Polar Lynx
Well-Known Member
It's a good thing to have a thermal spotter with sensitivity adjustment possibilty. Makes a big difference day time and at open areas.
Is anyone using a thermal scope for general stalking?
- Thread starter kingstonandy
- Start date
Ah okay.
I didn`t see LRF mentioned in your original post as a requirement.
Rake Aboot
Well-Known Member
I have Glaucoma ( right eye) and a blind spot in my sight just off centre
I was struggling to pick stuff up on a lamp using glass and had to pinpoint quarry with bumps before looking for it in the scope
I moved to thermal on my .22 plus a thermal spotter
They are so game changing that I’ve put an Alpex 4k lrf on my deer rifle . The difference for me is amazing and this is how I’m going to keep shooting for much longer than was likey using glass.
I was struggling to pick stuff up on a lamp using glass and had to pinpoint quarry with bumps before looking for it in the scope
I moved to thermal on my .22 plus a thermal spotter
They are so game changing that I’ve put an Alpex 4k lrf on my deer rifle . The difference for me is amazing and this is how I’m going to keep shooting for much longer than was likey using glass.
Couldn’t agree more
63
Well-Known Member
I've used thermal extensively in hot places. Even when it is 45 or 50 Celsius animals or people still tend to stand out from their surroundings. The visual image in thermal isn't about absolute temperature but relative temperature - the image is formed because everything is a slightly different temperature. As every material absorbs heat and cools at different rates, even if it is hot and sunny all the trees, rocks, and other objects in front of you will be at different temperatures at any given point, allowing you to still 'see' the environment through thermal.
If you have a deer stood in front of, say, a wall, that will heat up to hotter than the body temperature of a deer on a sunny day, there will theoretically be two points in the day at which the wall and the deer are the same temperature and the deer won't be visible. This is known as the point of thermal crossover. In practice though, deer are not the same temperature all over owing the different thicknesses of fur, and modern thermals detect very very small variances in temperature, so I don't think it would present a practical problem except under really unusual and specific circumstances. For comparison when I was a youngster looking for buried IEDs in Iraq with a 2007 vintage digital thermal scope the thermal crossover period for dug earth vs undug earth was about three cigarettes at dawn and dusk each day. (30 mins)
If you have a deer stood in front of, say, a wall, that will heat up to hotter than the body temperature of a deer on a sunny day, there will theoretically be two points in the day at which the wall and the deer are the same temperature and the deer won't be visible. This is known as the point of thermal crossover. In practice though, deer are not the same temperature all over owing the different thicknesses of fur, and modern thermals detect very very small variances in temperature, so I don't think it would present a practical problem except under really unusual and specific circumstances. For comparison when I was a youngster looking for buried IEDs in Iraq with a 2007 vintage digital thermal scope the thermal crossover period for dug earth vs undug earth was about three cigarettes at dawn and dusk each day. (30 mins)
Me too, it's the sort of thing that teaches one to bide one's time.
@63 the voice of experience is always welcome, especially when linked to service (thankyou), but clearfell is a really noisy thermal environment -about as far from a flat wall, or bare earth as you can get- and deer are only fully visible within it when on the move. Thermal undoubtedly confers an advantage, but deer are still mostly hard to see when the sun's been on it.
Though to be fair, deer are hard to see in clearfell through glass as well.
I would say they’re actually easier to see through thermal, but it’s harder to see possible obstructions.
Yes. Though the dual channel feature is arguably more indispensable than drop compensation. I added a standalone laser rangefinder and dialled in the range using the control dial. The Thermion then adds this to the profile and the shot angle and shows the solution as a SPOA. It's a bit slower than the ping-and-shoot you get with the LRF models, but not that much slower.
That's what I'm trying to say:
1) it's easier to see on clearfell with thermal than conventional optics - but still hard until they move.
2) A bit of experience lets one know the difference between a clear shot and an obstructed one based on the relative intensity of the heat signature...
63
Well-Known Member
No worries. My comments were specifically about the thermal aspects of viewing stuff in the thermal spectrum - you can 'hide' by being the same temperature in the same way you can 'hide' in the visible spectrum by being the same colour, but it's a lot harder.
Hiding behind stuff is hiding behind stuff irrespective of which part of the spectrum you are looking in- clearfell isn't specifically a 'noisy thermal environment' its just a 'noisy' environment whether you're using visual light, thermal or IR.
Got it now!
Agree with all of that.
Best is just after rain on a windy day. They show up like bonfires then.
![IMG-20250218-WA0004[1].webp](https://www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk/data/attachments/359/359928-00be99f0ad79609b2da5f7c2159e4c7e.jpg?hash=7OsJYuqNOI "IMG-20250218-WA0004[1].webp")
BenBhoy
Well-Known Member
But the thermal scope isn't an illuminator. I think that's where the OP"s query was based on.From the shooting times..View attachment 406919
yes I know...but also said which is digital, so he has a digital scope, with a thermal you will get all the problems with "hot spots"
I switched from a S&B to an Alpex a year ago, and I'm definitely shooting more deer than I was. There are still times though when deer are in deep shadow when I can see them clearly through a thermal spotter but not through the scope, so I'm wondering about going all thermal.
To get the best out of a digital I said use an IR! Then their wheels fell off lol
Tim you said about the IR on the Apex the OP is currently using which he asked is that legal then you confused everyone with you post of various time.
now we are back to thermal which at least is the original question.
kenbro
Well-Known Member
Tim,
Have you given any thought as to which thermal sight you might prefer?
Tim,
Have you any experience with a quality thermal sight?
Have you given any consideration as to which you might get if you do decide to try?
I’ve got an expensive but older sight and a newer (Cheaper) modern one.
The ATN one is every bit as good as the older (2018) dearer one, that’s going off my limited time in the field trying to be serious.
Shot a couple of critters with the old one last year but nothing with the new one, but, just sitting there and observing and spotting sheep/ cattle and horses, fox shooting won’t ((If I can find one!) be a problem for the ATN.
Shoulda gotten summat with a finer reticle and LRF.
Having said that, at the ranges I hope to shoot at, a range finder isn’t a must out to around 165 yards if need be.
Ken.
No need as I manage quite well with my Xq38f and Drone 10 Digital scope as it copes with early morning late afternoon dark deer o'clock then beyond Deer legal time when I carry on foxing.
The clarity is very good so you can pick your way through to get a good line of sight with the IR switched on. A thermal will be feeding you the heat image and everything else will not be clear compared to a digital/IR image.
Just off stalking
kenbro
Well-Known Member
Did I mis-read where you said you were thinking of going all thermal?No need as I manage quite well with my Xq38f and Drone 10 Digital scope as it copes with early morning late afternoon dark deer o'clock then beyond Deer legal time when I carry on foxing.
The clarity is very good so you can pick your way through to get a good line of sight with the IR switched on. A thermal will be feeding you the heat image and everything else will not be clear compared to a digital/IR image.
Just off stalking
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