One thing not shared by most night hunting instructional videos has to do with Night Vision blindness.
If one uses a Night Vision scope to scan an area, the scope is throwing a lot of light into the eye. That eye is blind when the scope is removed, more so than if one were just using a white flashlight to peruse the ground.
Imagine holding a TV set an inch from your eye for a minute, removing it, and trying to see in the dark.
I've adopted to using the night scope when scanning with my weak hand eye.
That way, my dominant eye can retain a semblance of its night adjustment, and my sense of balance and orientation isn't as disturbed as much as if I had overwhelmed my dominant eye. If I decide to take a shot, I still range find, load my rifle, etc with a semblance of night vision before dousing my shooting eye in the intense light from the scope. I'm over 60, so perhaps I'm more sensitive to this disorientation, but I thought I would share my findings.
Also, that Night Scope is throwing a bright light out of the exit, ocular lens that can easily be seen by the animal if you remove your face from the rear. These scopes don't turn on quite as simply as a flashlight. My ATN boots up more akin to a Personal Computer, with a boot screen and flickering light. Removing ones eye from the scope has the scope throwing a motion picture onto your face, background or other parts you may want to have concealed from an incoming animal. It's not a deal breaker, but working with the scope over time, one becomes aware of its limitations. Holding said scope to ones eye for 10 minutes in the dark and you can get some serious dry eye.
Also, these scopes all have magnification- that magnification limits your field of view when scanning or in a close setup. There have been times that I've spotted an animal 5-6 yards way (they are sneaky, that's what they do) and I couldn't find it in the scope or focus down in time to make an ethical shot. Hunting for rats in a barn- you need some distance if your min magnification is 4 X. There is a definite limit to how close you can shoot small animals. AND, if you shoot FT, you know how critical range estimation is on a small target when you are close to it.
A hybrid way to hunt with the night vision scope, particularly if there are two hunters and only one Night Vision scope, is to combine the red light hunting with the night vision scope.
Have the hunter most familiar with Night Vision scope, unmounted from the gun, scan for animals that could be approaching from a distance. Remember, if the scope is mounted on a gun, and you are using it to scan for prey, everything you scan now has the muzzle of your gun pointing at it. Just because it is dark doesn't mean that gun safety isn't paramount (!!!!).
Use the weak, non dominant eye for scanning. The other hunter can use their natural night vision and retain a sense of their surroundings for closer, sneakier prey. Your sense of sound (particularly if you use hearing protection with audio magnification) is quite effective in the dark. If prey is detected, either by the night scope or the other hunter, a whispered "Red Light" aloud brings both hunters online and ready to shoot with that crimson beam.
I also carry a laser pointer for helping the hunters point out things when hunting. Directing others to a location is immensely assisted with these inexpensive items.
Back in the day, I'd drive Mojave desert roads with friends at night and see the shine of Jack rabbits off in the brush. Stopping, loading our rifles, I then would sweep the brush with a laser until I saw eye shine. One could hold the laser on the rabbit and the shooter could take their .22 rifle and aim for the beam using a conventional scope, plugging the rabbit without actually seeing it.
This is very dangerous and I don't do this anymore- I was younger, dumber and luckier back then.
