Anyone using one of these? With a price under $600 for a thermal monocular; it sounds interesting. I know that they have limited range of 100 yards or so; but we hunt in dense woods and can't see 100 yards most of the time.
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FLIR Scout TK
- Thread starter Allsmiles
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I got one a little bit ago. They are useful when the temps are low. When its warm, the animals fur blocks the heat signature and the animals are harder to see. I have not seen anything on the cooler days, so I can't tell you I found it useful yet. I figure it will come in handy when I am hunting coyotes and hogs. So far, it has not been a game changer. I will revisit this post when I get some time out in the weeds when the temps drop. Especially if I get some pics of my prey...
I love mine. These are not as good as military thermals, but for this price, I doubt anyone expects that type of performance. In the terrain we are hunting in, 100 m is far enough. Even across a longer field of view you can still pick up movement that will alert you to potential prey.
I love mine. These are not as good as military thermals, but for this price, I doubt anyone expects that type of performance. In the terrain we are hunting in, 100 m is far enough. Even across a longer field of view you can still pick up movement that will alert you to potential prey.
any updates?
No pics because nothing worth it showed up ... But here goes. On the few days it was actually cold, these things let you detect heat signatures easily out to 100 meters. The only thing that showed up on one particularly cold morning was a couple of cardinals at about 75 meters. I conquered the urge to see what a 308 does to a cardinal, but was happy that such a small heat signature showed up clearly.
When viewing through brush, you will not see the heat signature clearly. This monocle does not see through objects. You may detect movement as the signature moves in and out of line of sight. I would use it to detect signatures moving through vegetation and at the edges of open areas. I was able to detect a fat squirrel at about 50m through undergrowth as he ran about making all kinds of noise. I did not check to see what a 308 would do to a fat, noisy squirrel, but wanted to really bad.
There was one thing I found inconvenient. These do not hold a charge for very long. Make sure you charge and set you date/time stamp the night before you plan on using it. Fully charged, it did last for my entire hunts. I also learned that the charge holds longer if you leave the unit on, rather than turn it on and off.
Notes for those not used to NV technology. Even if you turn the brightness level down, these will degrade your night vision. When you use it, put it to your non-shooting eye, or you will see nothing till your eye readjusts.
One last tip. Cover the indicator light with a piece of tape before you hit the bushes. In pitch dark, that little light that you can barely see while sitting in your truck, seems awfully bright once your shooting eye adjusts. I felt like I could bring in a chopper if I wanted.
