Thermal decisions

[superA]

We have land down by the river and I'm ready to get into thermal. I've done a good bit of reading so far and I've seen lot's of talk about a scanner as well as the optic itself. Our open pasture sort of lies in a T shape with woods and river surrounding it. For the most part I'll be sitting in the back of my truck with shooting sticks to cover the pasture shooting lanes. Maximum range here would be around 300-365 yards. Most shots being half that. With this setup I feel a super hogster would cover me without needing to spend anymore or needing to purchase a scanner...but I could be way off on that. Any advice would be welcome.

 

[SuperDUECE22]

Thermal hunting coyotes without a scanner will last about one night and the next morning you will be looking for a scanner. Anything over 2-250 is long shot with thermal especially if your new to the game. I have a super hogster and it is a great scope but don't expect to mount it and start killing coyotes @300+ unless you are really lucky. You are also going to want a good tripod to shoot of off. What you are wanting to accomplish is doable it just wont be that enjoyable with shooting sticks out of the bed of the pickup without a scanner.

 

[Shadow Illude]

A good tripod that you can stand behind and still shoot off of accurately makes all the difference if you don’t have a scanner. RT90C tripod modified with a RRS ARCA/Picatinny combo mount is perfect. I’ll have a scanner eventually, but this works pretty well without one.

 

[SuperDUECE22]

A good tripod that you can stand behind and still shoot off of accurately makes all the difference if you don’t have a scanner. RT90C tripod modified with a RRS ARCA/Picatinny combo mount is perfect. I’ll have a scanner eventually, but this works pretty well without one.

I have the same tripod with a different ball head & ARCA mount, and it does work great. I guess to each their own but there's no way I'd go hunt all night anymore if I didn't have a scanner. Unless you're constantly walking circles around your tripod how do you keep a lookout behind you, we all know them savvy old coyotes will literally come in from any & every direction.

 

[Shadow Illude]

I have the same tripod with a different ball head & ARCA mount, and it does work great. I guess to each their own but there's no way I'd go hunt all night anymore if I didn't have a scanner. Unless you're constantly walking circles around your tripod how do you keep a lookout behind you, we all know them savvy old coyotes will literally come in from any & every direction.

Oh I agree with you, having a scanner will be the cats meow for me eventually. I’m just saying, for the OP’s described situation, he can definitely have a ball thermal hunting without a scanner just like me. The key though is a good tripod setup in my opinion. Yes, I often end up making a complete circle around it. Most times though, I am with a friend and we each cover our sectors.

 

[SuperDUECE22]

Oh I agree with you, having a scanner will be the cats meow for me eventually. I’m just saying, for the OP’s described situation, he can definitely have a ball thermal hunting without a scanner just like me. The key though is a good tripod setup in my opinion. Yes, I often end up making a complete circle around it. Most times though, I am with a friend and we each cover our sectors.

View attachment 488093

this is what i have on my RT90C

 

[Shadow Illude]

Another option is the Arctise 80 tripod. Much lighter setup, but still stable. Unfortunately, this Field Optics Research mount is no longer available.

 

[superA]

Thermal hunting coyotes without a scanner will last about one night and the next morning you will be looking for a scanner. Anything over 2-250 is long shot with thermal especially if your new to the game. I have a super hogster and it is a great scope but don't expect to mount it and start killing coyotes @300+ unless you are really lucky. You are also going to want a good tripod to shoot of off. What you are wanting to accomplish is doable it just wont be that enjoyable with shooting sticks out of the bed of the pickup without a scanner.

What range do you feel comfortable shooting hogs with the super hogster?

 

[SuperDUECE22]

What range do you feel comfortable shooting hogs with the super hogster?

never really shot hogs with it, mostly coyote hunting in the northern tundra. Comfortable range will vary greatly depending on shooter ability, caliber of weapon, ammunition, wind speed & humidity. For instance, if I had it on a 300 black out shooting subsonic my comfortable range would be under 100 yds. But i have shot a few coyotes around 375 but that is far from the norm.
Also like to mention if your predominantly hunting hogs with it and a lot of your shots will be 100 yards or less the super hogster probably isn't the best choice with its 2.9 base mag, I'd look for something with a lower base mag & larger FOV.

 

[sportsmans challenge]

If you dont have the budget to get the scanner another option to look at is testing your q.r. mount on your scope for repeatability. I had a guy who shot with me for a while that would take his off and clamp back on to shoot.

Yes dancing around the tripod sucks, but we killed lots of dogs doing that. Like the others are saying innorel rt90 with the dlow and you are set.

Are you looking at a 35mm or 50mm? Super hogster at your ranges should be fine, just know humidity of any design will hinder your view. When I started I was shooting 25# coyotes for reference out to 285yards from a tripod with an agm 35mm, later going to a halo lr, so know your gun, have a good zero and check it before going out.

If you can swing a scanner too do it, if not then get shooting

 

[dirtytough]

SuperDUECE22 is spot on.

I also have an Innorel RT90C that I got for a steal. I have an Anvil-30 mounted to mine though. After using other tripods and the price of the RT90C increasing, I would go a different direction. The twist locks on the RT are not as nice as others I have used, the legs don’t stay as tight at the apex, etc.

I would get either a Leofoto when they are on sale plus an extra 20% off, or I would get the Vortex Radian for $600 new.

I haven’t looked at prices of the RT90C/D-low combo lately but I bet it’s over $500. An extra hundred for a slightly more refined tripod and a lifetime warranty is worth it to me.

And the Leofoto you can get a comparable tripod and the MA-30L for close to the same price of the RT or Vortex.

The Anvil-30/MA-30 are way nicer to shoot from than a ball head.

 

[superA]

If you dont have the budget to get the scanner another option to look at is testing your q.r. mount on your scope for repeatability. I had a guy who shot with me for a while that would take his off and clamp back on to shoot.

Yes dancing around the tripod sucks, but we killed lots of dogs doing that. Like the others are saying innorel rt90 with the dlow and you are set.

Are you looking at a 35mm or 50mm? Super hogster at your ranges should be fine, just know humidity of any design will hinder your view. When I started I was shooting 25# coyotes for reference out to 285yards from a tripod with an agm 35mm, later going to a halo lr, so know your gun, have a good zero and check it before going out.

If you can swing a scanner too do it, if not then get shooting

Humidity is a concern. Being off the river it gets wet and thick.

 

[dirtytough]

Humidity is a concern. Being off the river it gets wet and thick.

I can’t say for certain because I haven’t personally tested every thermal. Here is what i have personally seen and my buddies have said.

Couldn’t see anything with an AGM scanner. Could still hunt with the Super Hogster.

Couldn’t see anything with an ATN scope. Could still hunt with a Super Yoter and Phenom.

Could see terrain fairly well with Phenom. Couldn’t see terrain at all with a Trij MK3 60mm but could still see hot spots.

And supposedly Iray is the best to use in high humidity. If true it doesn’t surprise me since Bering uses an Iray core. Which might be the reason the Bering thermals have performed better than any others I’ve seen in higher humidity.

 

[SuperDUECE22]

I can’t say for certain because I haven’t personally tested every thermal. Here is what i have personally seen and my buddies have said.

Couldn’t see anything with an AGM scanner. Could still hunt with the Super Hogster.

Couldn’t see anything with an ATN scope. Could still hunt with a Super Yoter and Phenom.

Could see terrain fairly well with Phenom. Couldn’t see terrain at all with a Trij MK3 60mm but could still see hot spots.

And supposedly Iray is the best to use in high humidity. If true it doesn’t surprise me since Bering uses an Iray core. Which might be the reason the Bering thermals have performed better than any others I’ve seen in higher humidity.

Agreed, haven't been able to look through all of them but the super hogster has been really good in humidity. Compared to the pulsar thermion (not sure which model) and pulsar axion the super hogster was 100x better. We even hunted in rime ice (ice fog) for 2-3 nights in the Dakotas a few years back which has to be some of the worst possible conditions for thermal and while it did affect performance, we were still able to put a bunch of fur in the box of the truck.

 

[superA]

Man, that's some money saving information.