I have hunted hogs but mostly as a side to a deer hunt . I have mostly taken hogs in the afternoon around a deer feeder.

But this last weekend, with deer season now closed, I went on a dedicated hog hunt at a buddy's property .

While I was set up overlooking a feeder, the new part of this for me is that it was mostly in the dark .

I got in the stand about 4PM and it was overcast some We had a half moon on Saturday evening. I could see the feeder and area in the woods fairly well with my 8X Kahles binoculars I had brought along . I also have the Leupold VX 6 with the Firedot on my rifle and that worked well too.

I could identify and could have placed a shot well with the Firedot on as long as there was moderate ambient light from the moon and stars . I was set up in the woods about 90 yards back from the feeder which was also in the woods on this hunt .

I didn't see any hogs between 4 and about 6:30PM when a couple of other guys got a couple of hogs about 6:15 and 6:30. Then it went dark and I could see ok with the binoculars and scope as above . Still no movement around my area. At about 8 my buddy came and we moved to the ground and sat a while longer . At about 10 it clouded over and no moon or stars were visible and my vision was fading fast . I could see enough, but barely . By that time I was ready to call it quits .

I read some of the posts here going back a couple of years, including the one right down the page by 600 on lights etc.

I do have a Gen 1 ATN 410 Spartan Night Vision scope for the AR for night hunts for coyotes . I have an extra IR Streamlight IR illuminator for it . But that doesn't seem like the best set up for these 300 lbs hogs .

Also I could load some of the 62 grain Noslers for the 223, but it sure seems light .

Do you use and prefer the NV scopes, or the green or red lights ? If you are hunting alone then it would make sense that your light is mounted on the rifle , but do you also use a hand held red or green light ?

I am thinking of staying with a scoped bolt action, but it would sure be nice to get one of my lever actions with open sights some work here.

I am just looking for ideas and your inputs and recommendations as to a good set up . While I am sure the newest night vision and scopes would be excellent, I am not sure I want to do that much or spend that much . But I need something better as I will be going again .

I didn't get a hog as none came in , but I did see a lot of deer now that season is closed . Thank you guys .

You might check into this site.

http://www.elusivewildlife.com...ctsList&iCategory=12

These lights look interesting and from what I have seen of them a regular scope will work. As for iron sights you would probably have to go to a ghost ring set up with fiber inserts like folks use on their turkey guns, not sure on that.

I have been working with solar powered yard lights, the spotlight type and had one hunter kill a nice pig around 9 PM one night.

Some of the folks from out of state that hunt with us use the newer LED lights that put out plenty of light for shooting with a scope at 100 yards.

^^^

Thank you CHC. I have been looking some , but I sure will compare the equipment on that site.

I had looked at the Streamlights. I saw that Whitworth had put a link to Assinator and yours . I am not sure but Streamlight had a "limited life warranty" on theirs. It is probably limited to the life you get . LOL.

But I am going to get and try something to improve the night shooting for these hoggies .

The reason I went with the solar powered lights is that they come on automatically at dusk. I have experienced it and talked to others that have had the same thing happen, that when the pigs would be feeding and a light would eat them, they would flush like a covey of quail.

Of course that seems to mainly happen with a normal, for lack of a better term "white" light. Spotlights with red or green filters do not seem to spook them as had.

Best of luck on your project.

I have noticed that pigs just don't like the light put out by the hard white Led's. Could be the heavy shadow they cause. They give me more time for a shot if lit up by a halogen bulbed spotlight.

There are a number of ways to go, as I'm sure you've figured out by now.

First, forget about the open sights. I'm not saying they can't be used, but a scope is just easier. Bear in mind that many (most) illuminated scopes are too bright, even at the lowest setting and wash out the field of view when it's dim; check around before you buy. Second, you can go with night vision or feeder lights. I've seen the motion detector triggered lights, and some like them, but my personal opinion is that they spook a higher percentage of non-resident hogs than the lights that remain on continuously. The (colored) battery powered lights are brighter than the solar lights, but they're powered by, well, batteries, which bring their own issues. It's up to you to decide whether the solar powered lights are bright enough. Good NV is really cool, but I'm not sure it's really needed if all of your hunting is over well configured feeders. One advantage of feeder lights over NV is that they work well regardless of ambient (moon) light. A second advantage is that they are much, much cheaper.

If you go NV, most think that nothing under Gen 2 is worth buying. Some say that the best Gen 1 can be made to work with a quality IR illuminator; I personally went directly to Gen 2+ and, more recently, Gen 3. If you look through a Gen 2 device and then look through a Gen 1 device, you'll never be satisfied with Gen 1.

As far as NV setups, there seem to be three main ways to go. The first is getting a hat/helmet mounted monocular that detaches and reattaches to the AR which has a forward mounted Eotech or similar. The second is using a hat/helmet mounted monocular and then using an IR laser on the firearm. The third is using a dedicated NV rifle sight. I know very little about the first two, particularly the second option, but a number of people seem to really like it a great deal. I personally went the third route. and I'm very happy with a few reservations. One negative is that you will have to buy a second NV device at some point, as swinging around the AR/NV combo to scan an area is clumsy and tedious. Ideally, you'd get a Flir(32) or similar for a spotter and then use the (gen3) NV rifle sight for more exact target review.

My personal set up is a Gen 2+ rifle sight with 2.5-10 magnification. It isn't usable for much over 6 or 7x at night, but it's really nice for longer range shooting, while still providing a wide field of view for running targets at short range. The rifle is not light by any means. A 20" bull barrel with a big NV unit is **heavy**. For scanning, I bought a hand held Gen 2+ unit a while back, but I recently upgraded to older Gen 3, which is much, much better. I've also got a Streamlight IR illuminator for the rifle, but haven't actually used it yet; but it looks **great** in the back yard. It really seems to upgrade the Gen 2.

For follow up in the dark on wounded pigs in brush, a laser is the best. I've upgraded my .45 Colt Taurus Titanium Tracker with a Crimson Trace laser after stumbling around after midnight in thick brush looking for a big (mortally) wounded hog. While I believe that a rifle is better than any pistol, you have to deal with the thick brush in some way; and when hogs are hit, that's where they go.

Next, you have to decide whether to go new or used. In spite of all the negativity regarding used NV gear, I've bought used, for a modest fraction of the price of new, and am very happy. You'll have to decide whether you're willing to take that risk, as it's apparently quite real. Would you rather spend $1800 and get a warranty, or would you rather spend $800-900 and own both pieces if the device breaks?

Finally, there's the choice of rifle caliber. There is no doubt in my mind that bigger is better. The problem is that the current generation of NV gear seems to be fairly fragile. If you go 5.56, you probably won't have any problems. If you go .308 you have a very reasonable chance of problems. If you go .458 SOCOM, then you'd better buy the best and get a warranty. I found a deal on a .243 WSSM AR a while back, and use that. I shoot 105 grain Speer Hot Core bullet at a very modest velocity ( 2600 fps ) because the rifle likes the load. Much to my surprise, the performance on hogs has been superb and has exceeded my expectation, maybe because the lower velocity enhances bullet integrity. In any event, the rifle is very temperamental about the load, so there's not much choice. I've killed hogs as far away as 175 yards in the dark, and I've killed several hogs in the 200 lb range, all without difficulty, at ranges as close as 25-30 yards.

I'm not remotely an expert on the subject, but I've found night hunting hogs to be an absolute blast and very much to my taste.

I should also have mentioned the new digital NV devices. The three of current interest are the Puslar n750, n550 and the Sightmark Photon in descending order of capability. I've only had (modest) personal experience with the n550. It appeared to be significantly less capable than my high quality Gen 2+, but was very usable, especially with an IR illuminator. There are any number of reviews and You Tube videos on both the n550 and n750. The n550 will break under high recoil (not sure about the n750), but customer support, to the best of my knowledge, has been excellent. A friend had his warranty replacement in his hands within two weeks of the initial phone call, and that appears to be very normal service.

The new kid on the block is the Sightmark Photon. By all accounts, it's significantly less capable than the n750, but it's also only $600, and it completely blows away any of the options in its price range; don't even think about Gen 1. There are two models, 5x and 3.5x. Be aware they have different illuminators; many prefer the 3.5x unit even though it's less expensive, so check out the You Tube videos and compare the two. The Photon is clearly imperfect and has quirks, but it's the first new sub $1000 unit that's unequivocally worth buying. At sub $600, it's a no brainer.

My opinion is worth what you paid for it.

I have a 3.5x photon set up on a suppressed (SDN6) sauer 200. I really like the set up..it is no gen 2 or gen 3 but you can whack pigs out 75 yards no problem, and with my suppressed load that is about as far as I want to shoot anyway.

Ed

I am going to look in to some of those over the next few days . I am sure going to narrow it down and get a green led style light too .

It was surprising how well my normal optics worked . But there was at least a moderate amount of light that night . The VX 6 and Firedot was really just right for this application .

The advantage to the NV set up I would guess is when the pigs are skittish. If that ever happens. Or when you have other uses .

Please add in any other set ups you guys like and are using .

Thanks for your inputs. Now to go get a couple of pigs.

Looking to piggie (no pun intended) back on this one.

The solar yard spot is a great idea, I will grab one for our feeders.

I am looking at the streamlight tlr-1 to mount to my scope, is there a more powerful option out there?

One advantage that NV has over feeder lights is that you can hunt areas without feeders ...

Anyway, this is the pig that made me buy the laser for my .45 Tracker; I also got covered in poison ivy on this one, but that's another (itchy) story.



This was the one taken at 175 yards, about the maximum limit of my gear without external illumination:



And this is why an autoloader is better than a bolt gun for hog hunting:

quote:

Originally posted by analog_peninsula:
One advantage that NV has over feeder lights is that you can hunt areas without feeders ...

Anyway, this is the pig that made me buy the laser for my .45 Tracker; I also got covered in poison ivy on this one, but that's another (itchy) story.



This was the one taken at 175 yards, about the maximum limit of my gear without external illumination:



And this is why an autoloader is better than a bolt gun for hog hunting:

I will say I agree with you some what on an auto loader, but a nice suppressed bolt gun is hard to beat- and silent. 170 grain flat point 30-30 bullet and 11 grains of trail boss...is silent!

Ed

Pretty good going there A_P.