Night Vision VS Thermal for hunting??

Of the three you mentioned I have some experience with the Zulus atop my Atomic XR. This rig is specifically set up for close range, sub 40 yards pesting. I don’t envision swapping mine between rifles, for me its a specialized scope for certain instances… @brawler1588 is your man as he has had hands on quite a few different units…

I recommend a thermal hand scanner and a good night vision scope with a laser range finder with good battery life. This is a killer combo. I don't know enough about the most recent night vision releases to recommend a particular model. Stay away from Rattlers if you get a thermal scope and look at the AGM Varmint (it has an LRF). The Zuus looks good, but I still run a Pard NV008s. It's sufficient for my purposes.

I personally run thermal, I think a thermal scanner is a must. You could get away with a red light running a scanner. I’m not a fan of agm, I’ve mainly heard good about the Zulus. What are you hunting? Typical range?
I use my scanner several nights a week when I let my pups out. I can quickly pick out if anything is out there. It’s much hard to spot game with night vision, but you tend to have a more detailed image.
My thermal with a mouse at 50 yards.

Cranky1 said:

I personally run thermal, I think a thermal scanner is a must. You could get away with a red light running a scanner. I’m not a fan of agm, I’ve mainly heard good about the Zulus. What are you hunting? Typical range?
I use my scanner several nights a week when I let my pups out. I can quickly pick out if anything is out there. It’s much hard to spot game with night vision, but you tend to have a more detailed image.

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@Cranky1 I like this and I concur. A thermal scanner is great for locating animals, but the NV provides me a much clearer image of minor obstructions missed by some thermal scanners as well as confirmation on quarry ID. My thermals are entry level to mid-tier. I'm primarily huting in semi-dense to thick woods and pasturelands, so this is my point of reference.. @woogie_man I guess your budget matters as well as the type of terrain. Which thermal sensor level(s) and price range are you looking at?

A high-resolution thermal scope is amazing if you're doing pesting. The problem is, pesting can be done with far less expensive gear. But fancy thermal units make pesting so easy and pleasant. I often see rodents behind leaves -- where I wouldn't be able to see them with a simple visual or IR unit.

I have both IR gear and thermal gear, and I find the thermal gear is used essentially all the time.

I have an IRAY RICO RH50 unit. Costs more than my car.

Ezana4CE said:

@Cranky1 I like this and I concur. A thermal scanner is great for locating animals, but the NV provides me a much clearer image of minor obstructions missed by some thermal scanners as well as confirmation on quarry ID. My thermals are entry level to mid-tier. I'm primarily huting in semi-dense to thick woods and pasturelands, so this is my point of reference.. @woogie_man I guess your budget matters as well as the type of terrain. Which thermal sensor level(s) and price range are you looking at?

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This is why I’m considering a Zulus on a backup setup. I run a pulsar telos scanner, it really makes critters pop out. My scope is a bolt th50c, it seems to have a more detailed image. I think it is mostly to due with the programming. I like the Zulus with image quality(Identification) and the battery setup. I’ll eventually pick one up

Just a personal preference but I wouldn’t go below a 384 resolution thermal. A buddy got the 160 resolution and it was about useless. Some of the 384 stuff is as good as cheaper 640. Definitely call a reputable dealer and try to look before buying. I have 2 dealers I use, one is trying to start their own line.

@Cranky1 If it weren't for my entry level thermal optic I wouldn't have gotten into thermal tech when I did. I still have it and have taken quarry using it. It's good for close range where higher base mags are not. Also can help to retrieve a warm fresh kill around dusk. I second calling a reputable dealer if you don't know much about the tech. If you grab a Zulus let us know your impression. Hey @woogie_man , I hope some of this helps you.

There are a few companies out there that rent thermals and night vision optics so you could try them out first.

Don’t look through a Reap IR from trijicon

woogie_man said:

Budget I haven't figured, but don't want to go nuts.

Range would be probably out to 100 yards or so. I would like the option to transfer rifle over to a powder burner for coyotes in the fall…

What is the issues with AGM? A local store has the Rico units and I looked at those.....Holy crap that was nice. But that price!

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@woogie_man AGM image quality in the 384 sensor and lower was an issue for me. When it comes to animal presence and movement it’s good. When it’s time to ID something, the image quality is questionable. For example, when I first got my Rattler I spotted an animal bedded down either in my yard or on the adjacent property. I had no idea if it was near or far. If it was a rabbit in my yard or a deer on an adjacent property, at least not until it got up and started hopping. Look at some photos and videos of AGM thermal images and video of 385 or less. I prefer Pulsar thermal scope’s IQ.

I also had dead pixels in a couple of AGM units. I returned one and exchanged another. They have a decent warranty on 384 units and up, but I didn’t like their policy on dead pixels.

@woogie_man Another thing to note is that I had a Rattler v1, I can’t speak to the Rattler v2. And their warranties were beefed up a couple years ago I think. AGM has transferable warranties for folks that want to buy used.


Once you try one then I think you’ll have an idea in which way you want to go. Is a laser rangefinder important to you?

DoubleM said:

There are a few companies out there that rent thermals and night vision optics so you could try them out first.

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@DoubleM Can you name and link some to this thread?

Ezana4CE said:

@DoubleM Can you name and link some to this thread?

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I have rented from this company before and they applied rental fee to purchase later on.

@DoubleM thanks for that post. It’s also a plus for me that they’re in Texas. So since you’re in the ‘Sip, I guess it’s safe to assume that they will ship rentals to other states? I don’t see their rental policy spelled out on that site.

Ezana4CE said:

@DoubleM thanks for that post. It’s also a plus for me that they’re in Texas. So since you’re in the ‘Sip, I guess it’s safe to assume that they will ship rentals to other states?

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Yes was in Al when I had them shipped before. It was a very easy process when I did it a couple of years ago but it did take little time to sight in since I was not familiar with it. Hot hands work great for thermals and you tube can be a big help if you need.

woogie_man said:

Budget I haven't figured, but don't want to go nuts.

Range would be probably out to 100 yards or so. I would like the option to transfer rifle over to a powder burner for coyotes in the fall.

I know I would only be able to get one unit for now, due to the price and knowing my wife would loose her mind if I bought an optic and a scanner at the same time.

What is the issues with AGM? A local store has the Rico units and I looked at those.....Holy crap that was nice. But that price!

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The only thing I wouldn’t put my thermal on is a springer.
I tried some early agm stuff and I hated some of the software. When you went from white hot to black hot the brightness inverted. Basically lowest brightness on WH was max on BH. So basically it would blind you if you accidentally hit the button. I think that has been fixed. I also felt the image was not as good as other brands.
I think a thermal scanner is a must, I’ve had atn 4K, wraith 4K, superhogster,bolt th50c, agm taipan tm25, helion2 and telos. I’ve messed with and borrowed several other units. Personally my scanner gets used all the time even when I’m not hunting. Thermtec makes a really good scanner for the $$$ with us based service. Pulsar and iray have been my favorites so far, I also liked Bering optics.

Try nightvisionspecialist.com or thethermalstore.com

The thermal store has a huge inventory and they use and test a lot of products. They often have used/demo.

Nightvisionspecialist is a smaller shop that will go out of there way to help you. He is local to me and carries some different brands. He has been really good to deal with also.

Each have there pros and cons and like the others I usually use them as a pair. Thermal monocular to spot and digital day and night to dispatch. It really depends on what you want to spend and what game/pests your after I would not be able to get the mice without thermal. Digital NV the zulus takes the lead for any scope I have tested. I can really go in depth about all this se feel free to reach out and I will help you the best I can.