Thermal help

[Bbfarms]

New to thermals here, got them to hunt hogs so I got a TS35-384 on a 223 with a silencer have it sighted in about 80 yards, when I sight it in on the range it’s dead on and then when I take it out I’m off usually over, so any ideas or what yall think I should do? I also have the clip on the tc19 and I’m wondering what’s the best size of scope to run on that

 

[songdogslayer]

I know a lot of thermals have a different zeros built in, so let’s say you zero at 50 and in the field it’s on 300 you’ll have issues, ask me how I know. My alpha is pretty easy to bump the settings wrong when you are fumbling around night.

 

[diggler1833]

Having had a couple thermals and sighting in quite a few more for friends, I find it difficult to just accidentally go from one profile to the next (or adjust zero). That usually takes a couple different buttons and menus to go through.

Do you know how far the shots are that your taking? How steady of a position are you shooting from in the field?

I ask these because telling distance at night is 10x more difficult than during the day (although the .223 is fairly flat shooting). Plus there is the inability to tell hog size based off of the thermal image...unless you have a bunch around to compare. It is one of the reasons why I suggest against the big thumping cartridges with rainbow trajectory unless you're hunting over bait from a stand.

Also, going from a position that has the majority of your weight directly behind the rifle (prone, bench etc...) to just standing/sitting behind the gun, and shooting with a lot less weight to absorb recoil is going to cause your POI to shift a little...but that shouldn't be the sole reason for you shooting high.

I have a tendency to track and shoot low, especially when they're running. It is just how my brain seems to work when the adrenaline is pumping. My gut shots to spine shots on runners is about 90/10, and you might be the opposite. Being in an awkward position in the dark is going to exacerbate your fundamental flaws too. Have you recorded your hunts to analyze later? I've found the record feature to be far better for this than making crappy YouTube videos. Frame-by-frame eliminates all questions about why you didn't connect...and if you're muscling the rifle at the last minute...

One thing is for sure; that I can go from shooting fantastically on a range, to looking like an a-hole in about three seconds when the hogs start running if I'm not careful.

 

[Aftermath]

I have a tendency to track and shoot low, especially when they're running. It is just how my brain seems to work when the adrenaline is pumping.

If I recall the training correctly, we ALL tend to shoot low when visibility is poor, especially due to darkness.

I think this is bred into the human DNA from when bandits rode Shetland ponies.