Hogs tearing up their yard again.
We kill one or two, but its took take for white light shooting once they get away from the utility pole light and start blending in with the shadows and trees.

He wanted either night vision or thermal, but also wanted something he could use in the day time if he wanted to (like a dedicated evening to night gun)


His budget was $1500...
I told him a decent NV scope is going to cost $3kish. I told him to stay away from ATN.


He found an ATN thermal for $1900 (LT 322)
I suggested the AGM TS35-384 ($2500)


He's upped his budget to $2000
He found an ATN Thor 4 for $2100
I suggested the AGM TS-25-384 ($2100)


I think he might be liking all the electronic caclulator doo dads that comes in the ATN, but I dont trust them.
I haven't used or seen any of the AGMs in person, but they seem like quality units.


Plus I dont like ATN requires an outlet to charge instead of batteries you can replace.




Arfcom thoughts?
They live on 3 acres. Back porch to woods is about 55-60 yards, but I'm sure he would end up taking it to our other land and leases to hunt with, even though he's not much of a pig hunter for sport


In my post in GD, Hogster was mentioned, but no other information as to why, pro/con etc etc
I've only used PAS-13s, so I don't know much about average joe units.
The AGM looks like a good easy to use unit

I think base model pulsar and hogsters are in than range. Both of those companies seem to be establishing solid reputations.

This.  Pulsar, Bering Optics (Hogster) and AGM are in or almost in his range.

I think the Hogster Stimulus just came out for $1,500 but I haven't seen any reviews of it yet though.

When I was in the market a couple of months ago with a budget of around $2k, my week of internet research led me to believe either the Rattler or the Hogster 25 were the two best options in that price range (and to definitely stay away from ATN). Went with the Hogster and like it a lot but have no experience with any other thermal to compare it to.

I have not used AGM but have used all the Hogster 25, 35 and Super Hogster as well as many other brands including Pulsar, Flir, Trijicon, and PRG. In thermals the phrase you get what you pay for, really is often true but with Bering Optics you get more than you pay for. 2K is a lot for an optic but unfortunately is not in the world of thermal. Traditional entry level thermal models such as the Flir PTS233, Pulsar RXQ30, and I will throw ATN in there as well,  really struggle in high humidity. All thermals struggle with humidity but often these entry level units degrade so bad that they become not useable. As I have said all thermals are impacted by humidity, but the Bering models are the least impacted of any thermal brand I have used including the higher-end brands.

The Hogster-R 25 is still a little past his budget, but is a great little thermal unit. It has a 4-year warranty and the image is very good for a lower cost thermal unit.

If he has the time there's a couple guys from down your way that have a podcast thing on YouTube. They carry on a bit but do lots of comparisons of different devices in different price ranges. Its like the late night vision show or something. One of the guys is from outdoor legacy and sells a lot of this stuff. For me starting from 0 knowledge it was quite instructional. For what its worth the only company they exclude from their reviews is ATN.....

I'm still learning, so bear with me please. If a close range optic is all I want, would there be any benefit to going with the Hogster-R 35 over the 25 or stimulus?

I realize price is important because if a person has a 3K budget, it doesn't pay to look at a 10K Trijicon. However, the biggest things are FOV and magnification. If you are looking for a close range optic, you want a wider FOV and less magnification.

Hogster 25: 384x288, 17 µm, 1.4x native mag, FOV 14.9°, and can shoot comfortably to 150 yards. $2,355

Hogster 35:  384x288, 17 µm, 2x native mag, FOV 10.7°, and can shoot comfortably to 200-225 yards. $2,675

Hogster Stimulus: 256x192, 12 µm, 2.3x native mag, FOV 9.2° . $1,495

Super Hogster: 384x288,  12 µm, 2.9x native mag, FOV 7.5°, and can shoot comfortably to 300+. $3,195

12 µm 640 resolution thermals are awesome. 12 µm 320 resolution thermals are just OK. The 12 µm 320 sensors seem to make objects look very blotchy and the image isn't very crisp. The Super Hogster is different. It doesn't suffer from this nearly as much as other 12 µm 320 thermals because of the way they get to 384 12 µm by using a segment of a 640 sensor. However, my concern is what will a 256x192 look like if the 320 12 µm usually look blotchy. I won't know until I can test it.

So your question was would there be any benefit of going with the R35 over the 25 or stimulus? The only positive of the stimulus is the price. According to other early reviews, you loose a lot of image quality in comparison to the 25 or 35. The Stimulus is more a competitor to the ATN LT market. The 25 and 35 will have a better image and the 30hz response rate has been reported as showing some lag on the stimulus. I test almost all prototypes but didn't test the Stimulus yet. If you have the extra money, I would get 25 or 35 all day long. The more a person hunts real tight cover and shoots at mostly short ranges, the 25 is a great fit. For the person who wants to shoot both close and medium range, the 35 is the better choice. For the person who shoots a lot of different ranges including long range, the Super Hogster is the best choice. For the person who has a tighter budget, Bering made one option. It isn't nearly as good as any of the other options, but it is an option. I will know a lot more when I test it but others are confirming it is decent for what it is, but do yourself a favor and don't buy something just because it is cheap vs buying something that is a proven performer.

That's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks Korey.

Any idea on when you might be filling back orders for these?

Pm sent.

I went with the agm rattler 25 but strongly considered the hogsters.  I am satisfied so far.  I'm in the Houston area and humidity hasn't been a problem in my limited use.
RATTLER 25 vid

The mailbox/trail entrance is 75-80 yards out.

I over-research purchases and I'm satisfied with the AGM so far.  The biggest difference between the Hogsters and AGM seems to be perceived expectation of customer support.  AGM has more features for the money but their rep isn't as good as Bering.