Thermal spotter in daylight

[North Stalker]

Looks like we won't agree on this one! I have spent the best art of my life working with deer, been involved with
of out of season and night licenses don't have a problem with them when they are absolutely necessary however
night licenses seem to be being issued as a matter of course these days not as a last resort as they were supposed
to be.
Now the Scottish Government are looking at changing the law on the use of thermal at the request of SNH
which of course are a government body.
It sits well with the governments idea of a massive reduction in deer numbers in keeping with their ideas on rewilding
Not good for estates and those that make their living from deer, not good for recreational stalkers,certainly not good for the deer and ultimately not good for the countryside.
Short term benefit for contract stalkers but will benefit no one in the long run.
Mass culling of deer as the result of poor forest design it boils my p@@s

Fair point, at least you can justify your statement, unlike most who just come out with the "It's not sporting" or "Clearly you can't manage the deer correctly" statements which appear on here all to often.

I've been and am still involved with both sides. A time and a place, yes. Now a days with woods/forests being very commercialised and timber being relatively cheap, every tree is a valued commodity and the deer do pay the price for this.

 

[Cyres]

Indispensable if your stalking roe in cereal or setaside grass fields but not always infallible as I found out this September, took a friend out stalking and crept into a 2 acre block of really thick setaside, remarked to him as I scanned it that a giraffe could hide in it, with that an unseen roe buck stood up not 30 yds in front of us.

I deployed sticks but managed to drop them and off bounced my/his buck.

such is life.

D

 

[wytonpjs]

They are invaluable but not infallible! I've spent a good 30 minutes with both myself and a trainee trying to visually spot a roe that stood out on thermal as clear as day but we could just not see using binos. We eventually found it but that would have been a missed deer if we had not been using thermal. Equally, they do not see through trees, into dips or round corners and I too have "bounced" deer that I assumed were not there as a result of quickly scanning with TI. I see them as an extremely useful tool where deer are very wary or skitty to disturbance - there are equally invaluable for follow-up action if that's necessary. They do not totally replace binos but compliment them. Picking up on the other theme, I also have a Thermion on a .243 for fox shooting - would I use it for shooting deer at night if it was legalised? Probably not as unless the animal was very close, the resolution just isn't good enough to confirm sex especially after antlers have been cast.

 

[North Stalker]

Picking up on the other theme, I also have a Thermion on a .243 for fox shooting - would I use it for shooting deer at night if it was legalised? Probably not as unless the animal was very close, the resolution just isn't good enough to confirm sex especially after antlers have been cast.

As you'd be authorised with a night licence anyway, sex would not be an issue as the authorisation permits all deer, all sex for the period. There are some exceptions to this before anyone starts.

 

[slider]

They are invaluable but not infallible! I've spent a good 30 minutes with both myself and a trainee trying to visually spot a roe that stood out on thermal as clear as day but we could just not see using binos. We eventually found it but that would have been a missed deer if we had not been using thermal. Equally, they do not see through trees, into dips or round corners and I too have "bounced" deer that I assumed were not there as a result of quickly scanning with TI. I see them as an extremely useful tool where deer are very wary or skitty to disturbance - there are equally invaluable for follow-up action if that's necessary. They do not totally replace binos but compliment them. Picking up on the other theme, I also have a Thermion on a .243 for fox shooting - would I use it for shooting deer at night if it was legalised? Probably not as unless the animal was very close, the resolution just isn't good enough to confirm sex especially after antlers have been cast.

First time I used my thermal I stalked a fermenting silage bale that was part hidden by a bush...…….

 

[The Singing Stalker]

First time I used my thermal I stalked a fermenting silage bale that was part hidden by a bush...…….

Oh the amount of times........
out after bunnies..... Stalked into a fresh pile of horse pooh.
Out after a muntie and saw a heatsource before dawn, stood and waited as I thought it was laid up. Turned out to be the remains of a fire for leaves!!!!
There are others......

 

[bogtrotter]

Oh the amount of times........
out after bunnies..... Stalked into a fresh pile of horse pooh.
Out after a muntie and saw a heatsource before dawn, stood and waited as I thought it was laid up. Turned out to be the remains of a fire for leaves!!!!
There are others......

Yes know someone who shall remain nameless ,well we will see lol who counted a group of stags in a stubble field
the following night the group had grown in size turns out the farmer had been dropping piles of manure prior to
ploughing.
Funny yes! Harmless yes! But it illustrates my point that while thermal is useful it needs to be operated by someone
who knows 100% what they are looking at before taking a shot.
Would just add that the person I'm talking of had no intention of shooting, unlike the idiot that shot the calf ,he was merely trying to assess deer numbers in an area that was suffering damage.
My fear is that if the Scottish Government do legalise it for shooting of deer then we will have numpties roaming
around at night taking pot shots at anything with a heat source.

 

[Cyres]

When we first had a thermal spent 30 mins stalking a hot pile of horse dung. Yes they are the usual gremlins but on the plus side good for spotting hedgehogs which are pretty rare around us. Other bonus is they are good for woodcock as the head is so hot and stand out well on grass fields. Electric transformers can be a source of mystery esp when in woods. Never stop learning when using a thermal day and night. Incidentally exceptional for bat surveys esp if you put a lamp on to attract insects and the bats very quickly home in and they are bright white.

D

 

[Otto68]

I get the benefit of a thermal at night foxing and spying whats about, but what real world benefit is there in a thermal in daylight over a good pair of bins?
Open ground? Woodland? In thick cover?
What am I missing?

 

[Otto68]

I get the benefit of a thermal at night foxing and spying whats about, but what real world benefit is there in a thermal in daylight over a good pair of bins?
Open ground? Woodland? In thick cover?
What am I missing?

As other people have said, they are good in clearfell
Roe are very hard to spot in clearfell, mibby just my eyes tho.
Waste of time when sun comes up,spend half your time glassing tree stumps