Dumb Luck!

[slim_shady]

When I returned to the office yesterday around 5 pm, to my pleasant surprise was a package from Optics Planet with my name on it sitting on the front counter. Whooo Hoooo its here I thought to myself. Once open I now had my new Leupold tracker thermal mono in hand! There was no way I wasn't going to head out to the hay fields to try it out.

There was a spot where on previous outings I had seen coyotes, and figured it would be worth a try to go setup in the truck with my foxpro to see if I could coax anything out. It was about 6:45 and just dark when I was within 50 yards of the spot when I decided to stop short and take look to see if anything was out and about.

Once out and up on the running board of the Suburban I spotted a Yote bounding across the hay field about 150 yards away. It was one of those situations where I could ether take a shot, or watch him disappear in the brush which he was rapidly closing the gap on.

Boom. Why watch when you can take a shot. A miss, after 3 more shots he was gone. I panned back to take another quick scan of the field, and at my 9 pm was a boar who had just walked out and into the hay field. By his pace it was clear he was spooked and taking a shot was even more awkward hanging over the passenger window, but thought it I didn't take a shot he would be gone too.

Boom. "Thud", Ya! Oh no he's up and on the move again, slower but moving away just the same. Next I start lobbing in mortars like my hero Dr Sus. Then just when he was about to reach the crest of a draw and disappear I launch one last round at him and the report of the distinctive "Thud" echos back. But he's out of view. I jump back into the truck to close the gap just in case he's still able to get up and run again.

Within seconds I was in range, and he was down and in the headlights. Just having donated my frozen stash of cubed pork out of my freezer I thought about taking the back straps when I got a whiff of him he was a bit on the rank side. I decided to drag him back to a spot I could come back the next night as a bait spot for Yotes.

#2 for 2017

 

[BDubbs]

nice hog! not sure that the good doc is "hero" material though lol

 

[Chopperdrvr]

Congrats on the new toy and good shooting for number two of the year.

 

[pruhdlr]

How do you like that Tracker ?? --- pruhdlr

 

[Curly Shuffle]

Good porker! BANG BANG!!

 

[Cazz]

Nice!

 

[Ratdog68]

Good hog down ! Now, smoke you some 'yotes.

 

[djones]

... like my hero Dr Sus.

way to lob them in there ss!

 

[theblakester]

Nice! Good work!

 

[FrankT]

Love the dead pork but how about a report on the tracker??

 

[gshock]

Good job Dave! Yeah how about a report on the tracker? Lol!

 

[Curly Shuffle]

Love the dead pork but how about a report on the tracker??

Yes?? how is that for a monocular??

 

[slim_shady]

How do you like that Tracker ?? --- pruhdlr

Tracker? Oh ya I did start off the thread with that item.. Ok, so I did get to mess around with it a bit last night. The now down boar gave me a great subject to get a look at from different ranges. Its a 1x mono with up to 6x digital zoom. 3x and 4x isn't as bad as one might think looking at a hog at 100 yards. No way to identify what he was at 100 yards, but was easy to tell it was bigger then a coon or skunk. Without the zoom he only looked like a dot at 100 yards.

I don't remember the hz rate but think it was close to 30. It auto nukes every 15 - 30 seconds... I wasn't counting, but noticed it was fairly often.

The eye relief is about 8" and has several color modes black, white, red, green and two others that make hot glow orange. As best as I can tell, the red option would be the best to use when stalking as it displays the least amount of light on your face. Considering the long eye relief this may be a big deal.

Power up is quick, its very light & has 3 buttons, Power Mode & Zoom. The worst down side is there is no hole, loop or means to attach a lanyard.

In the last year I've found myself more and more simply sitting at a blind or bait site, and its obvious the mono with be great to keep an eye on the bait, and to do close range scans. Its rated for much more then 100 yards as far as detection, I cant verify at this point. I'll update the post after a few weeks of use with more details. For under 1k I'm excited to have this tool on the gun belt.

 

[slim_shady]

Good hog down ! Now, smoke you some 'yotes.

I just ate while roaming around LSB, and about to pack the truck and head back out.

 

[FrankT]

comes with a Leupold ring so you can attach a lanyard to that I guess. has a reticle but no way to sight in

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR
LTO-TRACKER™
LEUPOLD LTO-TRACKER
Odds are, if you have been hunting long enough, you’ve encountered a
dicult animal recovery. When the blood trail runs dry or gets washed
away, the LTO-Tracker is there to help. Using thermal imaging technology
to search for the heat signature emitted from the body or blood of an
animal, the LTO-Tracker greatly improves the odds of a successful recovery.
Since the LTO-Tracker is a thermal device and not night vision it works
both day and night. With a 21 degree field-of-view and Continuous Zoom
up to 6X magnification, the LTO-Tracker can detect a heat signature up to
600 yards away. The 6 color palettes and user optional reticle can be
selected for quick target acquisition in any environment.
USER CONTROLS & FUNCTIONS
Control buttons
LCD display
Durable
aluminum
housing
Thermal
imager
Locknut for easy access
to battery compartment
ZOOM IN
Activate zoom mode, Click to
zoom, hold for Continuous Zoom.
POWER/RETICLE
Hold for power ON/OFF
Double-click for reticle ON/OFF
Exit zoom mode
REPLACING THE BATTERY
Loosen the locknut until the
display separates from the body.
Tilt display up and remove old
battery. Install new battery,
positive contact in. Close display
and tighten locknut.
COLOR PALETTES/
ZOOM OUT
In Continuous Zoom, hold or
click to zoom out.
Click to cycle through
color palettes
• Red
• Green
• White Hot
• Black Hot
• Black Highlight
• White Highlight
RED
GREEN
WHITE HOT
BLACK HOT
BLACK HIGHLIGHT
WHITE HIGHLIGHT
SPECIFICATIONS
Thermal Sensor ............................. 206 x 156
Detection Distance....................... 600 Yards
Field of View .................................. 21 Degree Horizontal FOV
Operating Temperature .............. -4F to 140F
Frame Rate ..................................... 30 Hz FastFrame
Focus................................................ Fixed Focus
Zoom ................................................ 6X Digital Zoom
Display ............................................. Direct View 1.22” Round
Display Resolution........................ 240 x 204
Color Palettes................................. 6 Optional Color Palettes
Startup Time .................................. < 3 seconds
CR123 Battery Life ........................ 10 hrs continuous use
Warranty.......................................... 5-year electronics warranty
Designed, Machined, and Assembled in the U.S.A.

 

[slim_shady]

comes with a Leupold ring so you can attach a lanyard to that I guess.

No ring in the box.

 

[FrankT]

Above all, the LTO-Tracker sports a Leupold Gold Ring and is Designed, Machined, and Assembled in the United States...guess it is the color of the ring? sorta stupid, I mistook it to mean a ring ring to mount. Everyone has them for sale at $699..I wonder why a reticle if it cannot be sighted in?

$699.99 · Cabela's
$699.99 · OpticsPlanet.com
$699.99 · MidwayUSA
$699.99 · B&H Photo-Video-Audio

 

[slim_shady]

I wonder why a reticle if it cannot be sighted in?

Not sure.

I hunted out of the back of the truck the other night. I had my small caldwell gun rest, sand bags in the truck, and I simply placed the thermal on the front sandbag and pointed it towards one of the round bails we had left in the hay field about 120 yards away.

Set on red mode, & 3x digital zoom about 4 ft away it was easy to keep an eye on it to simply watch for motion. After about 15 min something walked by the round bail. For the $700 I spent, this was what I was hoping for. Once the 6.8 was up and with the Zues thermal on it was the Yote I was waiting for. Sadly he was about 25 yards south of the Bait, and didn't pick up on the smell. I guess the wind was in the wrong direction, or there wasn't the right smell, and he kept moving west in and out of other round bails.

I had the fox pro setup, but had misplaced the remote controller. I had guessed it had fallen out of the truck at another spot where I had stopped the truck to get out and take a scan. My hand squeaker was out of reach, and I'm not much of a mouth squeaker. So I simply took aim and sent off a round. Sadly I missed. He was right on the edge of the uncut Johnson grass hay and quickly disappeared. All I saw was bits and pieces of him bounding away into the tree line.

Its clear Temperature Humidity, and the surroundings are going to play a major factor using the tracker spotter. In wide open clear fields, the distance for detection easily increases. Humidity was way down last night, and I could easily make out hot spots out to 300 yards in the open hay field. Once closer to the brush line the ability to detect decreased. Having simply rested the mono on the sand bag it was easy to spot motion in the 10 or so yard field of view while watching the round bail.

I moved the mobile hog blind to another feeder I've been watching closely for the last few weeks. I setup 50 yards away, and once in the back of the truck, I again simply rested the mono on the sand bag pointed right at the corn feeder. Nothing showed up, but I was confident if anything had, it would have easily shown up on the spotter.