Hello Gents,
A year on since I posted this account as a reply to another Posting. Now revised /updated
WT1 75-3, superb piece of kit. Purchased April 2016. Report after 2 years usage. - my rating 5 star. Yes, I do know Clive, met him when when I visited his premises to purchase the Ward D800L, then WT1 75-3.
Each to their own, but Thermal for me every time; the positives far outweigh any negatives.
How I reached my verdict, I use the .223 40gn V-Max Homeloads,Chrono’d @ 3740fps:-
A brief history of my NV kit with .223 rifle, as a vermin controller for a syndicate game shoot covering approx. 16,000 acres with 43,000 mix of pheasant & partridge. (another 2000 acres added 2017)
1. Gen 1 Binoculars and PS22 Gen 2+ front attachment to Bushnell 4200 Elite optical scope with IR illuminator; limited magnification approx. 4 times. Clear identification of moving fox 75 – 100 yards
2 Pulsar Recon 750 spotter with Nightmaster 800 IR, Pulsar DFA75 front attachment to Bushnell 4200 Elite optical scope with Nightmaster 800 IR; limited magnification approx. 6 times. Clear identification of moving fox 150 yards.
3. Pulsar thermal HD50s spotter & Pulsar N870LRF(rangefinder 400 yards) with Nightmaster 800 IR, magnification approx. 8 times. Clear identification of moving fox 200yards. Swapped N870LRF to the Ward D800L Sightron scope combo, now 300yards identification.
4. Pulsar thermal HD50s spotter, Ward Thermal riflescope WT175-3, magnification 6, 12 or 24. Clear identification of moving fox, 300 yards. Longest dispatched fox to date with thermal scope, 348 yards.
Stage 3 was a good combo’ at the time, until one frustrating Fox stake-out, near partridge release pens, had me reaching for my cheque book to purchase the incredible Ward WT1 75-3thermal scope.
Situation, summers evening, dusk at 22.00hrs, dawn around 04.00hrs– set up 175 yards from partridge pens which had previously been raided by fox(s). As dawn approached, 02.45hrs, viewed fox with thermal spotter approx. 120 yards, an easy shot. Picked up .223 rifle with Pulsar N870LRF IR and couldn’t see a thing – a thin ground mist had rolled-in over the grass and my IR scope was “blind”, useless. Picked up thermal spotter and could again easily see fox, having waited 5 hours, particularly frustrating! To stop the possible carnage of another 50 plus partridge being decapitated I stood up, shouted and fox ran off.
Another instance where the WT1 75-3 thermal scope was of benefit. A late November fox stake-out observing a cover crop in the lee of a large privately owned wood. Already dispatched 2 foxs when I spotted another at 23.30hrs @ approx. 230yds, – BUT when viewing through WT1, in the backdrop 400 yards away, I also spotted a trespasser walking his dog among the trees in the privately owned wood – no torch – of course not, he was trespassing! Would not have noticed or seen him moving within the woods with IR scope, but thermal scope, yes!.
Thermal equipment is expensive, but given most Game Shoots charge around £50 per shot bird, making every 100 birds lost to fox predation a potential loss of £5000 to the Game Shoot, then it becomes cost effective.There are two of us controlling vermin on this Game Shoot, we now both have PulsarThermal spotters and superb WT1 75-3 scopes. Noted in my historic records from previous 12 seasons, without thermal equipment, the most foxes dispatched were127, the norm being around the 80 - 100 mark. Our combined fox tally this 2016/17 season is 293, and we are still seeing more foxes, post end of season. We had totally underestimated the number of foxes on /attracted to the Shoot.
N.B. I would also add that I’ve never lost zero with this WT1 scope, hot or cold weather and even after slight knocks, surprisingly fantastic!
Limitations.
Thermal is not at its best during a really hot summers day,or early hot summer evening, thermal requires to “see” heat contrasts. (Winter, anytime, there’s no problems.) So, for these hot daytime periods I have another.223 with Sightron optical scope fitted, come dusk I add the excellent Ward D800L IR rear attachment +Black Sun for early night use. (Useable magnification up to 14 times with Sightron 2.5-17.5 x 56 scope) Then about an hour after dark, when the ground has cooled down, I swap back to the .223 rifle with the WT175-3 thermal scope.
If you’ve not had that opportunity to examine the Ward WT1 75-3 Thermal scope yet, then if you live anywhere near Ashford, Kent, you could visit Clive Ward’s premises and see just how good his WT1 75-3 Thermal scope is:- base magnification is 6 times with progressively lower resolution at 12 & 24 at the quick press of a button. There is also the option to switch color pallets to optimize target and backdrop. Far superior to any of the Pulsar range of thermal scopes, IMHO.
Handheld thermal spotter resolution at standard 2 or 3 magnification, when doubled (4 or 6) on most units would result in poor optical pixilated quality, at this point I look through my WT1 75-3 Thermal scope for clarity and use the base 6x or stepped up 12x mag; 24 mag is useable but pixilated, but hopefully you will have already identified target. As always, identification of targets is paramount. I’ve gained much experience identifying species at those longer ranges using thermal, by observing the way an animal moves and hunts. Agreed if the animal is at a distance (300 yards), not moving, lying down, then identification using thermal can be difficult and unreliable, but at this same distance I found Gen 2+ or Digital IR imaging gave no advantage! A Keeper I know with an Archer Gen 3 unit also has the same difficulty at 300 yard distances.
However, the real massive benefit of THERMAL imaging for me, is the ability to "see" targets through fog, ground mist and rain, which I found near impossible with the Gen 2+ or Digital IR, still means I can continue with vermin control when other’s pack up and go home. As an instance last December, a chap with DronePro 15x mag, had to packup early when a slight mist hung over the ground, he could not view anything that night over 80 yards. Myself, no problem with the Thermal WT1, I continued to shoot until the early hours, dispatching 2 more foxes out to 230 yards.
Hope this account will be helpful to someone?
Best regards
RoyR
A year on since I posted this account as a reply to another Posting. Now revised /updated
WT1 75-3, superb piece of kit. Purchased April 2016. Report after 2 years usage. - my rating 5 star. Yes, I do know Clive, met him when when I visited his premises to purchase the Ward D800L, then WT1 75-3.
Each to their own, but Thermal for me every time; the positives far outweigh any negatives.
How I reached my verdict, I use the .223 40gn V-Max Homeloads,Chrono’d @ 3740fps:-
A brief history of my NV kit with .223 rifle, as a vermin controller for a syndicate game shoot covering approx. 16,000 acres with 43,000 mix of pheasant & partridge. (another 2000 acres added 2017)
1. Gen 1 Binoculars and PS22 Gen 2+ front attachment to Bushnell 4200 Elite optical scope with IR illuminator; limited magnification approx. 4 times. Clear identification of moving fox 75 – 100 yards
2 Pulsar Recon 750 spotter with Nightmaster 800 IR, Pulsar DFA75 front attachment to Bushnell 4200 Elite optical scope with Nightmaster 800 IR; limited magnification approx. 6 times. Clear identification of moving fox 150 yards.
3. Pulsar thermal HD50s spotter & Pulsar N870LRF(rangefinder 400 yards) with Nightmaster 800 IR, magnification approx. 8 times. Clear identification of moving fox 200yards. Swapped N870LRF to the Ward D800L Sightron scope combo, now 300yards identification.
4. Pulsar thermal HD50s spotter, Ward Thermal riflescope WT175-3, magnification 6, 12 or 24. Clear identification of moving fox, 300 yards. Longest dispatched fox to date with thermal scope, 348 yards.
Stage 3 was a good combo’ at the time, until one frustrating Fox stake-out, near partridge release pens, had me reaching for my cheque book to purchase the incredible Ward WT1 75-3thermal scope.
Situation, summers evening, dusk at 22.00hrs, dawn around 04.00hrs– set up 175 yards from partridge pens which had previously been raided by fox(s). As dawn approached, 02.45hrs, viewed fox with thermal spotter approx. 120 yards, an easy shot. Picked up .223 rifle with Pulsar N870LRF IR and couldn’t see a thing – a thin ground mist had rolled-in over the grass and my IR scope was “blind”, useless. Picked up thermal spotter and could again easily see fox, having waited 5 hours, particularly frustrating! To stop the possible carnage of another 50 plus partridge being decapitated I stood up, shouted and fox ran off.
Another instance where the WT1 75-3 thermal scope was of benefit. A late November fox stake-out observing a cover crop in the lee of a large privately owned wood. Already dispatched 2 foxs when I spotted another at 23.30hrs @ approx. 230yds, – BUT when viewing through WT1, in the backdrop 400 yards away, I also spotted a trespasser walking his dog among the trees in the privately owned wood – no torch – of course not, he was trespassing! Would not have noticed or seen him moving within the woods with IR scope, but thermal scope, yes!.
Thermal equipment is expensive, but given most Game Shoots charge around £50 per shot bird, making every 100 birds lost to fox predation a potential loss of £5000 to the Game Shoot, then it becomes cost effective.There are two of us controlling vermin on this Game Shoot, we now both have PulsarThermal spotters and superb WT1 75-3 scopes. Noted in my historic records from previous 12 seasons, without thermal equipment, the most foxes dispatched were127, the norm being around the 80 - 100 mark. Our combined fox tally this 2016/17 season is 293, and we are still seeing more foxes, post end of season. We had totally underestimated the number of foxes on /attracted to the Shoot.
N.B. I would also add that I’ve never lost zero with this WT1 scope, hot or cold weather and even after slight knocks, surprisingly fantastic!
Limitations.
Thermal is not at its best during a really hot summers day,or early hot summer evening, thermal requires to “see” heat contrasts. (Winter, anytime, there’s no problems.) So, for these hot daytime periods I have another.223 with Sightron optical scope fitted, come dusk I add the excellent Ward D800L IR rear attachment +Black Sun for early night use. (Useable magnification up to 14 times with Sightron 2.5-17.5 x 56 scope) Then about an hour after dark, when the ground has cooled down, I swap back to the .223 rifle with the WT175-3 thermal scope.
If you’ve not had that opportunity to examine the Ward WT1 75-3 Thermal scope yet, then if you live anywhere near Ashford, Kent, you could visit Clive Ward’s premises and see just how good his WT1 75-3 Thermal scope is:- base magnification is 6 times with progressively lower resolution at 12 & 24 at the quick press of a button. There is also the option to switch color pallets to optimize target and backdrop. Far superior to any of the Pulsar range of thermal scopes, IMHO.
Handheld thermal spotter resolution at standard 2 or 3 magnification, when doubled (4 or 6) on most units would result in poor optical pixilated quality, at this point I look through my WT1 75-3 Thermal scope for clarity and use the base 6x or stepped up 12x mag; 24 mag is useable but pixilated, but hopefully you will have already identified target. As always, identification of targets is paramount. I’ve gained much experience identifying species at those longer ranges using thermal, by observing the way an animal moves and hunts. Agreed if the animal is at a distance (300 yards), not moving, lying down, then identification using thermal can be difficult and unreliable, but at this same distance I found Gen 2+ or Digital IR imaging gave no advantage! A Keeper I know with an Archer Gen 3 unit also has the same difficulty at 300 yard distances.
However, the real massive benefit of THERMAL imaging for me, is the ability to "see" targets through fog, ground mist and rain, which I found near impossible with the Gen 2+ or Digital IR, still means I can continue with vermin control when other’s pack up and go home. As an instance last December, a chap with DronePro 15x mag, had to packup early when a slight mist hung over the ground, he could not view anything that night over 80 yards. Myself, no problem with the Thermal WT1, I continued to shoot until the early hours, dispatching 2 more foxes out to 230 yards.
Hope this account will be helpful to someone?
Best regards
RoyR
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