Hunting with Night Vision

[oneyeopn]

We have a new member Dado, who is still trying to figure out how this all works and asked me to repost his question in here.

"I want to try hunting with night vision and am looking at some cool looking setups on a particular site... http://www.camp-hunt-shoot.com/.

The only problem is that I have no experience at all with night vision and was wondering if I could get an independent opinion on what the best value for money unit might be.

Has anyone had any experience with this stuff and a minute to give me some advice?
Thanks"
I put the quotation marks so everyone can see what his question was!

[Gunslinger808]

First thing is your friend really needs to check the laws regarding hunting with a night sight as some states outlaw their use, and some states only let you hunt varmints with them.

As for ATNs or any othe commercialy available NVD, they're OK but mostly gen 2 and 3 devices so they're a little bulky and not quite as clear as gen 4 devices.
The up side is that they're not nearly as expensive.
I'd stay away from gen 2 devices and get a third gen image intensifier as the picture won't be as grainy which is critical for longer distance target recognition, plus gen 2s are pretty big units to mount.

A few considerations:
Does he want a weapon mounted scope, or does he want a unit that can also be used as a stand alone monocular for just stomping around in the dark?

His price range?

If he wants a multi purpose NVD, my personal recommendation would be a PVS-14, it's a lightweight monocular that can also be weapon mounted behind a scope or red dot or "headache racked" for stand alone use, it's what a lot of our troops use, and has a sharp clear image intensifier.
Prices for PVS-14s run in the 3 to 4 Thousand dollar range.

PVS 7s are good for general purpose night navigation, but are a real pain to try and use with a scope/red dot system due to the way you'd have to hold the rifle to sight in.

For a weapon mounted scope, ATN, Pulsar, and Yukon, make some decent entry level ones at reasonable prices (in the 5 to 6 hundred dollar range).

And one other thing, make sure you check to see what kind of batteries the system uses, some have esoteric ones that have to be special ordered if you can even find them!

[oneyeopn]

Originally Posted by Gunslinger808

First thing is your friend really needs to check the laws regarding hunting with a night sight as some states outlaw their use, and some states only let you hunt varmints with them.

As for ATNs or any othe commercialy available NVD, they're OK but mostly gen 2 and 3 devices so they're a little bulky and not quite as clear as gen 4 devices.
The up side is that they're not nearly as expensive.
I'd stay away from gen 2 devices and get a third gen image intensifier as the picture won't be as grainy which is critical for longer distance target recognition, plus gen 2s are pretty big units to mount.

A few considerations:
Does he want a weapon mounted scope, or does he want a unit that can also be used as a stand alone monocular for just stomping around in the dark?

His price range?

If he wants a multi purpose NVD, my personal recommendation would be a PVS-14, it's a lightweight monocular that can also be weapon mounted behind a scope or red dot or "headache racked" for stand alone use, it's what a lot of our troops use, and has a sharp clear image intensifier.
Prices for PVS-14s run in the 3 to 4 Thousand dollar range.

PVS 7s are good for general purpose night navigation, but are a real pain to try and use with a scope/red dot system due to the way you'd have to hold the rifle to sight in.

For a weapon mounted scope, ATN, Pulsar, and Yukon, make some decent entry level ones at reasonable prices (in the 5 to 6 hundred dollar range).

And one other thing, make sure you check to see what kind of batteries the system uses, some have esoteric ones that have to be special ordered if you can even find them!

To be honest I do not have a clue who this person is. He asked this question in the New Camo Software thread. I asked him to make it have its own thread so I guess he posted it in the lounge and then he asked me to post it here. Dont know why other than he said he couldnt figure it out. I have no desire for night sights or spotlighting..that is way too much work and I dont really hunt like that, plus its hard as heck to shoot targets after dark. But anyway I hope he gets your message cause I really have nothing to add to this thread. When I was in the Corps we didnt have night sights and rarely did I get to see a starlight scope. I promise you I didnt have much of a clue what you were talking about other than I heard of some of that stuff.

[Gunslinger808]

Yeah, it's a whole 'nother world when you start dealing with Night Vision Devices.
I have a set of PVS 7s I use when out dinking around in the desert, scared the heck out of my wife the first lights out run I took her out on in the quad!
Now she has her own set as well as a PVS 14 for her AR.
Loads of fun.

[SSgt M]

ALOT of states are allowing NVD pig hunts do to the overwhelming numbers....
Seen even heli hunts as well in TX.

[TangoFoxtrot]

Wow in my state if you got caught hunting with night vision optics you would get cuffed and stuffed for sure.

[oneyeopn]

I am not sure about my state. But I do know that spotlighting is illegal, and I have a great big one!!! LOL