When using digital Nightvision you do have to think about your IR and the one you choose, "white outs" can be avoided and fixed with an IR that has a dimmer on it , there is is benifits to both LED and Laser IR's and you have to choose what is suitable for you, there is also merit in different IR frequencies such as using an 840 nm IR is visible in some instances where a 940nm IR is not but the distance it shines are different, the 840nm will go further (just an example) so yes there is a bit of thought needed when using digital IR
I have had a lot of discussion over the the use of thermal rifle scopes over the years and some are genuinely very good but all the problems are the same, The thermal will pick up an image through even some of the thickest cover but a bullet might not penetrate it, I have had incidents during the day where I have spotted deer in the thermal 2 even three layers of trees in but could not see them through a day scope no matter what mag and that in itself worries me. Thin branches are "bled" out in the image becoming invisible and distance between the target and those branches are also hard to ascertain so could result in a missed or a wounded animal.
Where the thermal does come into its own is where you have long open areas , with ample back stop even on hedgerows at the edge of fields .
Now last year I shot over 3000 rabbits mostly all with Digital NV , plenty of footage doing so although that means nothing, I have also had on test the Thermion and the Trail in fact I had the Trail LRF last summer to test the LRF , now yes they are excellent, but and here is the kicker for me, did it improve the numbers of bunnies shot? no it did not, it did improve the number of bunnies seen when scanning with the rifle, however, I am not a fan of scanning grounds using the rifle I prefer the monocular or binoculars for spotting and scanning, if not anything but for safety sake.
In fact my biggest bug bare on the use of a thermal rifle scope is how it is used by the end user, at around £4000 people think it is the be all and end all. The scope, whether a Thermion, Apex, Trail etc etc, starts to become not just a rifle scope but used as a spotter by the user as well. This in itself is dangerous, with every scan of a field you are pointing a muzzle of a loaded rifle at the same time. No matter how safe you are you are still pointing a loaded rifle at what your looking at, whether that be "two guys walking in the trees" a cow, a sheep or a fox you are still pointing a loaded rifle everywhere you look. This complacency has led to accidents, the user starts to rely on the technology he has paid for, whether intended to or not EVERYTHING you look at is now a target, safe or otherwise. Because of the tech and its price users tend to not use their spotters and just use the scope and in doing so they inadvertently stop using their own eyes and common sense.
You could arguably say you could do the same with digital NV but because of the limitations of not being able to see heavy cover and price you are more likely to invest in a good spotter thermal or otherwise, the added benefit to the spotter is that you can use it for other applications due to not being restricted to being on top of a rifle.
If you can afford both a thermal spotter and a thermal rifle scope you have to bare one thing in mind. In Scotland at the moment it is illegal to shoot deer with ANY scope that provides a digitally enhanced image day or night, so that rules out using thermal and Digital NV scopes for stalking deer in Scotland, where with a spotter like a Helion you can run that totally legally alongside your day rifle set up with the added benefit of a good lamp, scope mounted or otherwise, you can go from day deer stalking to night time foxing without the change of a rifle or having to charge up batteries.
The cost of Thermal is still expensive , with the Thermion starting from £3500 and a spotters starting from £1000 the price does soon add up, and I cannot say that retailers particularly benefit from this premium cost either as many barely make £100 from a sale of one. The sad part is that however you look at it you have to do your research. As many on here have noticed there is a lot of mixed advice on here and sometimes it seems like guys have an unlimited amount of money, and I guess many do, but take it from someone that barely can afford to pay full price for a set of scope rings, it pays to do your research.
and i can only recall one occasion wher a fox was curled up sleeping and had zero features to identify it, as i got closer it upped and ran off over the hill by which time i could see it clearly was a fox.
or maybe im just a lucky guesser.
