Has anybody out there ever used a heat seeker to hunt pigs and deer in the bush and if so how well do they work???
I have been thinking of trying one of these devices but at $350.00 to get it to New Zealand I thought it would be a good idea to ask if they work.
The heat seeker or game finder sound like a good idea specially for finding shot and wounded game.
Thanks for anybodies replies on this matter

a mate was telling me the picked up a plovers egg at 70 yards in an open paddock using a gamefinder...what does that tell you?

Isn't it one of the fundamental rules of hunting that if you can't visually identify your target you don't shoot?

Thermal imaging is good, for locating downed game, but what if it's your mate on his hands and knees trying to find a dropped cartridge - believe me, he'll look just like a pig if you're in trees....

from what i understand these are hand held device that shows where the animal is hiding like a metal dector it beeps or led lights light up to show where the animal is you will still need to sight or you could be shooting at a rock thats hot from the sun etc.... not like on the movies shooting thru walls etc at a orange siloette.
but they look like a cool toy, yet another to add to the colection
i wonder how they would handle the heat up in darwin as the sweety hog could be cooler than the hot ground or rocks from the sun

quote:

Originally posted by gryphon1:
a mate was telling me the picked up a plovers egg at 70 yards in an open paddock using a gamefinder...what does that tell you?

That Plover should build their nests in trees.

Oldun,

that's classic!!

Cheers

Seems to me that either your family would be starving in a post-nuclear jungle environment to justify using such a device or you are trying to eliminate a species in a methodical manner - like the brown tree snake which needs killin' about as much as anything.

Now there is an idea for testing the heat seeker - find a snake with it ?

( arent snakes reptiles - with cold blood ?) hmmm.....?

One of my friends had a heat-seeking game finder a few years ago, and we still tease him about the money he wasted.

We were deer hunting in the Southeastern United States (very hot and humid), and someone had wounded a doe. Instead of following the blood trail, my friend wanted to test out his new gadget. To make a long story short, we walked around the marsh like a bunch of idiots following the game-finder while my dog went the opposite way and found the deer.

Unless these gadgets have improved dramatically, I would not waste your money.

quote:

Originally posted by muzza:
Now there is an idea for testing the heat seeker - find a snake with it ?

( arent snakes reptiles - with cold blood ?) hmmm.....?

That's the story ...Goodonya Muzza

Taupo Hunter,
I like gadgets, so like a fool, I bought one a few years ago. It is based on infrared sensing. It will work only if the ambient temperature differential is substantial enough from the animal you are seeking. In a warm tropical climate like Hawaii, it does not work very well and when it does, the sensing distances are very short. You do better with your eyesight than looking at the L.E.D. monitor. Net result was an expensive unused toy.

Thermal imaging is another ballgame. The stuff used by the military and police works very well but extremely expensive and out of my league.

Geoff