Advice

[509ajl]

All you hunters, please help ! I have been on this forum for several years and have shared my opinion here and there but now I have a question. Red hunting light (wicked light $180) or (Night owl digital scope $400). I’m in my seventies and I’m not going to trapes around the mountains, more like pick a spot and sit or very casually move to shoot. A friend lives 4 hours away in Nevada and invited me to come out and hunt jack rabbits and coyotes on his and neighboring properties. He says easy sit and wait as they always move around his remote property. I can also see me shooting rats around a dairy or mice in barns but absolutely no heavy hiking or stormy weather type hunting. Just relaxing airgun fun. Money is not plentiful so in my situation with no experience night hunting I’m asking if you were to take your Grandfather out to shoot at night what would be a better experience for him, red light and scope or night owl digital scope ? These two items are in my budget and only one purchase choice to make. Thanks for any help towards my decision.

 

[wyshadow]

I have the wicked lights and I mostly use it for scanning. I usually bring it with me when I run at nights to scan for skunks. For hunting, it's really hard. Picking out the eyes while looking through a scope is impossible. You would be better off using this as your scanner and using a flood light on your gun when you are about to take your shot.

I've never owned a Night Owl but it looks very similar to the NiteSite and this I do have. The Nitesite is great for jackrabbit shooting but I would suggest adding another IR light to see better and to help with battery life. Coyotes are very smart weary animals so trying to use your Night Owl will be difficult because of the screen casting a light.

 

[BlackICE]

If your are shooting at a fixed location then I find a purpose build red led light works great. I built a 3 led 10 watt focused spot light. The beam projected only spreads 6 degrees. It can works well to 50 yards maybe farther. The vision through the scope is better than any night vision scope. The light is programmable via WiFi to change the brightness and ramp time. At 25 yards I only use 400 ma or about 3.5 watts. When the light is placed more than 20 yards away animals (skunks, opossums, raccoons) don't seem to mind at all. At best they look at it for about 1 second then ignore it. I found a light mounting to the gun doesn't work as well, it's dimmer, takes time to acquire the target and the subject is more likely to get spooked by the sudden brightness and motion of the light while acquiring the target.

 

[biohazardman]

I don't have the Night Owl but do have three other digital night sight scopes one DIY, an ATN and a Photon. I would go for the Night owl and purchase a more powerful illuminator only if you find the stock unit not to be enough. Kently makes a decent AA rechargeable lithium battery replacement and charger.

https://www.amazon.com/KENTLI-Cargador-Li-Pol%C3%ADmero-bater%C3%ADa-recargable/dp/B01CZV0ZYW/ref=pd_bxgy_img_2/136-1933127-8457827?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01CZV0ZYW&pd_rd_r=14eaccf3-7298-437d-99d4-41a1ee7ec076&pd_rd_w=Hbh1X&pd_rd_wg=6kDIZ&pf_rd_p=ce6c479b-ef53-49a6-845b-bbbf35c28dd3&pf_rd_r=KP8ZHDQJ0RFDPQW7T0F0&psc=1&refRID=KP8ZHDQJ0RFDPQW7T0F0

I did something similar to this for my first nightvision and it werqed just fine with an additional 940nm illuminator. The screen is a DVR so will record shots made. The 850nm illuminators are usually OK and more powerful as well but some animals are sensitive to the wavelength and get nervous with it.

https://www.nightvisioncenter.com/night-vision-scopes/

DYI nighvision scope



Pitch black basement at 10 yards with 940 IR flashlight.

 

[MacGyver]

I grew up spending at least 5 nights a week in the woods, coon hunting from sundown until early morning hours chasing the dogs. Back then the two main headlights were the Wheat Light by Koehler if you could afford it, or the gel cell Nite Lite. I still have my Koehler, but they primarily make lights for miners and the lights are pretty cost prohibitive now as they have to meet MSHA standards. Nite Lite is still a main stay, and very solid. They last for decades.

That said, they're mostly a headlight, but I have mounted mine on guns many times over the years. 

Personally, I don't like anything but optics in my scopes. I want that scope to last forever and electronics are just something to break. So between those two, I would likely opt for the Wicked, though I have never used it. 

If you do want to look at a Nite Lite you can go to, https://www.huntsmart.com/

The email I got yesterday says "Enjoy 25% Off select items in the Weekly Specials Collection" "Use Code 20WEEKLY at checkout."

 

[Glenroiland]

I find my attached LED light to work very well for my night pesting/hunting and has proven to be an extremely inexpensive way for me to hunt at night. I do have an IR attachment for my scope, but it is cumbersome for me to put on and take off. The light is so easy for me. In fact, tonight I put on the light and shot some 30 yard targets.. 

Zero problems at 30 yards (5 shot group). I've pested/hunted at night to around the same distance.

 

[509ajl]

Thank you all for your responses, I appreciate all your input and although no direct sure answer I have come to a conclusion. The simplest way to go is to put a Wicked light on top of my scope. Glenroiland had me with the simple easy way works for him. That was the clincher and the money also, it’s not free flowing at my house. So again thank you, this is the best forum with the best people always willing to help. Wicked light W403 ic is my choice.

 

[survivor45]

If I read correctly. The Night Owl is only 3 power. I personally don’t think that’s enough for shooting rats. 
Ive been using this setup for the last year. I’m very pleased with it. Simple to use. You actually look at a screen so scanning is a little easier than looking through a scope. I have shot many rats and mice from 6 to 22 yards. 
The built in IR light is good for about 30 yards but if you get a separate IR lite you can see out to 100 easily. 

https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Vision-Hunting-Portable-Display/dp/B07KWWCBMW/ref=mp_s_a_1_22?dchild=1&keywords=night+vision+scope+attachment&qid=1598074092&sprefix=night+vision+scope&sr=8-22

And my setup 

 

[509ajl]

I just wanted to say that the wicked light 403 ic arrived today and I charged the batteries and put it on my scope. Adjusting the light to center of my scope was easy and the coverage is incredible. Not as bright as green but it is powerful enough for my use. I don’t know if this is better than the Night Owl, only time and hunting will tell.

 

[MacGyver]

Can't wait to hear how it goes. Take pics.

I was looking at that 3 color Wicked. I don't think I have ever used the green, but i can see how it could be useful.