Thermal spotter advice.

[hillclimber]

Hi guys, I am looking towards buying a thermal spotting scope at the low to mid range price. I want it for foxing and possibly rabbits, I have never used one before so I am not familiar with the pros and cons of these units, thanks.

 

[Freeforester]

See the thread below:

For Sale: - INFIRAY FINDER FH35 V2 - ABSOLUTE STEAL !

www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk

 

[Will the chippy]

Just buy one of these and save the hassle of the mind bending array of specs from all other manufacturers. I use an infiray thermal. Not this one. And it's been excellent for the last 3 years.

 

[Wapinschaw]

I am also new to thermal imagers, and started to investigate them recently when on of my dogs was taken ill. I realised that I would not be able to find her in my wild acre of "garden" if she collapsed again so a thermal scope seemed the solution. I was given a couple to try on approval from my local RFD Grampian Guns, an Axion 2 XQ35 Pro and an HIKMICRO Lynx 2.0 My hands are badly arthritic and I found the quite compact Axion difficult to use. The HIKMICRO suited me much better, it is cylindrical and quite chunky by comparison. A couple of nights ago I scanned the field in front of my house in complete darkness and spotted three roe about 100 yards away. I took a photo , shown below with a daylight picture of possibly the same group about the same distance away taken yesterday. Note the same tree in the background.





I am impressed with the capability of the unit, at £880 or so competitively priced in the thermal market.

Two Labradors in total darkness about 40 yards away, partly in undergrowth.



The closer images are not that sharp, there is a bit of fuzziness because the dogs emit some body heat and I assume that is what the scope is seeing. A more expensive device might give sharper images but this is adequate for my requirements. As with any optic, it's probably best to get your hands on a few, have a good look through and see what suits you.