Thermal imaging

[nphunter]

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.

I’ve used them a lot. I was just stating an opinion on how to manage all of the people that are illegally using them. The cat is already out of the bag and there isn’t a good way to regulate them. They are extremely effective tools and are awesome for predator management and 100% not fair chase for big game hunting.

I still hunt with my rifle some, I would rather kill with my bow. I’m happy for guys to use whatever legal means necessary to hunt. I also really like thermal for a lot of stuff including predator hunting, I do think it’s annoying that so many guys illegally use them hunting big game. I think they either need to legalize them or come up with a good solution to manage people illegally using them. I feel the same about many rules and regulations, the only keep the honest people honest and give guys that break the rules a huge advantage.

 

[BigDuckHunter]

I’ve used them a lot. I was just stating an opinion on how to manage all of the people that are illegally using them. The cat is already out of the bag and there isn’t a good way to regulate them. They are extremely effective tools and are awesome for predator management and 100% not fair chase for big game hunting.

I still hunt with my rifle some, I would rather kill with my bow. I’m happy for guys to use whatever legal means necessary to hunt. I also really like thermal for a lot of stuff including predator hunting, I do think it’s annoying that so many guys illegally use them hunting big game. I think they either need to legalize them or come up with a good solution to manage people illegally using them. I feel the same about many rules and regulations, the only keep the honest people honest and give guys that break the rules a huge advantage.

For the record, I’m against people using them for big game too. I’ve only used/sold ones that are geared towards hunting and they don’t have all the features you’ve mentioned. They definitely can’t pick out animals hidden behind solid objects and I really don’t think they’re that useful for hunting in the daylight. I’ve never hunted mule deer or elk with a thermal though so I guess you guys must have more experience with them in that regard.

One thing I can’t stand is people selfishly creating rules because they think it’ll increase their chances of killing a bigger buck/bull by 2%.

If you want to ban using them for big game go right ahead. If you want to give them a ticket for having a dead elk in possession at the same as a thermal it makes sense. But banning all thermal, night vision, rifles, etc in the field during a certain time of the year even when they aren’t being used is asinine and selfish.

 

[MuleyFever]

After a few hours yeah, lots of things like rocks have absorbed heat. For the first couple of hours of the day or on the shade side of the mountain, they are just as effective as at night. They make finding animals multiple times easier. Looking into dark areas or into thick vegetation is where they shine. Only a small part of the animal has to be visible for it to grab your attention. I have found deer with the thermal hundreds of yards out buried in oak brush, during the day, that I had to stare at with my spotter for extended periods to finally find.

Also, they make the process of finding deer so much faster. I can scan an entire hillside in 2 minutes and know there are no deer there or know where they are. With binos it takes an hour to pick apart. So, while I am off to my 2nd and 3rd glassing point looking for animals the guy with binos is still at the same spot.

Thermals are a game changing tool in hunting and after using one I absolutely believe they cross the line and should be banned for big game. Utah did it right banning their possession during open big game seasons.

 

[PathFinder]

After a few hours yeah, lots of things like rocks have absorbed heat. For the first couple of hours of the day or on the shade side of the mountain, they are just as effective as at night. They make finding animals multiple times easier. Looking into dark areas or into thick vegetation is where they shine. Only a small part of the animal has to be visible for it to grab your attention. I have found deer with the thermal hundreds of yards out buried in oak brush, during the day, that I had to stare at with my spotter for extended periods to finally find.

Also, they make the process of finding deer so much faster. I can scan an entire hillside in 2 minutes and know there are no deer there or know where they are. With binos it takes an hour to pick apart. So, while I am off to my 2nd and 3rd glassing point looking for animals the guy with binos is still at the same spot.

Thermals are a game changing tool in hunting and after using one I absolutely believe they cross the line and should be banned for big game. Utah did it right banning their possession during open big game seasons.

This is exactly correct. Glassing with a thermal in any conditions aside from direct sunlight is like playing a video game with a cheat code. Allowing thermal would be more significant than any other technological development by orders of magnitude. If thermal is legal, we may as well allow helicopters, drones, and machine guns too. It's just that effective. With prices dropping, that barrier to entry is no longer a limitation.
Thermal imagery for big game hunting should be banned, regarded as poaching, and enforced without mercy.
For canid predators it should be legal and encouraged.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

 

[ozyclint]

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

That's exactly what I do.
And I still don't own or use a thermal because it makes the hardest part too easy......locating the animals. It violates my personal threshold of fair chase.

Instrabro, FB etc would be awash with hero pics of big game animals taken with thermal assistance. Yet do they state as such in the fine print? They know it's a not a good look but the content machine must be fed.

"The integrity of the journey in pursuit of one's goal is more important than achieving the goal itself, for one defines the other"- Me

 

[bdg848]

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.

Where does this fall?

 

[Mojave]

I personally use thermal here in Europe. It is legal.

It is also legal in a lot of US States. It was legal during daylight hours in New Mexico last time I checked.

I personally love it.

Here are some examples where it has saved my ass.

Hunting in my own area, in one of my stands a few months ago. I saw with my binoculars an animal on the ground about 100 yards away. My lease is very heavily timbered and it is a German forest service lease, so anyone can walk their dog in there. I lifted my thermal after lifting my binoculars and found a fox/dog sized animal, a couple of seconds later a lady walked from behind the tree. Without the thermal I could have shot someone's dog thinking it was a fox.

I had a pig about 50 yards away in heavy timber. I was watching him and getting ready to lift my rifle. I noticed some light behind him and it was vertical indicating people about another 150 yards behind him. Heavy timber so I didn't shoot.

In Austria we were sitting in a fairly heavy snow storm, thinking our day was done. Some grouse moved in above the box blind we noticed by the thermal. We were about to pack it up thinking we were done hunting because surely nothing would be out. But we saw the grouse, waited them out and when I had a clear shot with a regular scoped rifle I got one.

They have saved me from fruitless stalks, multiple times. They have also given me a window into seeing other wildlife I had no intention of hunting, or better yet identifying multiple animals on a mountain and then using my binoculars and spotter to figure out what I was looking at.

NVG's offer easier target identification, but they don't help you find wildlife.

Someplace like the Gila where guide competition is rampant, if it is still legal it would be indispensable as heavy timbered as the Gila is with low junipers.

 

[Mojave]

In my mind, as a matter of safety they increase the safety factor of everyone in the field by an immeasurable amount.

I am talking about day time use. Weather has to be right, it needs to be about 50F or cooler for them to work properly.

Mine is a $3500 HK Micro. I got it as a close out because they update them all the time last year for $1600.

Where legal I will use it in American when I move home. I might use it for tracking after I lock my rifle in my truck if I wound an animal where legal.

 

[Gobbler36]

You obviously have no idea.

Exactly
I’ve been out and seen the advantage it carries

 

[Gobbler36]

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.

So are you saying that there isn’t a huge advantage to thermal?

 

[Gobbler36]

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.

Using thermals for managing a predator and using them for mule deer and elk who are one bad winter away from population decreases are two totally different things. I’m sorry you can’t compartmentalize that and understand the differences

 

[Gobbler36]

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.

Using thermals for managing a predator and using them for mule deer and elk who are one bad winter away from population decreases are two totally different things. I’m sorry you can’t compartmentalize that and understand the differences

For the record, I’m against people using them for big game too. I’ve only used/sold ones that are geared towards hunting and they don’t have all the features you’ve mentioned. They definitely can’t pick out animals hidden behind solid objects and I really don’t think they’re that useful for hunting in the daylight. I’ve never hunted mule deer or elk with a thermal though so I guess you guys must have more experience with them in that regard.

One thing I can’t stand is people selfishly creating rules because they think it’ll increase their chances of killing a bigger buck/bull by 2%.

If you want to ban using them for big game go right ahead. If you want to give them a ticket for having a dead elk in possession at the same as a thermal it makes sense. But banning all thermal, night vision, rifles, etc in the field during a certain time of the year even when they aren’t being used is asinine and selfish.

no where in this post did anyone say banning them for everything the whole discussion has been about big game mainly in the west which you haven’t done with a thermal ,yet your telling us how ineffective it is?

 

[BigDuckHunter]

Using thermals for managing a predator and using them for mule deer and elk who are one bad winter away from population decreases are two totally different things. I’m sorry you can’t compartmentalize that and understand the differences

no where in this post did anyone say banning them for everything the whole discussion has been about big game mainly in the west which you haven’t done with a thermal ,yet your telling us how ineffective it is?

Multiple people have mentioned banning their use during big game seasons. “Utah did it right banning their possession during open big game seasons.” “If your caught with it during any big game hunt it’s $2500 fine and 3 year loss of hunting license” So yes, people are talking about banning them for everything during certain times of the year. If they want to ban them while hunting for mule deer that’s fine. But banning their use just because a certain animal is in season is stupid.