Thermal vs night vision

That’s not strictly true; About 16 years ago a fox shooter was charged after shooting a man using binoculars to watch badgers, he was using a lamp and thought the reflection of the binos was a fox, He was charged and luckily for him he was cleared at Aylesbury Crown Court
Would rather not comment on that one, seriously not good
 
Here’s a tale to send a chill up your hoop .
When I was a keeper many moons ago we used to have to fox 4 nights a week on the back of the Subaru .Me shooting and other beat lamping while the head drove .This particulate night we drove into a field and on with the lamp ,pair of eyes far end of the field about 300 yards away .I looked through the scope of the .222 but couldn’t make out anything suffice to say it appeared to be on a dry stone wall .I leant in the cab and asked the driver to get closer .Crept up to within 150 ish and on with lamp .Still no clear definition and the head telling me to shoot it anyway which I refrained from doing so .The head drove right up to it and turns out it was a women bottle feeding a goat kid that had moved closer to the wall wondering what we were doing .The head being of a certain persuasion gave her a right roasting like it was her fault .
Im just glad I never went with the then mentality to shoot at eyes and worry about it later .
He never questioned me after that night .
As we know, no body no shot, no way!
 
Pard good to well over 300 yards with right IR .The IR is something that is overlooked I’ve found .Blame the NV when in fact it’s the IR .The unit can’t see without decent IR .
Agreed, after speaking to Clive I bought new ir for my yukon dedicated nv unit. Wow its like getting a new scope, incredible. Just like to add, I had great communication with Clive before buying & during and delivery was pretty quick. 👍
 
Personally I prefer night vision it allows you to clearly identify what your looking at within the ir’s range. But on the other hand thermal allows you to see a clear heat source making it easier to pick up your target.
 
Personally I prefer night vision it allows you to clearly identify what your looking at within the ir’s range. But on the other hand thermal allows you to see a clear heat source making it easier to pick up your target.
You just described the difference between resolution and contrast
NV units have (and will always have) higher resolution than thermal.
That's principally down to the wavelength they work at (NV around 1 micron, thermal around 10 microns) which in turn sets limits on how small the sensor pixels can be.
Lots of small pixels will give a more detailed image.
However, because NV is a mono image (everything is a shade of grey) and there is often little between the shade of grey produced by a potential target and it's background when illuminated by IR, the result is that NV is inherently a low contrast technology which can make spotting a target difficult.
Thermal, on the other hand is a low resolution technology. The sensor pixels are much larger and there are many fewer of them in a thermal sensor.
However, thermal images have much higher contrast than NV because the temperature difference between most potential quarry and it's background is enough to make the quarry easily visible.
So, thermal for spotting because it's easier to find a potential target and NV for shooting because NV gives a more detailed image of the target.
That works for many people and I'm not going to knock them for it.
However, in trained hands, top end thermal scopes have for a few years been more than capable of correctly identifying targets out to the maximum range that any sensible, safe shot would be taken.

Cheers

Bruce
 
One whole week in to my Pulsar Axion2 35QS (I think!) and it is definitely a game changer but perhaps only if you use it correctly?
On three outings so far I have been astonished at the distances it picks up even the smallest of heat signatures (gosh - this thermal speak is easy) from mice through rats, sheep, cows etc…. - it really is an early warning system but, and it is a big but, I do not think it has sufficient picture clarity to 100% guarantee that what you see is what you think it is - the acid test would have to be would you take a shot based only on that sight picture? Coukd you honestly tell the difference between a fix and the farmer’s pet moggie? The answer is no and most definitely so. This is not to in any way diminish my view on this quite stunning piece of kit - it really is fantastic and does bring a whole new dimension and level of enjoyment to a night at the foxes. However for 100% identification and cognisant of my limited NV experience, the Pulsar 008P and a good IR is IMHO unbeatable. Used together I have already found the Axion and 008P to be an absolutely lethal combination - one to spot at quite crazy distances, without any detection by intended quarry, and the other to determine shootability and only when sure take the shot.
As above I am only one week in so with greater familiarity and more outings I may well revise this view but these are my honest thoughts thus far.
🦊🦊
Between a fox and a cat, 100%! Spend a bit more time using it and you’ll see, if all else fails wait for it to move and you will generally positively ID any quarry.

However fox and some breeds of dog is where it falls down, particularly if that dog has made a habit of getting into the chicken pen and killing chickens at night. (Not me but it did happen)

Other than ratting, where I just can’t justify the expense, NV with a thermal spotter is the way to go. 100% positive ID and you can see anything between you and the target, whether that’s undergrowth or fence wire, plus what’s behind it.
 
No question more potential for a possible mistake with thermal on paper at least compared to good night vision ( have both) scope, but if using thermal scope as should be used not going to happen.
Problem been the person that uses it, and some not fit to shovel .... !
 
No question more potential for a possible mistake with thermal on paper at least compared to good night vision ( have both) scope, but if using thermal scope as should be used not going to happen.
Problem been the person that uses it, and some not fit to shovel .... !
So, how do you do it with a thermal to avoid hitting anything in the way?
 
He’s saying that thermal has a habit of looking through minor foliage to reveal heat source
Pull the trigger you may hit some of this causing a wounding or worse still total deflection .NV allows you to see these bullet path fouls .
 
Ok thanks, personally don’t take those kind of shots for the reasons mentioned, thermal mounted on 17 rem, very frangible bullet.
 
Also have longbow nv mounted on 22 250, with dragonfly and again unless clear sight picture no shot for me, hope that helps.
 
Between a fox and a cat, 100%! Spend a bit more time using it and you’ll see, if all else fails wait for it to move and you will generally positively ID any quarry.

However fox and some breeds of dog is where it falls down, particularly if that dog has made a habit of getting into the chicken pen and killing chickens at night. (Not me but it did happen)

Other than ratting, where I just can’t justify the expense, NV with a thermal spotter is the way to go. 100% positive ID and you can see anything between you and the target, whether that’s undergrowth or fence wire, plus what’s behind it.
I do hope so and indeed as experience grows so does my ability to distinguish different creatures in pitch dark. Last time out I watched two rats in full hunt/scavenge mode working along a drystone wall - stunningly clear pictures. Should have photographed/filmed them!
Already looking forward to tomorrow night!!
🦊🦊
 
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