleeping. I believe he is from my previous stand where he was coming in so fast and wouldn’t stop, rushed the shot and missed . Think he wanted a nap after his near death experience
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Weird. My halo lr and nox do not see antlers well. Maybe he is in velvet and still has blood flow? Looked like it could be the case.


Here is my latest, lil pup i caught sleeping. I believe he is from my previous stand where he was coming in so fast and wouldn’t stop, rushed the shot and missed . Think he wanted a nap after his near death experience View attachment 7678206View attachment 7678205
Yes, the bucks are still in velvet here so the antlers have blood flow and show up nicely on thermal.
 
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Yes, the bucks are still in velvet here so the antlers have blood flow and show up nicely on thermal.
Up by my property i see these three bucks all the time. 2 mediums and one small guy. I do remember when insaw them a couple weeks ago, their antlers did show up big time. Totally spaced it. Thanks for the info!
 
You sinners should know that once the bucks shed their velvet, you are going to have a hard time identifying them with thermal. :D

384 units need to be within 60 yards to really tell if it is a buck, and you have to be about 40 yards or closer to get an idea of the rack.

640 units are about double that.
 
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Maybe a thermal drone, that way you wouldn't have to search around for 45 minutes and lose hogs in the grass ?
Watch the video, it's an amazing piece of gear.
Thermal Drone

Those are awesome...but this guy here has spent himself poor on several gun projects this year, and will be doing the same in 2022.

If only I weren't a poor.
 
Maybe a thermal drone, that way you wouldn't have to search around for 45 minutes and lose hogs in the grass ?
Watch the video, it's an amazing piece of gear.
Thermal Drone
I have a buddy who owns one of the largest thermal/NV dealers in the country he's hunted with thermal drones for years. Crazy cool Star Wars stuff it's been a few years since we hunted together that is still on my punch list to go on a thermal drone hunt. He will pull up in a pasture, fly a bit, spot and stalk and let the laughs begin. It's only $10k so everyone should have at least 2 of them lol. What a hoot sure would be great when the grass is all up to chest height.

 
I have a buddy who owns one of the largest thermal/NV dealers in the country he's hunted with thermal drones for years. Crazy cool Star Wars stuff it's been a few years since we hunted together that is still on my punch list to go on a thermal drone hunt. He will pull up in a pasture, fly a bit, spot and stalk and let the laughs begin. It's only $10k so everyone should have at least 2 of them lol. What a hoot sure would be great when the grass is all up to chest height.

That's the Horta class of drones, the one I linked is under $2k and I think would be a good tool to find your kills, if you had extra money lying around.
There was one for sale on here for $1,400.
Since I don't hog hunt and I'm upgrading to a BAE sensor thermal scope this year, I'm already dipping into the 2023 budget !!!
 
That's the Horta class of drones, the one I linked is under $2k and I think would be a good tool to find your kills, if you had extra money lying around.
There was one for sale on here for $1,400.
Since I don't hog hunt and I'm upgrading to a BAE sensor thermal scope this year, I'm already dipping into the 2023 budget !!!
Ahh gotcha. My buddy in IN uses an entry level drone/cam with an ipad on the family corn dirt......somewhere around 8k acres. Daylight of course, but when the yotes are out he has a hoot with it and will sniff out the winds and get in position. Those devil dogs are not carrying off fawns as often as they used to now with him on drone patrol. Funny he is about as low tech as it comes, but he's had that drone working for him for a good 6-7 years.
 
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