{"id":2764,"date":"2019-07-12T10:17:38","date_gmt":"2019-07-12T17:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/?p=2764"},"modified":"2019-06-23T10:26:02","modified_gmt":"2019-06-23T17:26:02","slug":"airgun-hunting-by-night-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/2019\/07\/airgun-hunting-by-night-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Airgun Hunting by Night"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Airgun-Hunting-by-Night_2-1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"2769\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/?attachment_id=2769\" class=\"wp-image-2769\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Airgun-Hunting-by-Night_2-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Airgun-Hunting-by-Night_2-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Airgun-Hunting-by-Night_2-1-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Airgun-Hunting-by-Night_1-1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"2770\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/?attachment_id=2770\" class=\"wp-image-2770\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Airgun-Hunting-by-Night_1-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Airgun-Hunting-by-Night_1-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Airgun-Hunting-by-Night_1-1-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>One of my favorite predator hunting venues is Texas, where\nthe variety and the sheer numbers of predators is incredible: &nbsp;coyote, bobcat, fox, and raccoons, and the\npossibility of a mountain lion always present. I\u2019ve been traveling to the Lone\nStar State to hunt for about 15 years, and for the first five I only hunted in\ndaylight. While I had fair results, it wasn\u2019t until I started hunting at night\nthat the big numbers started rolling in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Airgun-Hunting-by-Night_7-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2772\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Airgun-Hunting-by-Night_7-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Airgun-Hunting-by-Night_7-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Airgun-Hunting-by-Night_7-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>  Light options (from left to right) scope mounted lights from Optronics with external battery packs, handheld laser Genetics, and under barrel mounted Laser Genetics lights. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>My night time hunts began out in Midland with a gentleman\nthat was a guide and competitive predator hunter, by the name of Cody Brunett.\nWe spent a good deal of time cruising back country access roads, shooting off a\nhigh rack equipped with lights that let us spin in circles while calling, and\nwe got on a lot of coyotes with the occasional fox and bobcat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then a few years back I started hunting with a trapper and\npredator hunting pro by the name of Don Steele, it is fair to say that he is\none of the best callers and predator hunters I\u2019ve ever met. Don has a Humvee equipped\nwith a rooftop shooting platform, lots of land to call, and he gets on\npredators virtually every time we hunt. His method is to do a set every half\nmile, and he works the call and the lights, while the lucky ones get to shoot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both Cody and Don hunt the wide-open spaces, cover a lot of\nground, and shoot from high racks that are equipped with lights and enough\nhands to operate them. While there is no doubt predator hunting at night is the\nway to bump up your numbers, for the guy that hunts small parcels of land by\nthemselves, the logistics can be daunting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of my hunting partners down in Indiana, Brian Beck, is\nthe king of Airgun coyote hunters and he spends a lot of time out on his own\nwith an Airgun and lights. When we hunt together, one guy operates the call and\nlights while the other is on the trigger which works fine, and Brian has his\nsystem dialed in for managing all the equipment when he hunts alone. Me on the\nother hand, not so much. I find myself cluttered in gear, wrapped in cables,\nholding the wrong gear in my hand at the wrong time. So, over the last few\nyears I\u2019ve been trying to narrow down equipment and refine techniques, to find\nwhat works for me when I\u2019m out on my own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Airgun-Hunting-by-Night_4-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"2767\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/?attachment_id=2767\" class=\"wp-image-2767\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Airgun-Hunting-by-Night_4-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Airgun-Hunting-by-Night_4-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Airgun-Hunting-by-Night_4-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br><br> <br> The next morning a shot of my night time gear: 30 Caliber air rifle, FoxPro call, Sell Mark Thermal Monocular, and hand held spot light for close range shooting. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Lamping requirements are somewhat different for an airgunner\nthan for a firearms hunter: the animals need to be called in closer, and shot\nselection a bit more precise. Additionally, airguns let you hunt in more built\nup areas because of their low sound signature and reduced carrying range, where\nstealth is advantageous. A lighting system that lets you discreetly hunt on a\ngolf course, the edges of town, or suburbia, will be very useful. In the quest\nto find a rig that suited my hunting needs, I tried various approaches and\nfound a few that worked quite well for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many handheld and scope mounted lights that serve\nthe purpose: some use an external battery pack with cables to the light, and\nsome are self-contained. In the past, the self-contained units could not\nproduce the level of intensity those lights with an external battery pack\nachieved. However, that is no longer the case, especially when it comes to the\nshorter ranges at which Airguns are used. My preference is a hands-free scope\nor barrel mounted light powered by internal batteries. A red filter is most commonly\nused, though I\u2019ve had acceptable results with amber filters or even white\nlight, and the green light put out by the Laser Genetic laser lights doesn\u2019t\nseem to spook predators either. The down side of scope and barrel mounted\nlights is that they are not easily swept while calling, and for this reason I\ngenerally pack two lights; one mounted on the rifle for shooting and one that\nis handheld for locating incoming targets. This is the least expensive way to\noutfit yourself for night hunting, and it works well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Nite Site is an IR device that is comprised of several\ncomponents: an IR illuminator module, a viewing screen, a tubular scope sleeve\nto connect the illuminator to your scope, an attachment for mounting the view\nscreen so that it sits atop the scope, and a battery pack to power it all. This\nsystem mounts to almost any standard scope, and does a good job of letting you\nsee your quarry even in exceedingly low light. On the downside: earlier versions\nthrow considerable backlight onto the shooters face from the viewer, but newer models\nallow you to reduce the intensity. Secondly it forces the shooter into a \u201cheads\nup\u201d position which takes a little getting used to. On the upside: it works very\nwell in situations with no ambient lighting, it mounts on any scope so you\ndon\u2019t need to switch optics and re-zero between day and night, and it is the\nmost cost effective night vision solution to be found. I like this product, and\nuse it frequently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>IR Scopes are probably the single best technology solution\nfor night hunting; you get a normal line of sight from a typical shooting\nposition. I mounted the Sellmark Digisight digital night vision scope on my\nEvanix Snipper .357 PCP rifle, which is my go to suburban coyote gun, and have\nbeen getting outstanding results with it. On the upside, it works very well, is\neasy to zero, and while larger than a standard scope still feels like I\u2019m\nshooting a \u201cnormal\u201d rifle. I did run down the batteries on a couple of all-nighters,\nbut generally get around this by carrying backups and swapping them when\nneeded. The only real negative for me (outside of a hefty price tag) is when I\nneed to use the same rifle for daytime and nighttime shooting; even though\nthere is a setting which allows the scope to be used in daylight, for clarity\nand magnification I preferred my regular optics, requiring a swap and usually\nsome readjustment. However, if you are building up a purpose designed night\ntime airgunning rig this approach is hard to beat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A Thermal Monocular, while not technically used during\nshooting, has become my favorite article of night time hunting gear. Before I\ntell you why, let\u2019s look at what this device is. I have been using the Sellmark\nQuantum Thermal Imaging Monocular, which delivers \u201cwhite hot\u201d and \u201cblack hot\u201d\ntarget viewing at distances of almost a thousand yards. This device can detect\nheat signatures and provide images with far greater sensitivity than IR night\nvision. On the upside, it offers truly spectacular results at picking up\nincoming predators from a long way off. The only downside (besides price\nagain), is that even when the intensity is turned down, I find my night vison is\noff for a brief instant when I pull my eye away. But the ability to see and\ntrack incoming coyotes is nothing short of mind blowing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Airgun-Hunting-by-Night_3-1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2773\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Airgun-Hunting-by-Night_3-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Airgun-Hunting-by-Night_3-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Airgun-Hunting-by-Night_3-1-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>A close-up of the Sellmark Pulsar Thermal Monocular, in my opinion the most useful adjunct to night hunting in years. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The reason the thermal monocular is my favorite night time\nhunting tool is based on how I use it on solo hunts: which quite simply is to\ncombine it with a traditional scope mounted light. When calling predators into airgun\nrange, I\u2019ll call as usual while scanning the area with the monocular. My rifle\nis equipped with either a red filter or green Laser Genetic barrel mounted\nlight, which I leave switched on and pointing towards my call. This allows the\nincoming predator to be tracked until it gets into range, at which time I drop\nthe monocular and get on target using the scope (set at low power). The reason\nI like this setup is that it permits me to use the same gun and scope at night\nthat is used during the day, I believe that it is less disruptive than scanning\na light all over the field, and it has worked brilliantly for me when hunting\nalone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, I\u2019ve presented a few of my approaches to night time\nhunting with my airguns, the one I use depends on the type of quarry I\u2019m after\n(coyote, hogs, rabbits), the gun I have along and whether it is doing shared\nservice (night and day hunts), and how I\u2019m moving from set to set. One thing I\nknow for sure: you have more success when you\u2019re out while your prey is out, so\nnight hunting is something you\u2019re going to want to check out if it\u2019s legal in\nyour neck of the woods!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of my favorite predator hunting venues is Texas, where the variety and the sheer numbers of predators is incredible: &nbsp;coyote, bobcat, fox, and raccoons, and the possibility of a mountain lion always present. I\u2019ve been traveling to the Lone Star State to hunt for about 15 years, and for the first five I only &hellip; <a class=\"read-excerpt\" href=\"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/2019\/07\/airgun-hunting-by-night-2\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&raquo;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2764"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2774,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2764\/revisions\/2774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}