I have been scheming on the best rig for my night hog hunting activities. I've been thinking about putting a new Mueller 2x7 with an illuminated dot reticle scope on my 308. Light will be provided by an Optronics 100 yard unit. Ranges will not exceed 125 yards and the 308 will provide enough thump with 165-180 grain bullets, especially those placed well. This hunting will be done over feeders, at night on private property so it is legal. I could use my 45-70 but want to be a little kinder to the light sitting on the scope and my shoulder. Anyone else have an idea of the perfect night hunting rig?

Yeah, me going with you!

Rick,
We whack pigs often at night. So far, the most effective rig is a lever gun with iron sights and a tactical type light mounted with a momentary button switch. We shoot over a waterhole so it's similar to your feeder situation. Most shooting is well under 50 yds. I would stay away from any scope as it makes it far more difficult to re-acquire the target once the animal is out of the sight picture, especially after being hit and not put down.

Cheap hand held night vision works sufficiently since the scanning distances will all be under 100 yds.

Good shooting!

Geoff

Check out the battery-operated LED-type light on texasboars.com. I think one of them in the right place would be just the ticket, and you could use just about any type of sight. Okie John.

I have used the 1 million candlepower lights, six volt flash lights and feeder lights made from green fishing lights. I have always used scopes and so far none of the hogs I have shot at hasd gone more than 30 yards and most drop on the spot due to neck and head shot placement. I only take low chest shots if I am testing bullets. I just wanted an illuminated reticle so it will be easier to pick out the exact center of the crosshairs on a black hog.

If your .45-70 just happens to be a Marlin you can get a light mount from Wild West Guns. It mounts to the magazine tube and is a picatinny rail mount. Then get a surefire light-it'll handle the recoil. If you get the 6p or even the G2 you can put the 120lumen bulb in it. WAYYY bright for about 20 minutes continuous use, much longer if only momentary.

Scopes at night are pretty tough.. I've got a Leupy scout scope on my Marlin and at night it just isn't too hot! Iron sights can be good under the right conditions. I think the best would be the 3-9x50 I have on my AR. That scope would look kinda funny on my Marlin though!!

I think I'd want the .45-70 at night. I load mine up with some train-stopping 405gr FP's that just let ALL the air out of those pesky hogs! Nothing against the .308 but HAVE YOU EVER TRACKED A WOUNDED HOG AT NIGHT!!? Holy crap Batman! Could be the reason I don't have any hair on my head...

If you want some backup sometime, gimme a shout! I'm just up the road from you-I'm in Plano.

Hey Rick, you must've been posting at the same time I was. I have a better idea than the illuminated reticle. Get a quality red-dot scope that can be turned down real low. An Aimpoint or Eotech (Bushnell Holosight) would be perfect. I think a red-dot would be the best of everything-quick target acquisition, illuminated dot, large field of view for getting shots on moving targets.

This is exactly why German scopes have the heavy 3 post reticle with super fine cross hairs. With any ambient light at all you can take a night shot by centering the impact point in the open area between the heavy posts. Works perfectly.

You can set a low-level light source like a solar-powered lawn light by the feeder or hung from a branch. The hogs ignore a steady light like that. We would also sometimes prop up 2 mini-mags in the blind pointing at the shooting area. They last about 4-6 hours on fresh batteries and again, the hogs ignore them if they're on steady and not moving around. Works especially well from a tower. It must look like stars?
One thing is for certain: if you are hunting over a captive population on a commercial hunting property then they have seen every combination of rifle-mounted light in the world. When the light comes on they know it means death with a capital "D". You will have a couple of hundreths of a second to make the shot before they disappear out of the light.
I found that almost any illuminated reticle or dot completely blinded the shot at night. Just too bright, even on the lowest setting. I resorted to putting a 1.5V battery in my Nightforce scope (instead of the recommended 3.0V) and that helped dim the LED enough to get some use but even then it only worked when the animal was silhouetted against a strongly contrasting background. Otherwise any glow at all washed out the details.
Of course, the fun way is to sneak up on them on foot in the dead of night with a 12 ga. It really gets the adrenaline going; especially when you know you are on a mature boar that will fight back if you don't do your part right. This is best with a two-man team just for that reason.