Varmint hunting using thermal is a "whole different ball game". I have been hunting varmints for some time now,measured in decades. I have done this in several different states with different WX patterns and quite a difference in topography. This,from Quebec to south central Florida. But all of my experience has come using Leupold scopes on top of(mostly)223Rem's.
NOW......a ATN ThOR on top a AR/6.8SPCII. A guns a gun. A loads a load. And a bullet is pretty much a bullet. HOWEVER the targeting of the hunted species is quite a bit different. The difference between hunting with a 223Rem up north and hunting with a 6.8 in Florida are this(IMO):
1. Unless you call/hunt roads there is not allot of long shots down here.
2. At these shorter ranges(<300yds)the ballistics of the two are so close to the same as not to worry. I just use a slightly different sight in.
3. The animals present a much smaller target down south. I killed quite a few yotes in Pa.,Me.,NH.,and Quebec that were >50lbs. Also two wolves in Quebec that were >85lbs. However what it takes to kill these animals is pretty much the same. A 223Rem pushing a well made bullet(60gr NosPart)is what I used on both wolves.
4. ANY CALL WILL DO ! That's right. I used a jackrabbit in distress in Maine and a snowshoe in distress in south central Fla. Works great because(IMO)the yotes and cats had never hear'ed that mournful cry before. Curiosity...plain and simple.
5. Camo clothing for calling varmints during the daylight hours or early AM/PM......everything black at night(except when calling on the snow or frozen lake).
THERMAL ----> Different ? IMO here's why:
1. The darker the clothing the better. Black,dark green,dark brown are my only choices.
2. The NV guys love to have a little moon/star light. I do not. On the nights that the moon is 50% or more you gotta have dark clothing. For me, the darker night,the better. I do not even bother to hunt during the full moon or several days before and after. I have an app on my phone that tells me the sunrise/set,moonrise/set,percent visible,and the predicted cloud cover. This is the varmint with thermal hunters "Bible".
3. IMO,a varmint cannot see any(or much)better than a human if it is a black night. Inject a tiny bit of light into the equation and they have a huge advantage.
4. However........as is true with a human...take away one of their senses and the others get much more acute. Varmints use,and believe, their nose even more, and their ears work even better. Add to this,they are even more skittish than normal. I normally prepare for the longer shot. I always carry my Primos Trigger Stick bipod.
Thermal has an added advantage over NV in that you can target an animal during periods of ambient light. Late afternoon and early AM being the typical. I have used it at 8AM,a full 2 hours after sunrise. Thermal will also allow you to see animals hidden by thin brush that you could not pick out using NV. It will not see "thru" brush and/or tall grass,however if even 1 square inch of the animal is directly visible,you can spot.....something alive(something warm). I have observed deer coming down a trail that leads to a food plot,long before they broke out onto the plot.
I can also see blood on the ground with my thermal. Not forever,but for some minutes after the animal is shot. This, depending on the outside air temp. You can also see a distinct spray of blood upon bullet impact and it is quite easy to track a mortally wounded animal thru the brush before he dies.
During the blackest of nights I have had two or more yotes come in to a call,I killed one,the others ran,them came back in within a minute or so. Just guessing....they might equate the boom and the flash to lightning and thunder.
Maybe this is why they call my thermal....."THOR". (??) ---pruhdlr
NOW......a ATN ThOR on top a AR/6.8SPCII. A guns a gun. A loads a load. And a bullet is pretty much a bullet. HOWEVER the targeting of the hunted species is quite a bit different. The difference between hunting with a 223Rem up north and hunting with a 6.8 in Florida are this(IMO):
1. Unless you call/hunt roads there is not allot of long shots down here.
2. At these shorter ranges(<300yds)the ballistics of the two are so close to the same as not to worry. I just use a slightly different sight in.
3. The animals present a much smaller target down south. I killed quite a few yotes in Pa.,Me.,NH.,and Quebec that were >50lbs. Also two wolves in Quebec that were >85lbs. However what it takes to kill these animals is pretty much the same. A 223Rem pushing a well made bullet(60gr NosPart)is what I used on both wolves.
4. ANY CALL WILL DO ! That's right. I used a jackrabbit in distress in Maine and a snowshoe in distress in south central Fla. Works great because(IMO)the yotes and cats had never hear'ed that mournful cry before. Curiosity...plain and simple.
5. Camo clothing for calling varmints during the daylight hours or early AM/PM......everything black at night(except when calling on the snow or frozen lake).
THERMAL ----> Different ? IMO here's why:
1. The darker the clothing the better. Black,dark green,dark brown are my only choices.
2. The NV guys love to have a little moon/star light. I do not. On the nights that the moon is 50% or more you gotta have dark clothing. For me, the darker night,the better. I do not even bother to hunt during the full moon or several days before and after. I have an app on my phone that tells me the sunrise/set,moonrise/set,percent visible,and the predicted cloud cover. This is the varmint with thermal hunters "Bible".
3. IMO,a varmint cannot see any(or much)better than a human if it is a black night. Inject a tiny bit of light into the equation and they have a huge advantage.
4. However........as is true with a human...take away one of their senses and the others get much more acute. Varmints use,and believe, their nose even more, and their ears work even better. Add to this,they are even more skittish than normal. I normally prepare for the longer shot. I always carry my Primos Trigger Stick bipod.
Thermal has an added advantage over NV in that you can target an animal during periods of ambient light. Late afternoon and early AM being the typical. I have used it at 8AM,a full 2 hours after sunrise. Thermal will also allow you to see animals hidden by thin brush that you could not pick out using NV. It will not see "thru" brush and/or tall grass,however if even 1 square inch of the animal is directly visible,you can spot.....something alive(something warm). I have observed deer coming down a trail that leads to a food plot,long before they broke out onto the plot.
I can also see blood on the ground with my thermal. Not forever,but for some minutes after the animal is shot. This, depending on the outside air temp. You can also see a distinct spray of blood upon bullet impact and it is quite easy to track a mortally wounded animal thru the brush before he dies.
During the blackest of nights I have had two or more yotes come in to a call,I killed one,the others ran,them came back in within a minute or so. Just guessing....they might equate the boom and the flash to lightning and thunder.
Maybe this is why they call my thermal....."THOR". (??) ---pruhdlr
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