Night hunting with light

[TXHOGKILLER]

So since i'm 15 i don't have the money to put 2k on a thermal all i have right now is a green light for hunting at night. eventually i will buy a night vision and then graduate to a thermal optic. anyways any tips on how to make the light hunting experience more successful. thanks

i use a 556 have several game cameras and i have access to about 1000acres. bullets i use are hornady black BTHP and SST but i also use PPU 69 grain

 

[wigwamitus]

The cheapest way I can think of ... is Bushy Equinox spotter with an added T-20 illuminator to increase distance as the spotter ...
And a white light mounted to the rifle.
Spot with the spotter and engage with the white light and shoot fast.
If you do this near a feeder/bait source, it might work. But stalking around looking for hogs with a bushy might get frustrating. Now in flat open land with moon, you would be able to see the critters, but IDing lone boars would be tough. Iding sounders might not be as tough.

Other option, find some friends who hunt hogs and have thermals and go out with them!

 

[Wildfowler]

I used to set up red LED lights on corn feeders before I got night vision equipment. You can just barely see well enough through a regular scope to make kill shots within about 50 or 75 yards.

Try and keep the light as dim as possible so as not to spook anything.

I had my lights mounted on a homemade tripod 10 or 12 feet above the ground that I made from welded together conduit from Home Depot.

My experience using a handheld light with hogs has not personally been favorable to me. I always manage to spook them with a light moving around trying to shoot. But I think that’s mostly just me. I’ve read plenty of reports of other users with good success using weapon mounted lights of various types.

 

[RWT]

I have used a 12v green fishing light hung from 15-18' high . I have a metal rod wired to a tpost and run it up like a flag on a pole. Works great. Inexpensive as the entire set up is under $50. Make sure you put the battery on top of your feeder or the hogs will knock the light clips from the battery terminal when then come in. We have used this set up for 10+ years and do very well with it. The light is enough that you can easily distinguish your target at 100 yrds(ie the blind). I have killed well over 200 hogs with this set up. You can leave the light up full time, but the elements eat it up in a year.

 

[jglass]

Here is a project you can try that won't cost much. Make yourself a 12-V light dimmer using a potentiometer. Radio Shack sold them for a couple of dollars. Someone probably already sells something like this but making one would be very easy. Setup some 12-V lighting on your bait pile then run 2 small wires from the light to your blind or tree stand where you have 12-V battery and the light dimmer. When the hogs are in the bait pile turn on the light gradually so not to scare off the hogs. When the light is bright enough take the shot. . You only turn on the light when you need it so the battery should last a long time.

One of my hunting buddies had a motion activated, battery powered light that turned on gradually. I saw it work but there was no control over how fast the light turned on or how bright.

I had a real bright LED flashlight mounted on my AR. I turned it on when a hog was in the bait pile. I had know idea a hog could run so fast so I never got a shot.

Eventually I bought a night vision scope and now I have a thermal imaging scope so I have mastered the night. Now that I see the hogs so well at night sometimes I like to just watch them. I have a low intensity LED flashlight I always take hunting. One night I was watching a hog and got out that flashlight. Pointed it toward the sky and turned it on then lowered it slowly toward the hog. The hog was ok with it until the light was right on him. He snorted, ran about 10 yards, stopped, and came back to the bait pile back to eating with the light directly on him. Keep in mind the flashlight barely illuminated the hog but I think I could have made a shot with iron sights.

I think I have a couple of potentiometers in my shop. If you are interested I'll send you one.

 

[Mattg1500]

Ive used a sniper hog light on my rifle and a $200 nv monocular my first few years hunting. I would set up bait sites and hunt the ones that got the most action. It worked well but you need to set yourself up to shoot quick.