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Posted: 3/6/2012 2:41:06 PM EDT
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The hogs are tearing stuff up again so I'm getting the itch for NV and I need to probe the hive mind in here. I've got to convince myself I'm well enough informed before I turn loose of the cash so any help you guys can give will be greatly appreciated.
From what I've been reading it seems the best way for me to go is a base jump helmet mounted PVS-14 along with a Class 1 IR laser and an IR illuminator to start out. I'm thinking an ITAL or OTAL with a Surefire 600 using a QD mount and KM2 Head since I'd like white light capability as well. Maybe later I'd add thermal to scan for hogs better. Any comments/criticism on this set up? What effective range would I be looking at on hog and/or coyote sized targets? Will Surefire's tapeswitch activate both IR laser and IR illuminator simultaneously or is that type of thing only possible with the DBAL D2? The IR lasers seems to subtend about 1 moa if I read the specs correctly. Does the laser dot actually appear that size on most furred targets or will it bloom on a hog that's white or fade out on a muddy black hog? I get the impression that the online vids I've been watching may not accurately represent what the eye actually sees. Thanks. |
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The hogs are tearing stuff up again so I'm getting the itch for NV and I need to probe the hive mind in here. I've got to convince myself I'm well enough informed before I turn loose of the cash so any help you guys can give will be greatly appreciated. From what I've been reading it seems the best way for me to go is a base jump helmet mounted PVS-14 along with a Class 1 IR laser and an IR illuminator to start out. I'm thinking an ITAL or OTAL with a Surefire 600 using a QD mount and KM2 Head since I'd like white light capability as well. Maybe later I'd add thermal to scan for hogs better. Any comments/criticism on this set up? What effective range would I be looking at on hog and/or coyote sized targets? Will Surefire's tapeswitch activate both IR laser and IR illuminator simultaneously or is that type of thing only possible with the DBAL D2? The IR lasers seems to subtend about 1 moa if I read the specs correctly. Does the laser dot actually appear that size on most furred targets or will it bloom on a hog that's white or fade out on a muddy black hog? I get the impression that the online vids I've been watching may not accurately represent what the eye actually sees. Thanks. Class 1 IR Lasers are doing very well at a true 250 yards, Obviously the PVS-14 is a 1.1x system so seeing a small critter such as a hog can be engaged at approx.150 yards and yotes at 100, but some here know I take the conservative approach. 
As for the SF's dual tape switch they are made to work with any of LDI's Class 1's such as the DBAL's, OTAL's and ITAL's. As for blooming, you will mostly see that at close in targets 50 yards or in, but still usable since the target is much closer to your eye. Just slight blooming out at 100m region and virtually none past 150. You're correct, vids and camera's do not do justice how good the lasers and NV look.  Hope this helps.
Vic |
| Looks like you are heading in the direction of what I just picked up. Only real difference is I'm using a Surefire M952V instead of a 6-series. Got an OTAL coming from Vic but currently have a VITAL-2. Setup works pretty good at the range at 100 yards. Just starting to warm up here so I haven't gotten a "shot" at 'yotes yet but will report in when I do. |
| Some of the guys here will be far more experianced than me with the laser Mono/Goggle combo. For myself Im pushed to cleanly kill a deer with a good chest shot consistantly out past 80mts . Thats with PVS-7 and IR laser and any rifle. My usual kit is a Suppressed Subsonic Ruger 44Mag fitted with a Kite MK4 and a set of PVS-7 Goggles. Pigs are easy just walk up close and shoot, Most pigs I have shot would be 25-50mts, deer on the other hand have very good nigt vision and for that reason we only hunt them on moonless nights. |
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Some of the guys here will be far more experianced than me with the laser Mono/Goggle combo. For myself Im pushed to cleanly kill a deer with a good chest shot consistantly out past 80mts . Thats with PVS-7 and IR laser and any rifle. My usual kit is a Suppressed Subsonic Ruger 44Mag fitted with a Kite MK4 and a set of PVS-7 Goggles. Pigs are easy just walk up close and shoot, Most pigs I have shot would be 25-50mts, deer on the other hand have very good nigt vision and for that reason we only hunt them on moonless nights. Welcome Tasbay. That is funny about the deer. The deer on our ranch are not hunted at night. I drive right past them at 20 yards on my golf cart and they just lay there and watch me. |
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Some of the guys here will be far more experianced than me with the laser Mono/Goggle combo. For myself Im pushed to cleanly kill a deer with a good chest shot consistantly out past 80mts . Thats with PVS-7 and IR laser and any rifle. My usual kit is a Suppressed Subsonic Ruger 44Mag fitted with a Kite MK4 and a set of PVS-7 Goggles. Pigs are easy just walk up close and shoot, Most pigs I have shot would be 25-50mts, deer on the other hand have very good nigt vision and for that reason we only hunt them on moonless nights. Welcome Tasbay. That is funny about the deer. The deer on our ranch are not hunted at night. I drive right past them at 20 yards on my golf cart and they just lay there and watch me. Yep I have been to the States on a couple of occasions and found the deer to be quite dumb. Im sure a day or so after your hunting season starts its a differant story. Down here we don`t have a deer season and can hunt all year and shoot as many as we like how we like, that includes spotlighting, NV and even helecopter gunships ....... No Im not joking. So with all that the Deer have to keep on their toes to stay alive. That said a set of Goggles and scope or laser make them fairly vonerable!! |
In Texas helecopter gunships are Ok for hogs  around here they just what hogs dead. My family use to plant corn/soybean/crops on their valley farm land but when they hogs moved into the area around 15 years ago they now destroy anything we plant now. We had to stop planting and just graze cattle now we tried trapping,fenceing,shooting and you could KO the numbers of hogs down but the numbers came back within a year and you had the same issues with crop damage. Feral hogs are more of a threat than most people know what happens if they infest the corn belt states where we grow most of the countrys food supply farmers can't afford to fence every single acre of crop land and even at that every time it rains the fence has to be reworked/fixed or hogs will be right back in there in days. I have seen hunderds of acres of corn be destroyed in just a day or two from a big group of hogs moving through the area by the time you see the damage its too late to save that years production. On your question I use PVS-14s with eotechs and lasers for sight it has proven deadly on hog control. A NV rifle scope is nice for longer range shooting and easier for most people to shoot accuracy wise but are heavier to carry and cost more $$$$.
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Another question regarding NV monoculars, specifically the ITT Night Enforcer tubes: If the tubes are delicate enough that they cannot withstand more than 5.56 recoil then how much danger is there in causing damage to them from bumping into limbs, vehicle door frames etc.? It seems that they would have a hard time enduring the rigors of combat.
In regard to the helmet mounts there seems to be a bewildering array with some seemingly steep prices for some of them. Any opinions on the various mounting systems? |
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Another question regarding NV monoculars, specifically the ITT Night Enforcer tubes: If the tubes are delicate enough that they cannot withstand more than 5.56 recoil then how much danger is there in causing damage to them from bumping into limbs, vehicle door frames etc.? It seems that they would have a hard time enduring the rigors of combat. In regard to the helmet mounts there seems to be a bewildering array with some seemingly steep prices for some of them. Any opinions on the various mounting systems? We're talking about a 500G limit here (5.56) and below. Simply bumping into an object will not cause 500G's worth of damage. They've survived the rigors of combat for years now.
Vic |
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Another question regarding NV monoculars, specifically the ITT Night Enforcer tubes: If the tubes are delicate enough that they cannot withstand more than 5.56 recoil then how much danger is there in causing damage to them from bumping into limbs, vehicle door frames etc.? It seems that they would have a hard time enduring the rigors of combat. In regard to the helmet mounts there seems to be a bewildering array with some seemingly steep prices for some of them. Any opinions on the various mounting systems? Just sold a set of PVS-7`s to a guy who promptly dropped them off his helmet onto a concreat floor, have to admit I have dropped mine on concreat and my son dropped 2 sets onto rocks in a river crossing. No damage done in any of the before mentioned cases. 14`s and 7`s will take some knocks. The longer you have some the rougher you will treat it and it will take it. |
| I have a Base Jump, an Alpha, and a MICH. The Base Jump quickly took over as my favorite. It's lightweight, stable, comfortable, and the rails give you some options. The Alpha, for me, is the worst helmet. It's very lightweight, but the suspension kind of sucks, it isn't very stable, droops without some serious counterweight, and just feels flimsy. The MICH is kind of a middle road... a lot more comfortable with the pad set I have than the Alpha, more stable due to the added weight, but...a lot heavier than either the Alpha or the Base Jump. If you can spring for a Base Jump, that's one of the best helmets on the market IMHO. |
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for the amount of cash you are looking at springing all at once, and since this is also a real proffesional endevour, (protecting your farm) ild skip the green stuff and go straight to a thermal rifle scope. it will allow you to kill more than one in a single sitting and you wont have to trudge around looking for them all night- just do a scan every now and then and only go out on the stalk when you specifically see hogs. I have a PVS-14, and its fun, but have spent some time also using thermal hunting hogs, and if i had a more serious need ild pony up the cash for a thermal attached to a rifle. Its the difference between hunting for fun and really killing evey hog on your property in a few hunts a year during the right feeding seasons.
check out the rifle leads video http://www.jagerpro.com/videos.aspx |
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Massive, massive price difference between even a killer night vision setup and a basic weapon mounted thermal setup. my understanding is something like twice as much or more, but the performance for looking for warm blooded animals is not even close between the two. You simply spend about 10 times as much time looking for them without the thermal. if you got a long detection range scope, and a high point, you can spot them hundreds of yards away and know whether they are deer without having to sneak up first to find out. |
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Thermal is great for seeing things that are hot and things that are moving. Hot, moving things are way easy to see, especially on cool nights. But, it isn't so good at identifying those items. For example, I can see cars & aircraft moving at a several miles away, but I can't tell what kind of car, truck, semi, helicopter, plane, etc. it is. At 100-200 yards, I can tell cars from trucks, but I can't readily tell you what kind of car, especially if they are moving. Same goes for animals with even minimal cover. I can see them at distance, but unless they are in the open, it is hard to tell what it is. So it is spectacular at detection, but not so good at 100% positively IDing what it is. Also, in warmer weather, thermal detection can be lessened quite dramatically. In the summer here in AZ, everything can be in the 90's at night. So it really makes the thermal wash out and you can see very little detail. Even animals standing still are hard to see. Even on mild days, I have seen animals disappear when standing in front of or near something that absorbs heat (metal sheds, fences, etc.).
Now with night vision, I can see and ID at great distance. But many items, including moving items, can blend in and are hard to detect. But once detected, I can ID them pretty easily. If you can have just one to start with, go with NV. It is much more flexible. |
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