Sightmark Wraith Mini Nightvision and Rix K2 Thermal Scanner
If I’ve learned nothing else over the past decade, when it comes to night hunting, it’s that you must keep an open mind, and always be willing to evolve your gear to fit your hunting style. This is what has worked for me…it’s not the end all be all, as I’m just a “casual” night hunter, but for my style of hunting, it’s yielded the most success in the woods.
A decade ago, I was only using night vision because thermals were too expensive. While NV will get the job done, it’s nowhere near as good at spotting hidden game as thermals are. As thermal prices came down, and you didn’t have to sacrifice your first born for a good scope, that’s what I switched to. The issue was, I could only afford a thermal scope and not a scope and scanner…so I had to constantly be on the gun if I wanted to see anything.
There had to be a better solution…so I started switching things up. After much trial and error, I settled on what I considered the ultimate nighttime set up: a thermal scanner, night vision scope, and updated IR light.
Where night vision reigns supreme, is in PID. With thermals, yes you can make out the animals…but at distance…it can be a guessing game. But that’s the thing, at distance, you can see a heat signature…most night vision these days isn’t great past 200 yards…unless you have an upgraded IR light. So I made the adjustments, as money allowed, and now this is the ONLY way I’ll hunt at night, because I feel it offers the best advantage for both target detection and identification.
The great part about this is, it’s more affordable for most people. Now obviously you can spend as much as you’d like…but you can get into a decent set up for around $1000. A Rix K2 thermal scanner will run you around $500, and a Sightmark Wraith, or Wraith Mini will cost between $500 – $700 respectively. Then, you can go up from there…for example a Pulsar Telos scanner with LRF will be about $4000, while a Pulsar Digex C50 scope will be about $1800. However, if you’re just getting into it, or want to dip your toes in, the $1000 set up will be more than sufficient. And the great part is, the Sighmark scopes are both Day/Night scopes, so you can double your time on the scope to justify the cost.
Anyways, this is what works best for me, maybe it doesn’t for you, but I’ve killed the most animals, and selected the biggest animals (pigs) and nicest (coyotes) out of groups using this Scope/Scanner method.
Black Dirt Diaries 