Thermal scopes….

[Tim.243]

Legislation Health & Safety and Welfare best practice guides | The Deer Initiative

www.thedeerinitiative.co.uk

Don't confuse night shooting under licence with shooting during the legal daylight hours during which it may be dark.

Thank you also Pork Chops, it was the "best practice " wording which made my nose twitch. Quite often the way things are worded sound set in stone much like the "you must have a smart meter fitted" tosh from voice on the phone.
Still not convinced but as I don't need one the posting might help someone.
Tim

 

[StephenToast]

Thank you also Pork Chops, it was the "best practice " wording which made my nose twitch. Quite often the way things are worded sound set in stone much like the "you must have a smart meter fitted" tosh from voice on the phone.
Still not convinced but as I don't need one the posting might help someone.
Tim

If you are issued a licence you have to follow the terms of that licence, otherwise you are breaking the law. There isn't any wiggle room. It says quite clearly you cannot use a thermal sight. NV and thermal is really new to me but to be honest what I have seen, I would prefer a thermal scope to Night Vision, god knows why they differentiate but that's the rules for now. There's lots of stuff I don't agree with in the deer act etc - but I obviously comply with.

Personally I would get rid of the deer act all together but that's a different discussion.

 

[artschool]

Have you looked at the Zeiss DTC 3. It’s thermal that you can just add on to your day scope.

no need to adjust for a rear add on and it can be switched between rifles.

 

[mealiejimmy]

Have you looked at the Zeiss DTC 3. It’s thermal that you can just add on to your day scope.

no need to adjust for a rear add on and it can be switched between rifles.

There are several different thermal front add-ons available
Pulsar, HIK, IRay, Leica, Zeiss and Swarovski all make them
The Zeiss is nothing special and like it's big brand buddies (Swaro and Leica) it's way overpricecd for what it is.

Cheers

Bruce

 

[kenbro]

There are several different thermal front add-ons available
Pulsar, HIK, IRay, Leica, Zeiss and Swarovski all make them
The Zeiss is nothing special and like it's big brand buddies (Swaro and Leica) it's way overpricecd for what it is.

Cheers

Bruce

Don’t the front add ons tend to lose zero, whereas rear add ons don’t?
Ken.

 

[artschool]

Don’t the front add ons tend to lose zero, whereas rear add ons don’t?
Ken.

not the decent ones from zeiss etc. i can even move mine from a 308 to a 22lr as it has up to 4 different zeros.

 

[mealiejimmy]

Don’t the front add ons tend to lose zero, whereas rear add ons don’t?
Ken.

Maintaining a reasonably accurate zero with a front add-on is 99% down to the adaptor that holds the add-on onto the dayscope. If a good quality adaptor, such as those made by Rusan is used then a front add-on can hold zero reasonably well
As for rear add-ons:
1. You can't have a thermal rear add-on because the wavelength of radiation detected by thermal imagers does not pass through glass
2 Rear NV add-ons don't lose zero because they are only looking at the dayscope reticle, so if the dayscope is zeroed it will still be accurate with the rear add-on fitted

Cheers

Bruce

 

[kenbro]

Thank you, Sir.
Ken.

 

[Mr. Gain]

Front attachments are a waste of time if you require good accuracy.

I beg to differ. I use a Pulsar Krypton and find it no bar to accuracy. Indeed the fine reticle of the host scope provides a cleaner point of aim than most dedicated thermal scopes, and the image retains its quality for longer as you zoom in. It is nevertheless essential to calibrate any front add-on properly. You cannot assume it will put the bullet onto point of aim straight out of the box.

 

[SussexSteve]

Are you using the pard correctly should be good for 200m with the inbuilt IR. Other than that get an additional IR

 

[SussexSteve]

I take it you've pulled the IR lens out.

First mistake most male

 

[cookingfat]

Do English deer night licences permit the use of thermal?

NV been dreadful here for humidity the last week or so. 50m max visibility.

I think you’re right, shooting deer under license at night is not permitted with a thermal yet!
Someone else said it’s difficult to sex deer with a thermal and this is true if the weather conditions are damp and that’s the same for some NV’s, but if conditions are good( dry and not humid) then I don’t find a problem, I was out foxing two nights ago and came across a group of prickets and bucks, you could see every hair and no problem ID’ing they where bucks, I use an infiRay Rico RH50 which gives a fantastic picture even on high mag.
I think the mistakes will be made if night shooting is permitted with thermals as people will go out when weather conditions are bad and still shoot,
As NE and FC won’t the fallow numbers reduced maybe thermals could be used after Nov 1st then it wouldn’t mater which was shot.

 

[StephenToast]

First mistake most male

I made this mistake. Had to get my friend over to look at it for me.

Felt very silly afterwards.

 

[Loler UK]

I beg to differ. I use a Pulsar Krypton and find it no bar to accuracy. Indeed the fine reticle of the host scope provides a cleaner point of aim than most dedicated thermal scopes, and the image retains its quality for longer as you zoom in. It is nevertheless essential to calibrate any front add-on properly. You cannot assume it will put the bullet onto point of aim straight out of the box.

Sorry I should have been clearer, taking them on and off is a waste of time as the zero often wonders, the picture quality is also no where near as good which makes shot placement less accurate. I have also used the krypton it was fine for closer range jobs so long as you calibrated it every time it was attached. A friend had even worse shifts in poi than me on his. I think of you have a much longer pic rail with a proper flip mount you could eliminate the problem of returning to zero but the extra weight is significant

 

[artschool]

Sorry I should have been clearer, taking them on and off is a waste of time as the zero often wonders, the picture quality is also no where near as good which makes shot placement less accurate. I have also used the krypton it was fine for closer range jobs so long as you calibrated it every time it was attached. A friend had even worse shifts in poi than me on his. I think of you have a much longer pic rail with a proper flip mount you could eliminate the problem of returning to zero but the extra weight is significant

i take my thermal on and off and the zero remains fine.

i don’t remove the mount that is fixed to the scope. that stays on all the time.

 

[Tim.243]

I think you’re right, shooting deer under license at night is not permitted with a thermal yet!
Someone else said it’s difficult to sex deer with a thermal and this is true if the weather conditions are damp and that’s the same for some NV’s, but if conditions are good( dry and not humid) then I don’t find a problem, I was out foxing two nights ago and came across a group of prickets and bucks, you could see every hair and no problem ID’ing they where bucks, I use an infiRay Rico RH50 which gives a fantastic picture even on high mag.
I think the mistakes will be made if night shooting is permitted with thermals as people will go out when weather conditions are bad and still shoot,
As NE and FC won’t the fallow numbers reduced maybe thermals could be used after Nov 1st then it wouldn’t mater which was shot.

Watching fallow last night with this years youngsters working a recent cut pea field all independent in a loose group,
it was around 9.30 using a hand held thermal.
This group is around 8-10 turning up for the first time this year (shot a lone buck) a couple of years ago, The big boys are not on this farm but with 4 does in the group and 50/50 in the others, also 3 woods to hide a small army they could well turn up.

Now it could be 14! We don't have hard winters like when I was a lad so food is easy and cover plentiful so in 6 weeks they will be a bit bigger but not by a great deal.
If they get in the fenced off for muntjac apple nursery 2 years of growth will be ****ed, it is the date that they can't be shot in this case with the youngsters being of good size and able to feed on there own.

It might be a case with the trend in milder seasons to move the season fwd a month as from what I saw last night which is not just an isolated case.
Flip it around to UK wild boar who can and do cause far more damage per animal as the rooting of ground for starters
" look at the US and Australia"

Do I want to shoot them at night. No
If I could trim up a few before November Yes
Will they melt away and I will be chasing my arse. More than lightly lol

Footage from different farm with bean stubble, that is know ripped up so they leave to find other food, only managed one Buck from them so grim %

 

[User00038]

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[Mr. Gain]

Sorry I should have been clearer, taking them on and off is a waste of time as the zero often wonders, the picture quality is also no where near as good which makes shot placement less accurate. I have also used the krypton it was fine for closer range jobs so long as you calibrated it every time it was attached. A friend had even worse shifts in poi than me on his. I think of you have a much longer pic rail with a proper flip mount you could eliminate the problem of returning to zero but the extra weight is significant

Your experience clearly differs from mine. I can remove & replace my Krypton time after time with no zero shift. The picture is also more detailed than with a dedicated thermal scope (extra-large, dense sensor accurately magnified by best-quality glass). Clearly you and your mate didn't get on with the ones you have used; but honestly, the radical difference between your experience (which I'm genuinely sorry to hear about) and mine (which tends to see me leave my dedicated thermal scope in the cabinet and take the Krypton) indicates that neither your experience nor mine is universal. I guess all we can say is that front-mounted thermal doesn't suit every shooter, or every rifle/day-scope combination.

 

[Clive Ward]

I currently have a pard ir scope on my .243, works brilliantly at dusk when there is enough ambient ir light, once it needs to use its own Ir light (once it’s dark) visibility distance is really reduced and if there is any kind of moisture in the air you can’t see beyond about 30yds of you’re lucky. Iv also got a pulsar thermal spotter, brilliant for scanning around to see where to head and to keep an eye on footpath people not where they’re meant to be! I’m debating getting a thermal scope to go on the gun but have no idea what’s good and what’s bad. Makes and specifications Etc. What’s everyone’s thoughts on what I should look at. It’s really frustrating when you know the deer are there and in range but you just can’t get a clear enough image thro the ir scope. Beginning to wonder if I should just go back to using a lamp but then they know where I am! Has anyone got a really good set up? Thanks

I would suggest fitting a Dark Engine BLADE to the scope you already have:

Black Sun Dark Engine BLADE IR illuminator

www.nightvisionstore.co.uk

It will completely transform it, without completely ruining the ergonomics.

We're in Ashford, Kent so you could come over and try out the IR before purchase, (and we could check your setup) as well as look at some thermal rifle scopes for comparison.

Just drop me a message to arrange it.


Cheers





Clive

 

[It’s a girl with a gun]

I just looked up my license and you’re right, it says no thermal scope, that hadn’t even crossed my mind that you couldn’t use them. Lucky iv not just splashed out on one then . Thanks for bringing that up.Does anyone know why?

Going to have a decent look in to sorting this pard out as it defiantly used to be alot clearer than it is now and I’m sure the weather hasn’t changed that much. I mean the first winter I had it I must have shot 50+ with it but at this rate I’ll be lucky to get 10 this winter. Thanks very much