This is where I feel that digital scopes with ballistic calcs built in are really good for .22LR's or airguns with a very loopy trajectory or very tight MPBR's. My personal take is I cannot see the point of compromising on quality day optics when something like the Vulpine is available. You get the best of both worlds. Unless you are using a cartridge like a .22LR where being able to range and then have the scope adjust POI is really useful or maybe if the rifle/scope is literally a dedicated night only rifle for foxes. Otherwise, I want the highest quality day optics whenever possible but without compromising my ability to shoot at night.
I was one of the early adopters of the Vulpine. Been using it for many years now and I have never felt the need to change it.
They have a simple x1.3 ratio, so there is no pixellation as you crank up the zoom on your dayscope. You simply get a high quality picture of what your scope can see, so long as you feed it enough IR. As soon as you get over 50yds, I have not seen anything better since the old Drone Pro.
Scope wise, I have used many over the years but the best are March Compacts and Delta Titanium HD's for my money. I did recently try it on my Leica Amplus and was surprised to see if perform very well. I also have a T96 but that is on a rifle that I never shoot at night, so never tried it. I expect it would be less useful on that, as I think the focus adjustment stops at 50metres or so from memory.
No idea about new fangled torches. I have always used a Solarix SRX with a dimmable power wheel. You can see a long long way with it and the picture quality is decent. Where it becomes an issue is at close range. Even with the SRX wound right down power wise, you can white out a bit or get a weird looking picture at say 20yds or less. If I was shooting rats or something similar at close range with an air rifle, I think I would use a different system or definitely use an old T20 LED IR or similar so as not to overpower the short range picture with one of the higher power Laser IR's we tend to use for fox shooting at night or rabbit shooting at HMR ranges.
If I am after fallow that show in that last 30mins of legal shooting time when even the best day optics start to fail, you can just put the Vulpine on the back of the scope. Absolutely no need for IR at all during those dying moments of light. You get a fantastic shootable image up to the point where you are no longer legally allowed to shoot.
Power wise, the battery charges quick and lasts forever. I have never had mine run out in use. Mine has been out in the wet but never got soaked. I don't think they are waterproof, so that is not good for some people but if it is raining, you will not find me outside shooting. The only issue I have had with mine is that after a few years of going on and off scopes, the little 3d printed knurled knob thing that you screw it on with, sort of started twisting on itself and would not operate the clamp at all as the but became cross threaded and stuck. I had to cut if off with a hacksaw and sourced the correct length M4 bolt and nut which operate fine. I always have a little Victorinox knife in my pocket when shooting, so use the screwdriver attachment to tighten it up when setting off. That is the only thing that has failed in years of use. The rest works the same as the day I got it apart from being marked up from banging it on gateposts and fences etc.
