Night Hunt Success: Taking Down Rodents with Sidewinder .30

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Leo C

Member
Jan 27, 2024
38
30
California
Last night, I went out for a rodent hunt using my Sidewinder .30 air rifle paired with the Sytong GM06 thermal scope. The results were pretty satisfying—I managed to take down quite a few rats in the brush.





One interesting challenge I faced was visibility. While the thermal scope worked great for spotting the rats, some thin branches in the undergrowth were practically invisible through the scope. As a result, several shots ended up deflecting off unseen twigs, causing the pellets to miss the vital zones.





Despite that, the hunt was a success overall. The .30 caliber hits hard, and when I had a clear shot, it was a clean takedown. This experience really showed the importance of having a clear line of fire, especially when using thermal optics in dense vegetation.





Anyone else experienced this issue with thermal scopes? Would love to hear your thoughts or any tips to minimize deflections in similar situations!




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Leo C said:
昨天，我带着我的响尾蛇。30气枪和Sytong GM06热成像瞄准镜出去打老鼠。结果非常令人满意——我成功地在丛林丛中打死了令人惊奇的老鼠。

我面临的一个有趣的挑战是可见性的。虽然热成像瞄准镜可以很好地发现老鼠，但密集丛中的一些细枝条几乎无法通过瞄准镜看到。结果，几发子弹最终被看不见的树枝弹开，导致子弹没有击中要害部位。

，这次狩猎总体上还是成功的。.30口径的命中率，当我有一次声音射击枪口时，敌人就被完美利落地击杀了。这次经历确实表明了拥有声音射击线的重要性，尤其是在茂密的枪口被使用热意仪时。

还有人在使用热成像瞄准镜时遇到过这个问题吗？很想听听你的想法或在任何类似情况下尽量减少偏转的技巧！
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@LeeC Try translating your post to English. I don’t know many people that read Mandarin on this site. Considering the length of your post, I imagine many people will scroll past what you have to say in Mandarin without trying to read it.

A .30 on small rodents is waste of ammo in my opinion unless that’s your only PCP. It is way cheaper to shoot them with a .22 Yes, most people using thermal optics experience not seeing small plant parts and smaller branches. There is nothing unusual about that. Consider using a night vision unit if you wish to see a detailed image of your hunting environment at night. However, you must already have an idea where the rats are if they aren’t out in the open and you don’t catch the light reflecting off of their eyes. You won’t see them as easily as you can with a thermal optic.
 
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Ezana4CE said:
@LeeC Try translating your post to English. I don’t know many people that read Mandarin on this site. Considering the length of your post, I imagine many people will scroll past what you have to say in Mandarin without trying to read it.

A .30 on small rodents is waste of ammo in my opinion unless that’s your only PCP. It is way cheaper to shoot them with a .22 Yes, most people using thermal optics experience not seeing small plant parts and smaller branches. There is nothing unusual about that. Consider using a night vision unit if you wish to see a detailed image of your hunting environment at night. However, you must already have an idea where the rats are if they aren’t out in the open and you don’t catch the light reflecting off of their eyes. You won’t see them as easily as you can with a thermal optic.
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Sorry, my English isn’t very good, and I made a small mistake. I originally meant to copy the translated text but ended up copying the wrong one. Right now, I only have two .30 PCP rifles and one .22 spring piston rifle. After buying the PCPs, I rarely use the springer anymore because I feel its accuracy isn’t very satisfying.





Thanks for your reply!
 
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Ezana4CE said:
@Leo C I understand if isn’t your first language. I can Translate your messages. At which distances are you typically shooting from?
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Thank you for your understanding. I usually shoot at 30-60 yards because, at this distance, I don’t need a rangefinder—I can estimate the range roughly and shoot without adjusting the scope, allowing for the fastest possible shot. Sometimes, when spotting a target, you have to take the shot immediately, as the opportunity can be gone in an instant.

I used to have an Impact M4, and there were many times when the prey escaped while I was cycling the bolt to chamber a round. That’s why I switched to a fully automatic Sidewinder, which eliminates the need for manual cocking. It’s truly amazing!
 
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Leo C said:
Sorry, my English isn’t very good, and I made a small mistake. I originally meant to copy the translated text but ended up copying the wrong one. Right now, I only have two .30 PCP rifles and one .22 spring piston rifle. After buying the PCPs, I rarely use the springer anymore because I feel its accuracy isn’t very satisfying.





Thanks for your reply!
Click to expand...
was in English on my PC
 
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Leo C said:
Sorry, my English isn’t very good, and I made a small mistake. I originally meant to copy the translated text but ended up copying the wrong one. Right now, I only have two .30 PCP rifles and one .22 spring piston rifle. After buying the PCPs, I rarely use the springer anymore because I feel its accuracy isn’t very satisfying.





Thanks for your reply!
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Your English may not be very good, but your shooting is…🙈 Incoming? Is a “universal” language…🙏
 
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Barnamwam said:
Nice shooting Leo! I know an American working in Shanghai who says that anything that shoots a projectile is considered a weapon in China. Civilians are not allowed to have weapons. Considering that nice collection of airguns, you must be an elite.
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In China, guns are prohibited, and even airguns are not allowed. The only legal options with some power are slingshots and compound bows. I’m not some kind of elite; I own these airguns simply because I’m in California, USA.
 
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Leo C said:
Last night, I went out for a rodent hunt using my Sidewinder .30 air rifle paired with the Sytong GM06 thermal scope. The results were pretty satisfying—I managed to take down quite a few rats in the brush.





One interesting challenge I faced was visibility. While the thermal scope worked great for spotting the rats, some thin branches in the undergrowth were practically invisible through the scope. As a result, several shots ended up deflecting off unseen twigs, causing the pellets to miss the vital zones.





Despite that, the hunt was a success overall. The .30 caliber hits hard, and when I had a clear shot, it was a clean takedown. This experience really showed the importance of having a clear line of fire, especially when using thermal optics in dense vegetation.





Anyone else experienced this issue with thermal scopes? Would love to hear your thoughts or any tips to minimize deflections in similar situations!




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I currently have a nightvision scope on my rattler, do you think it's worth it to upgrade to thermal? Nice shooting.
 
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Taylor.Nicholas said:
I currently have a nightvision scope on my rattler, do you think it's worth it to upgrade to thermal? Nice shooting.
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I also have a night vision scope, and it works best in open fields or barns where there are no obstructions. In these environments, it performs very well. However, if the grass is too tall or there are leaves and branches blocking the view, night vision becomes much less effective, making it difficult to spot targets. This is where a thermal imaging scope becomes essential. While it doesn’t provide as clear an image of the surroundings as night vision does, it highlights heat sources, making targets stand out clearly.
 
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Taylor.Nicholas said:
How much did the thermal scope run you? And do you have one you would recommend for lower entry level? Everything I've seen so far on them, is that they are really expensive.
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If you want something cheap, you can only choose Chinese products, such as Arken, also known as DNT, Sytong, or PRAD. My suggestion is that no matter which brand you choose, try to go for a resolution of at least 640, which costs around $3,000 in the U.S. The absolute minimum should be 384, but I don’t recommend it—this is just the lowest acceptable standard. Resolutions of 256 should not be considered at all.
 
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Mr.Brocock said:
The perfect answer is a DNT...day, night, thermal.. the best of all worlds. They work great, cost less than a good thermal and are small!! 10 yard to 60 is the sweet spot for me.

carry on
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I have an Arken with a 384 resolution, but it didn’t quite meet my expectations, so I bought another one with a 640 resolution.
 
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@Leo C -

I have a DNT TNC635R on one of my AR’s and it works quite well. You can have Thermal in the main image and the color night vision in the PIP (picture in picture). Relatively inexpensive and should eliminate your deflection issues.

I speak Mandarin and can read and write Chinese, so if you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

Link to DNT TNC635R:

us.dntoptics.com

TNC635R - ThermNight Thermal & Night Vision Multispectral Scope with L

DNT Optics Store
us.dntoptics.com us.dntoptics.com
 
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