Thermal Scopes.

[1000yards]

That’s what I do where I hunt there are no people and the only other animals are cows. If I was in the small fields east I could maybe see that as an issue. But it’s easy to keep your finger off the trigger.

For anybody else who's reading this and doesn't know any better: this guy is trolling or joking. Do not do this. Do not break the most basic and easy to follow rule of gun safety just because you've made the subjective judgment that there shouldn't be any people out there.

 

[Amos Keeto]

That’s what I do where I hunt there are no people and the only other animals are cows. If I was in the small fields east I could maybe see that as an issue. But it’s easy to keep your finger off the trigger.

My EDC is a S&W M&P .40 S&W. It was designed, manufactured and I purposely purchased it because it has NO SAFETY. I learned early in life to keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot.
Seventy six years and I ain't shot nobody .....yet!

 

[KurtR]

For anybody else who's reading this and doesn't know any better: this guy is trolling or joking. Do not do this. Do not break the most basic and easy to follow rule of gun safety just because you've made the subjective judgment that there shouldn't be any people out there.

No I’m not making a subjective judgement there are no people. I am on 8500 acres of private land that no one else has permission on in the middle of west river South Dakota. On top of that there is only access where we go in at and they would have to drive past the house at the ranch and at night it’s hard to sneak I. With head lights . Now if I was on 300 acres little fields like east river i wouldn’t scan with the gun.

 

[peterk123]

Yeah....this has probably been covered more than a million times ....BUT....
I'm just now trying to get into the "thermal" thing.
#1) I'm a "po boy"! I don't have the coins to drop $1500 plus just for kicks and giggles!
#2) I live in rural Oklahoma! Pigs snd 'yotes abound! There is a small creek across our property, but all wildlife traffic is after dark!

I'm not afraid or scared of those critters, but it sure would be nice to thin the numbers! Might even help to increase the deer/turkey numbers!

Found an ATN ThOR 4, used for +/- $600. Soorry, but I'm a bit skeptical about dropping $600 on a "used" scope! ....especially a thermal scope!

I "think" , for that much money ($1k+), I'd want something with a factory warranty! Just my OFS* kicking in.

I also was raised with the mindset of "good and cheap" don't belong in the same sentence!

I see some AGM (?) products that run close to the thousand dollar range.
Is AGM worth the money?


*OFS - Old Fart Syndrome

Talk to @ZeroFoxGiven . He will take the guess out of it for you.

 

[1000yards]

No I’m not making a subjective judgement there are no people. I am on 8500 acres of private land that no one else has permission on in the middle of west river South Dakota. On top of that there is only access where we go in at and they would have to drive past the house at the ranch and at night it’s hard to sneak I. With head lights . Now if I was on 300 acres little fields like east river i wouldn’t scan with the gun.

My friend I mean this in the kindest way possible: you have a fundamental misunderstanding of what constitutes a subjective judgment versus an objective fact.

Let's try a thought experiment. You come home and pull a gun out of your closet. You have two options:

1. Check and verify that it's unloaded before you mess with it.

Or

2. Get on the rokslide forum to argue with me that it's impossible for it to be loaded, then start treating it like it's unloaded without checking.

What's your choice? I am desperately hopeful you're able to understand the analogy.

 

[KurtR]

My friend I mean this in the kindest way possible: you have a fundamental misunderstanding of what constitutes a subjective judgment versus an objective fact.

Let's try a thought experiment. You come home and pull a gun out of your closet. You have two options:

1. Check and verify that it's unloaded before you mess with it.

Or

2. Get on the rokslide forum to argue with me that it's impossible for it to be loaded, then start treating it like it's unloaded without checking.

What's your choice? I am desperately hopeful you're able to understand the analogy.

It’s a stupid analogy. Always considered it loaded. Comparing to being in my house to being on a huge ranch at night where I’m the only one out there. That and the gun doesn’t go off unless I’m pulling the trigger. Different situations can mean different methods . If I see something out there at night of the two legged variety they would have to be severely lost it’s 5 miles from the nearest road.

I suppose if you cc you don’t have one in the tube.

 

[YellowIH]

I have an AGM Rattler v2 19-256 from last fall and a Pulsar Trail XP50 from whenever it was released in 2018. The AGM is excellent for $700ish. I have used it on pigs out to 125 no issues. 100 and in is better though.

 

[1000yards]

It’s a stupid analogy. Always considered it loaded. Comparing to being in my house to being on a huge ranch at night where I’m the only one out there. That and the gun doesn’t go off unless I’m pulling the trigger. Different situations can mean different methods . If I see something out there at night of the two legged variety they would have to be severely lost it’s 5 miles from the nearest road.

I suppose if you cc you don’t have one in the tube.

No, it's a pretty good analogy. I guess you just need to have it explained a little better. Let's say you lived alone, and by your judgment if you leave a gun unchambered then it's highly unlikely that anyone is going to come into your house and chamber it. But you still check don't you?

You hunt out there on a very remote property where there really shouldn't be anyone. By your own judgment, it's highly unlikely for anyone to be out there. Although it's not impossible. In this case you're not making sure the range is clear before pointing a loaded rifle out into the darkness.

Is this making sense to you? It's highly unlikely that your gun is chambered, but you still check. It's highly unlikely that there's someone downrange at your property, and in that scenario you don't check. You've made the judgement that it's not necessary. When it comes to that primary rule of gun safety, why are you treating it like it's open to your interpretation?

 

[KurtR]

No, it's a pretty good analogy. I guess you just need to have it explained a little better. Let's say you lived alone, and by your judgment if you leave a gun unchambered then it's highly unlikely that anyone is going to come into your house and chamber it. But you still check don't you?

You hunt out there on a very remote property where they're really shouldn't be anyone. By your own judgment, it's highly unlikely for anyone to be out there. Although it's not impossible. In this case you're not making sure the range is clear before pointing a loaded rifle out into the darkness.

Is this making sense to you? It's highly unlikely that your gun is chambered, but you still check. It's highly unlikely that there's someone downrange at your property, and in that scenario you don't check. You've made the judgement that it's not necessary. When it comes to that primary rule of gun safety, why are you treating it like it's open to your interpretation?

Unless some one takes a helicopter in there won’t be anyone. If they are I guess that’s the chance they take they will have a gun point d at them while we are scanning for coyotes being somewhere they should not be. Comparing a house to being out in the field is stupid and completely different scenarios. Just keep the finger off the trigger till you 100 percent know the target the gun doesn’t go off by itself self.

 

[1000yards]

If they are I guess that’s the chance they take they will have a gun point d at them while we are scanning for coyotes being somewhere they should not be.

That's the chance YOU take as well.

Comparing a house to being out in the field is stupid and completely different scenarios.

Well at least we agree that you're treating one of the primary rules of gun safety to be arbitrary and open to your interpretation based off the environment you're in.

Just keep the finger off the trigger till you 100 percent know the target the gun doesn’t go off by itself self.

Yep, that's one of the primary rules of gun safety. I think it's great you follow that one. But there's more than one, and it's not arbitrary or open to your interpretation.

What's the downside to using a scanner? Even if you never run across anybody, you'll still be doing the right thing and setting a good example, and trust me it will enhance your hunting.

 

[KurtR]

That's the chance YOU take as well.


Well at least we agree that you're treating one of the primary rules of gun safety to be arbitrary and open to your interpretation based off the environment you're in.


Yep, that's one of the primary rules of gun safety. I think it's great you follow that one. But there's more than one, and it's not arbitrary or open to your interpretation.

What's the downside to using a scanner? Even if you never run across anybody, you'll still be doing the right thing and setting a good example, and trust me it will enhance your hunting.

I’m not saying I don’t use one. 46 years with six in the military and never had a negligent discharge. The environment I’m in definitely matters it’s not black or white. Use some common sense. If I point the gun and see a person I’m going to talk with them and will have the gun with me off safety with the other person I’m hunting with keeping there gun pointed at them because if they are out there it’s not for anything good. There is about a .000000056% chance of that happening.

If I’m hunting public land or small pieces I don’t scan with the gun.

 

[1000yards]

The environment I’m in definitely matters it’s not black or white. Use some common sense.

We're talking in circles here. We've already agreed that you are treating one of the primary rules of gun safety as if it's arbitrary and open to your interpretation. And you're on a public forum flaunting it like it's the right thing to do. How about you use some common sense and recognize that this is a place where people can come to learn, and you're giving advice from the position of a person who hunts this mythical land that no one else could ever enter.

 

[BluMtn]

You can't help him Kurt. I am in the same situation as you, 17,000 ac. and 500 head of cows in the middle of calving season. The coyotes have learned you don't come in till dark so you are on the lookout for the yotes coming in looking for a fresh meal. The odds of another human out there are less than winning the lottery.

On your side 1000yards you are correct in your ideas of gun safety IF you are in an area where there was a higher probability of humans being able to access the area.

 

[1000yards]

On your side 1000yards you are correct in your ideas of gun safety IF you are in an area where there was a higher probability of humans being able to access the area.

My point is that you guys believe yourselves capable of making the distinction between a property where you can ignore a primary rule of gun safety and a property where you can't. Like you have some sort of perfect probability calculator in your head: "this property has a .001% chance of running into a person so I won't use a spotter, this property has a 1.5% chance so I will". The better option is to just use a spotter, and that's a fact. You're choosing not to. The least you could do is not talk about it.

 

[BRTreedogs]

My point is that you guys believe yourselves capable of making the distinction between a property where you can ignore a primary rule of gun safety and a property where you can't. Like you have some sort of perfect probability calculator in your head: "this property has a .001% chance of running into a person so I won't use a spotter, this property has a 1.5% chance so I will". The better option is to just use a spotter, and that's a fact. You're choosing not to. The least you could do is not talk about it.

Usually when people are on private property they shouldn’t be on, it’s probably best to point a loaded gun at them on purpose.

 

[1000yards]

Usually when people are on private property they shouldn’t be on, it’s probably best to point a loaded gun at them on purpose.

I'm not saying don't point your gun at trespassers. These options are not mutually exclusive. You are still completely able to effectively point your gun at trespassers without breaking a primary rule of gun safety. Don't conflate following good gun safety and hunting habits with a self-defense situation.

 

[BluMtn]

Your percentage is a little high. On the place that I hunt coyotes on at night, the only access is a 3.5 mile walk down a private gravel road across 3 cattle guards with alarms on them, then you would have to walk past the house with 6 dogs barking at you and then another 1.5 miles to get to where I am located. That is the easiest way in.

Would I like to live in your world where every morning when you get up the blue birds are singing and the world is a Disney movie where all the animals get along and play and sing together, Heck yea.

But some of us live in the real world where we need to protect our investments, cause that is how we earn our livings.

 

[omicron1792]

That's the chance YOU take as well.


Well at least we agree that you're treating one of the primary rules of gun safety to be arbitrary and open to your interpretation based off the environment you're in.


Yep, that's one of the primary rules of gun safety. I think it's great you follow that one. But there's more than one, and it's not arbitrary or open to your interpretation.

What's the downside to using a scanner? Even if you never run across anybody, you'll still be doing the right thing and setting a good example, and trust me it will enhance your hunting.

Man. The virtue signaling is getting a bit old.

 

[1000yards]

Would I like to live in your world where every morning when you get up the blue birds are singing and the world is a Disney movie where all the animals get along and play and sing together, Heck yea.

But some of us live in the real world where we need to protect our investments, cause that is how we earn our livings.

You don't know anything about me. I haven't said anything in this thread about where I hunt, because it doesn't matter because these rules are not arbitrary.

I've engaged in this discussion because hopefully anybody who is on the fence about this can read through and make the right decision. In the real world, the conversation would be more like:
"You're breaking a primary rule of gun safety."
"Yeah but it's okay because..."
"No."
Full stop, conversation ends there.

 

[BluMtn]

I want to apologize for disrupting this thread on thermals. Carry on,

BluMtn