Thermal imaging

[Loggerdude]

The sales have went WAY beyond hunting rats.

 

[Gobbler36]

Yeah
It’s a huge issue in ID, and F & G has done nothing to address the issue

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Make sure to check the laws in your state. In some states it is illegal to mount them on any gun. Even owning them may be illegal

 

[KurtR]

Night hunting coyotes is tough to beat

 

[flyfisher117]

Yeah
It’s a huge issue in ID, and F & G has done nothing to address the issue

It's odd how blissfully unaware most are of the issue though. Had a buddy want to argue and tell me that the only people using thermal here is coyote hunters. I told him he should get out and explore a little bit more.

 

[Gobbler36]

Totally for it for predators but people are now taking out binos and monocular thermals for big game which in my opinion doesn’t lead to anything good

 

[BigDuckHunter]

Yeah
It’s a huge issue in ID, and F & G has done nothing to address the issue

How do you expect them to address it?

 

[Gobbler36]

How do you expect them to address it?

If your caught with it during any big game hunt it’s $2500 fine and 3 year loss of hunting license

 

[gbflyer]

Isn’t it considered the same as NVG’s, in terms of legal take (illegal)? Aren’t there legal shooting hours? Would a citation and fine for having them in possession during hunting season be legislating morality? Do outlaws do it? Shure. So what? It’s illegal.

I don’t have one by the way. I’m scared of the dark.

 

[BigDuckHunter]

If your caught with it during any big game hunt it’s $2500 fine and 3 year loss of hunting license

So if it’s already illegal, what more do you want?

 

[Gobbler36]

So if it’s already illegal, what more do you want?

It’s not illegal, it should be

 

[nphunter]

How do you expect them to address it?

My personal opinion is that states should start moving to more weapons restrictions. Open sights, straight cases calibers, etc. It’s impossible to regulate IR, they look so similar to other optics from a distance, short walking up on someone using them it would be next to impossible to catch someone.

IMO it’s not fair chase to scan a hillside with IR, find an animal 1500yrds away and setup a long range rifle and shoot it. Limiting rifles to open sights would be way easier manage, if you get caught with a scoped rifle and a dead animal you lose your hunting rights.

I think this is the only way to limit harvest these days, it’s too easy to shoot 1K yards and buy a little tiny device that makes every animal on the mountain look like a Christmas light bulb standing there.

I do think we should be allowed to use IR scopes and optics for predator hunting, especially in states that have outlawed hounds. It makes finding them 1000 times easier.

I know this isn’t a popular opinion and probably will piss some guys off but IMO long range hunting and technology has really hurt hunting over the last 10 years. I love my 1000yrd rifle but it makes killing animals too easy.

 

[KurtR]

Have animal populations seen a drastic drop from hunter harvest in the last 10 years according to any reports?

 

[BigDuckHunter]

It’s not illegal, it should be

There’s still legal shooting hours. Thermal doesn’t make much of a difference during the day.

My personal opinion is that states should start moving to more weapons restrictions. Open sights, straight cases calibers, etc. It’s impossible to regulate IR, they look so similar to other optics from a distance, short walking up on someone using them it would be next to impossible to catch someone.

IMO it’s not fair chase to scan a hillside with IR, find an animal 1500yrds away and setup a long range rifle and shoot it. Limiting rifles to open sights would be way easier manage, if you get caught with a scoped rifle and a dead animal you lose your hunting rights.

I think this is the only way to limit harvest these days, it’s too easy to shoot 1K yards and buy a little tiny device that makes every animal on the mountain look like a Christmas light bulb standing there.

I do think we should be allowed to use IR scopes and optics for predator hunting, especially in states that have outlawed hounds. It makes finding them 1000 times easier.

I know this isn’t a popular opinion and probably will piss some guys off but IMO long range hunting and technology has really hurt hunting over the last 10 years. I love my 1000yrd rifle but it makes killing animals too easy.

So you don’t like scopes or bottleneck cartridges? Great. Don’t use them. There’s still plenty of animals around for people to hunt. It’s not like we’ve decimated their populations anywhere. At least not by hunting them.

 

[SuperDUECE22]

Isn't it amazing how the armchair experts always manage to stand out? It’s easy to spot the ones confidently chiming in without a shred of field experience—especially when it comes to using thermals. Classic entertainment!

 

[MuleyFever]

There’s still legal shooting hours. Thermal doesn’t make much of a difference during the day.

You obviously have no idea.

 

[nphunter]

There’s still legal shooting hours. Thermal doesn’t make much of a difference during the day.

So you don’t like scopes or bottleneck cartridges? Great. Don’t use them. There’s still plenty of animals around for people to hunt. It’s not like we’ve decimated their populations anywhere. At least not by hunting them.

Thermals can make a huge difference during the day if used properly and in the right conditions.

I like scopes and long range rifles just fine. Love my 280AI and just put a new maven on it for long range.

I’m just saying that would be one way to limit the effectiveness of thermal effectiveness because hunters and guides are currently using using them across the US on a daily basis for hunting everything. With a short range weapon it doesn’t matter if you can spot a huge buck across the canyon, you still have to get close to it. With long range hunting combined with thermal you can just find a bedded animal behind a tree, rock or whatever as long as there is a silver dollar sized piece of fur visible they stand out like a sore thumb. You can now just sit there and wait for a clear shot. Finding them use to be the hard part, with IR it’s very easy.

Hunters are defiantly hurting the age class of deer and elk in many areas. IMO weapons restrictions are better than tag reductions.

 

[SuperDUECE22]

with thermal you can just find a bedded animal behind a tree, rock or whatever as long as there is a silver dollar sized piece of fur visible they stand out like a sore thumb.

It's painfully obvious you have zero field experience with thermals. If you did, you'd know that rocks absorb heat and show up as heat signatures regardless of the temperature. Claiming a 'silver dollar-sized piece of fur would stick out like a sore thumb' just proves how clueless you are about this topic. Maybe sit this one out before digging yourself an even deeper hole.

 

[BigDuckHunter]

Thermals can make a huge difference during the day if used properly and in the right conditions.

I like scopes and long range rifles just fine. Love my 280AI and just put a new maven on it for long range.

I’m just saying that would be one way to limit the effectiveness of thermal effectiveness because hunters and guides are currently using using them across the US on a daily basis for hunting everything. With a short range weapon it doesn’t matter if you can spot a huge buck across the canyon, you still have to get close to it. With long range hunting combined with thermal you can just find a bedded animal behind a tree, rock or whatever as long as there is a silver dollar sized piece of fur visible they stand out like a sore thumb. You can now just sit there and wait for a clear shot. Finding them use to be the hard part, with IR it’s very easy.

Hunters are defiantly hurting the age class of deer and elk in many areas. IMO weapons restrictions are better than tag reductions.

Have you ever even used a thermal? That is DEFINITELY not the case.

I have enough issues with people trying to outlaw my thermal for coyotes without people crying that other people with thermals are the reason they can’t kill animals.

And like I said, feel free to leave your 280AI at home and hunt with a recurve if you feel so inclined.

 

[nphunter]

It's painfully obvious you have zero field experience with thermals. If you did, you'd know that rocks absorb heat and show up as heat signatures regardless of the temperature. Claiming a 'silver dollar-sized piece of fur would stick out like a sore thumb' just proves how clueless you are about this topic. Maybe sit this one out before digging yourself an even deeper hole.

I use them for work and have used them hunting. It depends on the time of day they are being used. On a high end device you can even adjust the span to ignore certain temp ranges. If you’re using them early morning or even late afternoon on a dark north face they are extremely effective. Oct and later on cool overcast days you can use them most of the day.

They are 100% not fair chase for big game hunting. I love them for predators because they make hunting them so much easier.