Sako75Hunter
Well-Known Member
Apologies straight away for yet another thread on thermal spotters, but the field seems to be one that's developing very rapidly, so I'd like to try to have the most up-to-date info before taking the plunge in something completely new to me.
The ground where I hunt sika mostly has a very thick cover of young sitka spruce and other trees mixed together. The spot I shoot from is at the top of an escarpment, so I spend my time glassing the surroundings from there, looking to catch what is often just the brief appearance of a back leg or the head of a deer. Very often I don't see anything and come home empty handed, even though there are more than likely deer there. So I'm thinking a thermal spotter could come in really handy for:
a) Knowing if there are even any deer on the ground at all
b) If so, having an idea in advance whether they're hinds, stags or what
c) Knowing where they are so I can be ready if a shot presents itself
I wouldn't need to spot beyond about 200-250m (it would mostly be in the 50-150m range), and it would be used entirely in daylight hours. The weather conditions can be quite rough here, with frequent rain, mist, fog or strong winds, so it would have to be a very tough and reliable, totally weatherproof unit.
I've spent a bit of time looking at past SD threads on this, and my conclusion so far is that a Pulsar xm30 is about the most I can stretch to money-wise, and at the same time about the least I should be going for in terms of performance. I know that the xq38 has a better spec as well as a built-in range finder (which would be great), but I just can't afford that model at the moment, a situation which is unlikely to change. And I'm not at all sure I'd want to be spending more than that kind of money on a spotter, even if I could.
So my question is: are there any other thermal spotters that cost around the same (or less) that I should consider before splashing on the Pulsar xm30?
Any advice much appreciated.
The ground where I hunt sika mostly has a very thick cover of young sitka spruce and other trees mixed together. The spot I shoot from is at the top of an escarpment, so I spend my time glassing the surroundings from there, looking to catch what is often just the brief appearance of a back leg or the head of a deer. Very often I don't see anything and come home empty handed, even though there are more than likely deer there. So I'm thinking a thermal spotter could come in really handy for:
a) Knowing if there are even any deer on the ground at all
b) If so, having an idea in advance whether they're hinds, stags or what
c) Knowing where they are so I can be ready if a shot presents itself
I wouldn't need to spot beyond about 200-250m (it would mostly be in the 50-150m range), and it would be used entirely in daylight hours. The weather conditions can be quite rough here, with frequent rain, mist, fog or strong winds, so it would have to be a very tough and reliable, totally weatherproof unit.
I've spent a bit of time looking at past SD threads on this, and my conclusion so far is that a Pulsar xm30 is about the most I can stretch to money-wise, and at the same time about the least I should be going for in terms of performance. I know that the xq38 has a better spec as well as a built-in range finder (which would be great), but I just can't afford that model at the moment, a situation which is unlikely to change. And I'm not at all sure I'd want to be spending more than that kind of money on a spotter, even if I could.
So my question is: are there any other thermal spotters that cost around the same (or less) that I should consider before splashing on the Pulsar xm30?
Any advice much appreciated.
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