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Night Vision NV and thermal kills...

Took my new .308 out that had been giving me fits due to an obstructed gas tube and then an undersized gas port on the barrel. I put my new Thermion XP50 on it that had been working great so far.

Right out of the truck, I have 11 dead pixels. Mother-Fu@k#r.

I was so pissed and cussing out Pulsar in my head that I almost walked by this sounder. Almost.
Your being kind with noticing 11 dead pixels, I counted 7 before you shot, 12 after the first shot and 21 after you got done culling some fat from that sounder.
One good thing is that you were still able to take them down, even with the dead pixels.
Hopefully you didn't sell that Trail yet.
 
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Your being kind with noticing 11 dead pixels, I counted 7 before you shot, 12 after the first shot and 21 after you got done culling some fat from that sounder.
One good thing is that you were still able to take them down, even with the dead pixels.
Hopefully you didn't sell that Trail yet.

I literally sent a message from the meadow I turned around in back to the friend who was buying it, telling him not to send the check.

I guess I'm re-routing all of my gun money for the next two years into saving for a N-Vision or Trijicon.

The defective pixel repair knocked them down to about half as bright as they were.
 
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Took my new .308 out that had been giving me fits due to an obstructed gas tube and then an undersized gas port on the barrel. I put my new Thermion XP50 on it that had been working great so far.

Right out of the truck, I have 11 dead pixels. Mother-Fu@k#r.

I was so pissed and cussing out Pulsar in my head that I almost walked by this sounder. Almost.



View attachment 7390984
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That’s pathetic considering they state that scope is rated for .375 H&H. Both of my Trails have been great and I want to love Pulsar, but some of what I’ve heard about the Thermion has me thinking they may have dropped to the same shelf as ATN. Best case is the Thermion shit the bed. Great shooting, and great looking sows!
 
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the Thermion has me thinking they may have dropped to the same shelf as ATN.
Relax.
Even though Pulsar has been having some issues with their products as of late, they shouldn't be lowered down to the ATN level.
While the pixel issue does suck, diggler1833 was still able to take down some bacon.
I can't say the same for X sight and Thor scopes I had, which are the last two products I'll ever buy from ATN.
Lets see what Pulsar has to say.
 
If you upgrade, I used both the Trijicon and N Vision. Picture quality was roughly equal. Compare the controls and menu before purchasing if possible. For me the N Vision was easier to navigate through. Especially in the dark or in a hurry. I bought the N Vision. JMHO
 
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Comparing subsonic hunting to bow hunting is very true. Bigger or fatter hogs a lot of the time I don’t get blood trails. I use Jagdterriers to bloodtrail and recover if I needed.
I didn’t use subs much last winter. Got to playing with a suppressed 6.5 Grendel.
 
Relax.
Even though Pulsar has been having some issues with their products as of late, they shouldn't be lowered down to the ATN level.
While the pixel issue does suck, diggler1833 was still able to take down some bacon.
I can't say the same for X sight and Thor scopes I had, which are the last two products I'll ever buy from ATN.
Lets see what Pulsar has to say.
You’re probably right, I’ll simmer down.
308 gas gun recoil is pretty mild. I would hate to see what would happen if SE OK was overrun with invasive pachyderms and diggler had to put the Thermion on his .375H&H or 9.3x64.
 
Oooh. That's a good point.

Guess I had better start on that .375 build pretty soon. 😆

I'm just going to 'run with the pixels' this winter until it completely shits the bed on me. I figure my warranty started over with this unit anyway.
 
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^^What he said. Although Pulsar Customer service has been outstanding to me in the past.
On another note, .375 H&H on hogs is a lot of fun. Maybe not the most practical but a hoot still. It’s one thing to read about penetration but to see it is another. 300# boars stem to stern or viceyversy.
 
I'd get that in writing.

Just called Sellmark...new unit...new three year warranty. Aaaaaaannnd I'll have to send this new replacement in to get fixed/replaced again due to the problem with the pixels.

Guess who is going to wait a year to turn this Thermion in (unless it really shits the bed). The CS guy (name withheld) said that it was a good idea to do that anyway.

At least the reps are great...even if the product is plagued.
 
9D618945-06AA-4679-B6B9-3CF73C8A086B.jpeg

6.8/120SST exit port side
 
Wednesday was the first day in a long time where daytime highs were projected to only reach the upper 70's. This meant it was time to knock of some of the rust since I hadn't hunted coyotes since March.

Very nice. I’ve killed a number of hogs in daylight with a thermal. I usually have a rifle with day glass on me when my hunt straddles sunrise/sunset, but sometimes I don’t feel like toting around 2 guns. Especially when we’re still breaking 100 down here.
 
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I may catch some flak from the "subsonic isn't for hunting" camp for this, but it is what it is.

I have been playing with the 300 Blackout, 190 gr Sub-X. I chrono'd that ammo and was getting some low velocity spread on it surprisingly. I built up a profile using the Hornady 190 gr BTSP bullet and loaded it onto the RAPTAR, and went to check how it jived with the real world. My goal was to stretch it out to 200 yards with reliable hits, but hoped for 300. 300 was not a problem on paper. Hits were dead on what was called for. I have been hunting a few smaller fields that have houses fairly close. One has a 24 hour non-stop Methican American Compound across the road. My goal was to draw as little attention to myself as possible while in that field. It stretches about 300 yards across.

I connected with a doe at 255 yards using my modified LMT CSW with a 10.5" barrel, S&B 1-8 SD, CNVD-LR, and Wilcox RAPTAR. I initially ranged her (not shown in the video), and shot. She took the hit, ran a little and stopped. I re-ranged her, shot and hit again. This repeated once again, and she ran just a bit after that and collapsed dead. I look at the kill with these bullets similar to a kill with a bow, not the blown apart wound you find with a normal rifle. She would have died in a few minutes from that first shot, but she would have had to bleed out, same as with an arrow impact. I just went ahead and took the opportunity to put a couple more in her. When you watch the video, notice the arc of that 190 gr bullet as it goes down toward her.

I am really beginning to be a believer in the 300 BO with the 190gr subs for a niche role IF you do it right and make a good shot into the vitals. Head on shots into the chest seem to be pretty much DRT or if they do run it isn't far. That subsonic bullet penetrates very well, so if you hit them head on you are taking out a lot of the good stuff clean through the deer. With the subs, you can keep killing and killing. They may run out of the field to the woodline when you shoot one, but in 10 to 15 minutes they'll come right back out. The biggest thing is timing. A deer is not near as bad about it, but a moving/mousing coyote or semi-spooked hog would require you to track that animal a bit to figure out his movement timing. Otherwise your bullet make land where he was, and not where he is. The head on shot, with the deer gives you the benefit of having a solid killing target no matter if her head is up in alert or down feeding. Around here there is little wind at night usually. I was hoping they get the 8.6mm Creedmoor online, so I could get a barrel for my AI, but if they don't I may look into that B&T SPR300 for a super quiet bolt gun option. I can really see that being handy in certain situations.

Make sure you have it in HD, and if you play it at .25x you can see the bullet better.


You get a lot of ricochets with them?
 
Last night...


Diggler, looks like your second hog, the fat sow might be a “banger“. Carrying brusellosis or Bangs Disease. Disease makes her abort her pigs every time before birth so she just keeps getting fatter. Fat sows who show no signs of having ever nursed pigs are a red flag. Ok to handle with proper precautions but be careful. It can make you pretty sick. I know several folks who have caught it. One is diabetic and lost several toes/fingers during the illness. Pictures and explanations to local cattlemen might get you extra places to hunt as cattle can catch it. Mention banger or brucellosis around them and watch their ears perk up. Nice job by the way. Good shooting.
 
Diggler, looks like your second hog, the fat sow might be a “banger“. Carrying brusellosis or Bangs Disease. Disease makes her abort her pigs every time before birth so she just keeps getting fatter. Fat sows who show no signs of having ever nursed pigs are a red flag. Ok to handle with proper precautions but be careful. It can make you pretty sick. I know several folks who have caught it. One is diabetic and lost several toes/fingers during the illness. Pictures and explanations to local cattlemen might get you extra places to hunt as cattle can catch it. Mention banger or brucellosis around them and watch their ears perk up. Nice job by the way. Good shooting.

Yep, hogs can and do carry quite a few nasty things. I generally only touch the feet to roll them over for taping measurements. Usually though I'm leery of touching them much because of the damn lice all over them...ticks too. Plus the boars are covered in urine and semen, and that crap takes three washings to get the smell off your hands.

As a rancher, I'm pretty keen on what they can introduce to a herd, but not because I'm intelligent bu any means...I married a large animal Veterinarian. She never hesitates to spin me up on just about every bacterial and viral illness that can be transmitted through anything out here. Let's just say that you'll never find any undercooked wild game meat in this house 😆. No drinking from the creeks etc... either.

On the plus side I do get quite a discount on our livestock vaccination program...LOL.

Maybe I'm somewhat intelligent after all.
 
Thoops! Didn’t know you was a rancher. Neva mind.
I knew nothing about it until I killed a huge sow about 20 years ago in an infested corn field. Hunting with dogs. Had about 3 inches of fat on her back and her insides were full of organ fat. My family ran cattle so I learned.
 
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I hunted all night last night and had a sounder of shoats come around one of my feeders. Got a twofer out of it. My bullet went the through black ones head 2nd, making him #40 for the year. Not as many as some, but I’m happy with it, especially considering I normally see very few hogs between mid June to the end of December.

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Two-fers are great. In a way they kind if make up for the hogs that you shoot poorly (me at least), and have to put five rounds into before they die.
 
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I have not heard that one in some time. Best done with a Sharps.

Yeah, we use it while prairie dogging. Four is the record right now for our group (and it was an incredibly lucky cold bore shot I made, first thing in the morning one day as we were setting up). To be fair, only 3 were out right dead. The fourth was just missing an arm and shoulder, but still scooting across the pasture until he bled out...
 
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I hunted all night last night and had a sounder of shoats come around one of my feeders. Got a twofer out of it. My bullet went the through black ones head 2nd, making him #40 for the year. Not as many as some, but I’m happy with it, especially considering I normally see very few hogs between mid June to the end of December.

View attachment 7395030


Awesome set of Tactical Sandals.

I call them "Farm Flops." 😋

My wife hates that I wear them all the time while out in the pasture. She claims no self-respecting farmer wears "Flip Flops".
 
I hunted all night last night and had a sounder of shoats come around one of my feeders. Got a twofer out of it. My bullet went the through black ones head 2nd, making him #40 for the year. Not as many as some, but I’m happy with it, especially considering I normally see very few hogs between mid June to the end of December.

View attachment 7395030

Great shooting!....btw...did you get a pedicure?😁.....makes my feet hurt just thinking about wearing sandals around here, had to replace a buggy tire this week from it getting spiked with cactus thorns. They are quite abundant in our crp fields with the sandy po az soil.
 
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Awesome set of Tactical Sandals.

I call them "Farm Flops." 😋

My wife hates that I wear them all the time while out in the pasture. She claims no self-respecting farmer wears "Flip Flops".
Thanks man. My wife got me those when she saw my FDE AR10 build. I’m usually not big on her trying to match everything, but I’m loving these. They’re US made, thorns don’t puncture the soles like they do in all my other hunting sandals, and they actually fit my fat feet.
 
Don't you all live around tons of snakes?
 
Great shooting!....btw...did you get a pedicure?😁.....makes my feet hurt just thinking about wearing sandals around here, had to replace a buggy tire this week from it getting spiked with cactus thorns. They are quite abundant in our crp fields with the sandy po az soil.
Thanks, and thanks for noticing! JK.
We have tons of prickly pear cactus and mesquite here. I honestly think I pull fewer thorns when I’m in sandals. Seriously. Not sure how that works. I think I can feel my way in the dark better (no Skeet, Corona Skeet, PVS14,etc... yet.).
 
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I'd try my hand at something cooler than boots here, but it'd take me about four seconds out in a pasture before I found the freshest flop and stepped in it.

Cow shit doesn't phase me...but I imagine it would if it were between my toes...
I can usually see dark spots as long as it’s not raining. Those are the fresh ones. It poured when I was out a week ago. Was that mud or cow shit on my toes? Not sure, but my truck stinks. I should wash my floor mats.
 
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Don't you all live around tons of snakes?
I see almost none where I hunt, and my 7 year old and I go “critter catching” pretty regularly. The plant I work in is 40 miles west of that spot, and we are covered up with cotton mouths, rattlers, several kinds of harmless snakes, and a few coral.
 
I can usually see dark spots as long as it’s not raining. Those are the fresh ones. It poured when I was out a week ago. Was that mud or cow shit on my toes? Not sure, but my truck stinks. I should wash my floor mats.

My floor mats are a definite 50/50 mix.
 
Last night after I put the girls to bed I went around the house looking for the armadillo that started making holes in my lawn...

...to my surprise, I saw pigs right below the house. Went in, got dressed and killed five. How I got five I don't know, I was having a bad shooting evening.

Maybe I'll make a video, but why highlight that?
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Last night after I put the girls to bed I went around the house looking for the armadillo that started making holes in my lawn...

...to my surprise, I saw pigs right below the house. Went in, got dressed and killed five. How I got five I don't know, I was having a bad shooting evening.

Maybe I'll make a video, but why highlight that?
308 or 6.8 ?


View attachment 7395950
 

.308 still. I've got 12 rounds of 150gr Federal Power Shok left, then I've got ~30 rounds of 180gr Federal Power Shok to ho through before I pack the rifle up and give it to my brother to take to dad. The 180 hits about 2" lower at 100yds, so I'll be in for a challenge if I don't count my shots. I'll re-zero for some dedicated 180gr hunting later.

I've still got a few hundred 6.8 Hornady SST rounds...plus I've got several hundred SST and Gold Dot bullets for reloading for it, but I think that in going to take a break from the 6.8 for a while and try the Grendel.

I don't expect any perceivable differences between the two, but I'm still a bit curious. Ammo starting out is factory 123gr SST.
 
.308 still. I've got 12 rounds of 150gr Federal Power Shok left, then I've got ~30 rounds of 180gr Federal Power Shok to ho through before I pack the rifle up and give it to my brother to take to dad. The 180 hits about 2" lower at 100yds, so I'll be in for a challenge if I don't count my shots. I'll re-zero for some dedicated 180gr hunting later.

I've still got a few hundred 6.8 Hornady SST rounds...plus I've got several hundred SST and Gold Dot bullets for reloading for it, but I think that in going to take a break from the 6.8 for a while and try the Grendel.

I don't expect any perceivable differences between the two, but I'm still a bit curious. Ammo starting out is factory 123gr SST.
I think you'll really like the Grendel. I'm curious to find out your thoughts on it. I run a 16" suppressed so I'm on the low end of velocities(2400fps) with 123gr SST's. Still does a great job on whitetail's. No hogs up here.
 
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I think you'll really like the Grendel. I'm curious to find out your thoughts on it. I run a 16" suppressed so I'm on the low end of velocities(2400fps) with 123gr SST's. Still does a great job on whitetail's. No hogs up here.


20" unsuppressed Grendel here (top rifle). With the 18" 6.8 below.

I've got a buddy that has literally killed over a thousand hogs with the Grendel, and he likes it plenty. I'm sure I'll not be disappointed.

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I've been running my thermal on a grendel for hogs. Factory 123 sst's work very well, very accurate! I feel like it is a little better than the 6.8 at further distances. Running a sico radius with the halo has been a great combo with the little 6.5. Longest kill so far has been a big boar at 366 yards, obviously that's pushing the envelope but I've been impressed with it.
 
I started hunting after work every Wednesday last year. I work 2 weeks days/2weeks nights, and either way, in the Summer I have narrow window to catch nocturnal critters where I can shoot them, so I strike out a lot on those trips. My success rate is much higher on my every other weekend trips when I stay out all/most of a night, but weekday trips have still been good for my body count. I was in the woods around 4:20am this morning, and spotted this guy at one of my feeders just before 4:30. I had to wait almost 10 minutes for him to turn. It’s unusual for me to see a big guy like this after June, or at a feeder, but he was there when I showed up.

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2CB024C4-345F-4A92-A886-19BBBD1A0F6C.jpeg

 
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Better photo this morning. Wife isn't cool with hog heads in the house...Deer, bobcat etc... fine, but no hogs, LOL.
I hear you, as the only two mounts I have are buck mounts and only because I shot them when hunting with two of my nieces.
Still, a nicely done European hog skull mount of that bruiser would look cool hanging in the garage or barn.
 
I hear you, as the only two mounts I have are buck mounts and only because I shot them when hunting with two of my nieces.
Still, a nicely done European hog skull mount of that bruiser would look cool hanging in the garage or barn.

Yes! My shop has quite a few hog skulls up in it. I've also got a half dozen more sitting out in front of the shop on my wife's mulch bag stack. 😁

She's a trooper in that regard.