James - our resident Night Vision and Thermal expert - provides a brief and basic breakdown of what he believes is the top Foxing set-up available on today's market.

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A very common question I receive from customers is “Is it better to have a Thermal Spotter and a Thermal Scope OR a Thermal Spotter and a Night Vision Scope?’' 

In order for this to be answered, there are a few questions that I tend to ask the customer back.

Budget.

How much do you have to spend on a full set-up? If the answer is the sky’s the limit, then you're open to every option on the market (which is always helpful).

Situation.

Now, this may sound like an odd one, but I believe that it is very important for the customer to understand where it is they are Shooting, i.e. the topography of the land. This way they can determine if they need a scope that can see on average up to 300-400yards clearly or if they are Shooting up to 100yards with a Rimfire. What’s also important is to understand what it is they are Shooting. Whether that be Rabbit, Fox, Badger etc and I ask this because species identification is vital for nighttime Shooting as the last thing you want to do is shoot the farmer's Collie!

 

Once I have asked these questions and gained a little knowledge of the Shooter's experience then I recommend what would suit them best, if it be a complete Thermal setup or a Thermal/Night Vision setup.

[IMAGE: The Impressie HIK Vision Vulkan 35mm PRO 35mK Smart Thermal Monocular]

In my opinion, I always go with a Thermal Spotter and a Night Vision Scope and that’s for 2 reasons.

  • I’m constantly scanning around for quarry, usually covering 1500 acres across 2 nights and I need to be able to see heat spot targets at a distance so I can get to within 200 yards (preferably) of the target.
  • I want to be absolutely confident as to what is I am shooting at. As I have mentioned I cannot afford a mistake with incorrect quarry, that’s why I use Night Vision with a high-powered IR illuminator.

The kit I’m currently using now is my HIK Vision Vulkan 35mm PRO. An absolutely superb monocular that I can confidentially use for a long period of time without having to recharge on a regular basis.

I am also using a Pulsar Digex N450 Night Vision Scope, which has fantastic image quality and works really well with the 3rd party PBIR-S.

The combination of these tools really creates an effective package for my needs.

In my opinion, this is the best Foxing combination on the market at the moment.

[IMAGE: The Pulsar Digex N450 Night Vision Rifle Scope in action. Courtesy of Pulsar.]