A couple of years ago my world came to a grinding halt.  
The doctors determined that I had Stage IIIC colon cancer.  
That cancer at that stage, has about a 50% chance of survival at 5 years.
For some time, even after my chemotherapy ended, I stopped living.  
More recently, I decided to get back into the swing of things.  I am obviously part of the 50% that lives.
Now that I have made that realization and determination, I need to become part of the lives of my family again.

I want to go hunting with my sons.
I want to build that memory with them, so they can carry it on in their lives.
Because school schedules keep everybody jumping, we need to be able to hunt something whenever we can get free at the same time.
This leaves us (in Ohio) coyote and wild boar.  In some states, they are more plentiful than others, so we would be happy to travel.
As we understand it, boar hunting is almost a public service.

This is what worries me about this undertaking:
I don't want to come back from the hunt with my boys disappointed.  
They aren't little children. One is 17. the other will be 19 soon, but nevertheless, I don't want the key feature of this time, to be disappointment..
We've been through the Hunter Safety Course.
We each have a rifle with which we are proficient. (the boys each have an AR in 300 BLK and I have an AR in .308, but for this I may build up a 300 BLK for myself.)
All three of us are proficient marksmen.  
We don't attempt to fool ourselves.  
We're great at hunting the paper or steel that has been placed down range.  
Shooting things that may charge or run off into the brush is another matter altogether.

The First Dilemma:
To celebrate the completion of chemotherapy, a couple of friends took me to Texas to hunt pig.  
None of us had ever been hunting before.
We came back empty handed.
I don't want a canned hunt. Is there an outfitter or guide that will increase our chance of success?
I also have to keep the costs contained as much as is practical.  (I don't expect this to be free)
Is anybody out there who has a pig problem and could use a few more guns?
Essentially, we need a teacher.  

TheSecond Dilemma:
What kind of optics should we use?  We'll be hunting at night.
Will we be better off using Gen 1 night vision (Of my 3 kids, 2 are in college, so making the jump to Gen 2 or 3 is out of the question)
or is there a thermal alternative that would make this reasonably simple and inexpensive?
Is there a third option?


Please PM me if you'll help a dad hide his ineptitude at hunting from his sons.  
Thank you in advance

Congrats on kicking cancer, congrats on wanting to connect to your sons. I think your looking to put together a hunt that will be fun but not likely fulfill all your desires. I took my boy on a prairie dog hunt a few years ago, self guided with friends in Wyoming. We stopped counting with 1100 prairie dogs in one day. you would have all summer to do it and there are outfitters to take you in South Dakota, not that far from you, Wyoming and Montana are loaded with them. The other cool hunt for you guys would be Snow geese in North Dakota or Canada, no limits and lots of shooting. A September bear hunt in Canada would be a good option as well.

I agree on the prairie dogs they are plentiful and cheap as far as guided hunts go. Plus it's easier for multiple people to join in on the kills. Congrats on beating cancer that's a feat in it's self. If you do find a good location you can rent thermal gear.

Some of my most memorable hunts with my father were those that allowed us to have quality time together.  I don't remember if we harvested any game or not but I always remember the fire side chats and meal he took great price in making over open flame.  I always remember our duck hunting trips as it allowed us time to sit next to each other and talk...we may even shot our guns few times but I don't remember any ducks falling out of the sky.  Year later it's the memory of quality time together that you remember and not the game you harvested.

A major regret I have at the moment is the fact that, when I was younger, I wasn't closer to my dad.  2 weeks before my final chemo treatment, Dad started burping up foam.  As I had colon cancer and the old man had esophageal cancer, one would say that Cancer got us Coming and Going!

He likes to fish.  As a result, I am looking for a 12-14' jon boat, a 5hp motor and a trolling motor for sale in Ohio or Northern Indiana.  During the first three weeks of May, we will be renting cottages at Clear Lake and The Old Man will be encouraged to fish to his heart's content. Those of us who go out on the boat with him will bring along mask, fins, snorkel and compass because the man can fish longer than any normal man's patience lasts.  After we get back from Clear Lake, I had planned to make sure he was able to fish whenever he wanted and for as long as his health allows him to do so.   Essentially, my dad and I are closer now, that I'm an adult. My boys have always been close to him (more than just because they're not psychotic, like my sister's boy, who has pink hair right now).  We've sworn to take the time we have left and make it the best time we've spent together yet.

"Thermal Gear"
That actually is on the shopping list.  I am spending time (when my wife's not looking) reading up on the options between Gen 1, Gen 1 Digital, Gen 2, etc.  One company actually has financing, layaway and rental.  I'm going to obtain one unit from them, just to see  if they are as nice as they tell everybody they are.

I'm going to look through the various forums in here, to see what the consensus is, for the best bang for the buck system for hunting, whether it's NVG, Thermal, etc.  If there are any short answers, please let me know.

I'm still lookin' for a teacher.  I am willing to pay for the instruction.  I just don't want to do like the guys did and drop $1000 with a guy and get a photocopied map drawn in Sharpie, indicating the feeders, blinds and ponds, access to the field and nothing else.

The new pulsar trail 50's ar running $5k. Thats best bang for buck. Nice gen 3 scope is $4k. Might as well save a little more and get thermal.