Night Vision Thermals or NVG for hogs

[Scottso]

Have opportunity to clear some land of hogs in Florida, right now I own a PVS14, and a 27. Never used either on hogs yet, was looking to add a Thermal either clip on or stand alone. Current budget is $4500. The drawbacks on the NVG is muzzle flash and quick second shots can be issue, also exposure to white light will kill NVG shit dead. Options are keep my gear and add thermal, or sell off 27 and add $5k to thermal budget, still have the 14 and lasers.
Thoughts, opinions, advice is welcome, thanks

 

[Superminokla]

Following

 

[samson7x]

I’d sell the 27 and get a nice thermal scope and scanner. Scanner is the piece of gear I use the most while hog hunting.

 

[Scottso]

I’d sell the 27 and get a nice thermal scope and scanner. Scanner is the piece of gear I use the most while hog hunting.

Suggestion on scanner, and thanks

 

[smarcus]

I have a PVS 14 and Dbal a3 for NV and Trijicon Reap Ir 35 Gen 2 and a cheap Burris thermal scanner. For killing animals at night, my experience is that thermal is king. Heads and shoulders above NV. I hunt on 200 acres of fields and woodlands. Shots avg 150 yards. Max is 300.

I wear the pvs 14 if I have to navigate but otherwise I don’t use it. Thermal scanner for finding hogs/yotes etc. Reap for killing. If I need to find the downed animal back to scanner.

 

[Rerun7]

^^^ this.

Thermal is 100% the way to go. Just like stated above I use NV to navigate and thermal to scan/shoot.

I’ve gone through several devices as I tried different setups. Now I use a helmet mounted thermal to scan and a dedicated thermal scope to shoot. Having the scanner on the helmet has been by far the best but a handheld scanner works just fine.

 

[jstokes1]

Thermal rifle scope and thermal scanner bar none.

 

[64E]

I have a PVS 14 and Dbal a3 for NV and Trijicon Reap Ir 35 Gen 2 and a cheap Burris thermal scanner. For killing animals at night, my experience is that thermal is king. Heads and shoulders above NV. I hunt on 200 acres of fields and woodlands. Shots avg 150 yards. Max is 300.

I wear the pvs 14 if I have to navigate but otherwise I don’t use it. Thermal scanner for finding hogs/yotes etc. Reap for killing. If I need to find the downed animal back to scanner.

Which Burris handheld? I’ve been eyeing them and wondering how they perform?

 

[smarcus]

Burris BTH35. They had a sale for around 750 so I grabbed one. Performance is fine. Not as good as the reap obviously but it’s fine for finding hogs and yotes in the fields.

 

[TheHorta]

White light won’t hurt your NV units unless you point your NODs directly at high-intensity light sources for extended periods of time while they’re turned on, then you can get tube burn — unless your NODs are very old with non-gated tubes.

That said, hunting is the domain of thermal. You’re severely handicapped without it. I’d recommend the RH-25, which can be run as a scanner on your helmet and a clipon on your gun. There’s also a new Steiner C35 currently up for sale in the PX for $3000 shipped. I just scored a schweet MTM-Pi in the PX for $3K as well. Has the widest FOV of any 640px thermal I’ve ever owned. Perfect for spotting hogs which tend to be close-in, where FOV reigns supreme.

 

[JCCinOhio]

I'm guessing your max range is 100yds or less? From what I know about FLA there's a lot of low shrubbery and not much open field. If that's the case where you hunt I'd say you could do well with something like the Pulsar Thermion 2 XQ35 Pro and a Bering optics Phenom 384 scanner and be around $5000. That setup will get you easily to 200+ yds I'd say.

 

[Elko42]

Have opportunity to clear some land of hogs in Florida, right now I own a PVS14, and a 27. Never used either on hogs yet, was looking to add a Thermal either clip on or stand alone. Current budget is $4500. The drawbacks on the NVG is muzzle flash and quick second shots can be issue, also exposure to white light will kill NVG shit dead. Options are keep my gear and add thermal, or sell off 27 and add $5k to thermal budget, still have the 14 and lasers.
Thoughts, opinions, advice is welcome, thanks

depending on your primary environment you'll have to choose. If you have a lot of taller weeds or thick brush in your primary hunting area thermal may not be the best rifle mounted tool. Analog or even digital NV is often a better tool there. A lower priced digital NV, supplemental IR light with adjustable output and focus, and a lower priced hand held thermal scanner is pretty effective if you learn to use it. Google comparisons of each or visit Optics Planet which has a brief side-by-side of limitations. Pick the right tool for right environment.

 

[Rerun7]

depending on your primary environment you'll have to choose. If you have a lot of taller weeds or thick brush in your primary hunting area thermal may not be the best rifle mounted tool. Analog or even digital NV is often a better tool there. A lower priced digital NV, supplemental IR light with adjustable output and focus, and a lower priced hand held thermal scanner is pretty effective if you learn to use it. Google comparisons of each or visit Optics Planet which has a brief side-by-side of limitations. Pick the right tool for right environment.

 

[RHutch]

depending on your primary environment you'll have to choose. If you have a lot of taller weeds or thick brush in your primary hunting area thermal may not be the best rifle mounted tool. Analog or even digital NV is often a better tool there. A lower priced digital NV, supplemental IR light with adjustable output and focus, and a lower priced hand held thermal scanner is pretty effective if you learn to use it. Google comparisons of each or visit Optics Planet which has a brief side-by-side of limitations. Pick the right tool for right environment.

I have and use both. Thermal wins 100% of the time. Any brush between the shooter and target will cause blowback of the IR illumination that pairs with digital NV, effectively obscuring the target.
Thermal, especially good quality thermal, will show any heat that is not obscured by grass/brush, allowing for strategy on the target.
I started with digital NV shooting from elevated positions with nothing to obscure the target. Bought a upgraded and adjustable (for intensity illumination) IR illumination. As soon as I began stalking on the ground, I quickly realized thermal was superior.
Firstly, upgrading my Digital NV kit with a basic 384 handheld thermal monocular. Real soon after that, like 2 weeks, I jumped into 640 thermal. will buy a 640 scanner after SHOT.
The digital NV is semi-retired now.

 

[Stugots]

I hunt with both and they each have their own advantages and drawbacks. If I had to pick only one, it would be the thermal hands down.