Been a while since I posted on here. G'day to you all.

I have a question regarding night vision gear. Anyone hunting/shooting using such?

Also does anyone know any good retailers in Australia for this stuff? Maybe some of the Aussie magazines carry ads for ATN or other brands.

If anyone can help point me in the right direction it would be most appreciated.


cheers,
- stu

We use night vision goggles and rifle scope routinely here in Texas hunting wild pigs. There are no laws governing the method or quanity of pigs that you shoot here, they are a nuisance. We also use thermal imaging as well. We can buy the equipment from major retailers such as Cabelas, Gander Mountain, Bass Pro shops and off the internet. The newer generation equipment can get very expensive,, but it is amazing gear.

drwes

Actually it was some youtube videos of night time hog hunting in Texas that got me interested in the possibilities of this equipment. One problem is most of it has US State Dept. (or Defense Dept ?) export restrictions on it. So buying in the US and having it shipped O/S is not normally a viable option.


Thanks for the input!

cheers,
- stu

I don't doubt there is a bunch of red tape for you guys, but many of these vendors,have retailers around the world. There are actually 4 generations of night vision gear.. 1st generation, amplifies light several thousand times, the image may be sharp in the center but blurry at the edges with limited range,,2nd generation,, it has an extra process with a micro channel plate behind the photocathode tube which adds extra amplificatio over the first. 3rd generation,, it has an added chemical that adds life to the cathode tube and a film of some type and gives better low light performance. 4th generation does not use the film butthe way the light is amplified is much different and it greatly improves range and clarity.These devices are refered to as gated and filmless... I don't understand it all,, but I do understand this.. average 1st generation 600 dollar 2nd generation 1700 dollars third generation 3,000 dollars ,,4th generation 5300 dollars .. You can get them in spotting scopes, monoculars and rifle scopes.. They are a blast. Saturday night we probably had over 14 wild pigs meet technology so to speak..

quote:

Originally posted by Stu C:
One problem is most of it has US State Dept. (or Defense Dept ?) export restrictions on it. So buying in the US and having it shipped O/S is not normally a viable option.

Hey Stu - how are you doing?

This state dept bullshit is just getting beyond a joke - talk about inhibiting exports!! You'd thing the USA would be wanting every export dollar they could???

Hopefully someone gets in there and fixes it!!

AUSTRALIA - there is some availablility here - up to Gen 2 for civilians (I think) - your best bet is to email Horsley Park and ask them?? david@hpgs.biz

drwes
I appreciate your input and the summary. I'm just getting to know a bit about the technology. It's still pretty new to me.

hi Matt. It's actually your former client Roger who got me investigating this night vision stuff. Thanks for the tip on Horsely Park. I'll try to get hold of them.



I found a link to an internet retailer in Aust. - http://www.nightvisionshop.com.au/

The webpage says they're based in Perth. Anyone ever used them?


cheers,
- stu

normally gne 1 and 2 are all but worthless as a weapons sight unless you have the infrared illuminator and are within 50yds. I played around some with a gen 3 monocular taping to the rifle in front of the scope, and that would have worked just great. i didn't fire the rifle cause i was playing with it on a 375 and was afraid i'd kill the monocular, but it did give an affordable alternative to try. i think on a light recoiling rifle it would wowrk out just fine

butchloc is absolutely correct,, 1st and 2nd generation aren't alot of good for hunting,, we used them bow hunting for pigs, about all they were good for is to make sure the dark spots were pigs! but,, the 4th generation stuff,, wow,, like hunting in daytime, only everything is green! The ATN MARS series rifle scope is pretty impressive in 4th generation technology, and it should be for 5300.00 us dollars

Stu,

We often hunt pigs in western NSW and walk the edges of the wheat crops or sit at tanks with the N/V. My setup is an ATN Gen 1 monocular and is works fine. From memory it cost about $400 4 or 5 years ago and is still going strong.

The key is the available light to be magnified so I have made a powerful compact IR spotlight that is taped directly to the N/V and powered by a small gel cell battery.

The illuminators you buy are only good for 50m or so with Gen 1 gear but mine consists of a photographic IR filter ground down to fit behind the lens of a powerful torch. In total darkness I can recognise pigs out beyond 300m. They aren't super clear at that distance but you know they are pigs from the contrast between them and the crop and by their movement.

Once we locate them, we start our stalk.
When we are within 30-50m the N/V is put away and then use the conventional torches mounted to our rifles. It's suprising how long a pig will stand there once you turn the torch on. They generaly don't bolt until a shot is fired.

We've taken many good pigs using this method and it doesn't spook everything like spotlighting from vehicles will.

We can continue this method night after night with minimal drop off in mob numbers. We just don't get greedy and only take the biggest in the mob. The next night the remaining pigs will be back there like clockwork minus the ones taken on previous nights. Having said that, the biggest boars are usually out by themselves anyway.

Sitting on tanks of a night is brilliant as the max distance is usually less than 70m. We wait and watch with the N/V until they are comfortable at the waters edge then use the conventional lights.

You don't need to spend a fortune on N/V but you do need a decent IR unit if using Gen 1 gear. Mine was the cost of an IR filter (about $40) and a small 6v gel cell (about $20) I already had the torch but it's worth probably $50.

It would probably be nice to own a $5000 Gen 3+ unit but at the end of the day, I aint gonna shed a tear if my Gen 1 unit gets broke.

Cheers,
Boof