Baiting


Burn,

Thanks for that good report about your experiences with the 4k. Apparently you have similar results that I do.

I can see an animal moving, but the body outline is somewhat degraded and tends to blend with the background. The body image is not distinct.

I have tried various lights. The current one I have been using is a TR-38 that I got from the UK. It has a powerful 850nm pill. I am thinking that maybe one of two things might be the cause. (1) The IR light sits in an adjustable ring that adjusts for windage and elevation. I have the main beam adjusted to point of aim. While there is not a bright splotch of light directly on the animal, it could be that the light needs to be adjusted so as to move the beam away from the point of aim a little. Perhaps that would give better contrast. (2) Perhaps the IR light itself is just too powerful and maybe the 4k is more sensitive to light that some other digital scopes.

I have a 940nm pill for the TR-38 that I plan to try. It is well known that a 940nm light is not as bright as an 850nm one and distance is cut significantly. However, since my bait site is only 60 yards it may work well. I won't know until I try it, which means I will have to go to the farm and stay at the cabin one night to test it. The only place I have at home to do any distance testing is in the woods behind my house, and that does not yield a good comparison due to the timber, whereas the area I hunt at the cabin bait site is open field with high grass behind the site.

I hope to be able to find just the right combination of light for the 4k because I really do like the scope otherwise.

Below are some photos to give you an idea of the terrain where I hunt. While there is some tall grass on both ends of the bait site, I don't think it is causing any reflection or problem with IR.

This is my little hobo shack of a cabin that I hunt out of. It is an 8x12 storage building converted into a hunting shack. It is insulated and heated and has a comfortable bunk.

33398589648_5e797c4e4e_c.jpg


33398589418_92aa91c37c_c.jpg


46551099274_1637c5d9bf_c.jpg


46551099364_dbfef26db8_c.jpg





This is a view from the cabin porch looking toward the bait site. This photo shows the field between the cabin and bait site
to be relatively clear of tall grass and brush.

46551099504_e5347831e0_c.jpg





This photo shows the area grown up more. The bait site is mowed between the two patches of taller grass / brush.
A dead coyote is lying at the upper end of the bait site, bordering the field. The bait site is 60 yards from the cabin.

33398589558_f57f2ef2f0_c.jpg



 
6mm - yeah, based on the pics and terrain I would think the 4K would let you see critters with relative ease. I dont know what elae it could be so keep us posted. Great hunting spot BTW. You have a nice setup there.

ETA - after looking at the next to last picture and whatnot it might be possible the IR light is getting soaked up a bit by the surrounding area but its just a guess. I assume you've tried tigher focus on the light.
 
Last edited:

Yes, I have tried a tighter focus and found the view through the ocular to be more evenly distributed when the IR is widened a bit. I think I will readjust the beam a little off point of aim and see if that helps. I also plan to try the 940nm pill.

 
6mm, I see you still have the pole set up. Do you have an IR light mounted on it now? Have you tried it with the 4k? The reason I ask is that an IR light coming from a different angle will create a shadow that improves contrast on the animal. Might be worth a try.

Sure is beautiful country up there as opposed to all this flat land where I am.
 

DoubleUp, yes, I have a 940nm spotlight mounted on the tall 4x4 post and control it on and off remotely. The light has 198 LED's and is total stealth. I don't see any glow at all from it. It is mounted 25 yards from the bait site. In the video I posted above of the bobcat, I deploy the 940 light initially. It gives a shadow behind the cat but isn't bad. I use the 940 to determine what's out there and then use the 850 to shoot with. The TR38 850nm light is weapon mounted, and very bright.

 
I got lucky on this 25.4 female. The video looked like a pulled the shot low right but it turned out to be a perfect heart shot. She ran about 25 yds. Fur is no good, no guard hairs, maybe mange not sure.



cd6JdVnb.jpg


 
Last edited:
Hey, nice going there Week, and on my birthday too. Did you have your IR light on lower power? It doesn't seem as bright as some of your other videos. What did you do, send "The Hammer" out shopping so you could get chance to kill one. Lol
 
I'm not sure on the IR power double up. It does have three levels and I really don't know where it was set. I do know I could see a lot better through the scope than what came out on the video. Things had been slow here, I got a little slack. I wasn't setup like I normally am with the gun pre-mounted on my tripod. I might have got in a rush. The Hammer lets me have a turn once in a while. The next one will be hers as long as she is not out of town.
 
Way to go Week! I find the same on my videos with the ATN. They seem to be not as crisp as what I see through the scope. Looking forward to the next coyote down . . . . by Mrs. Weekender aka "The Hammer".
 

Good job Weekender.

DoubleUp, yes, I have an 850nm spotlight but don’t use it much, trying to keep the red glow down. The 940 is great for checking when the alarm sounds and not spooking coyotes. I like the 940 so much that I have considered getting another one and mount it at a different angle behind the coyotes to lessen the shadows of the other light. I don’t see any glow at all from the 940.

 
Was a productive evening last night. So my sister has been bugging me to come over to yote hunt because her area is covered up with 'em. Got over there just before dark and tossed out a can of sardines and some bacon grease soaked paper towels. Around 8pm I hear them yelping close by. One walks in to check things out at 50 yards. Boom - DRT.
VNYkg1A.jpg

OHLH72A.jpg

xT7AUMj.jpg


So I sit there for 5 minutes and figure I'd head back home. Walked over about 50 feet to my truck and put my rifle in the cab. I was lit up by their flood light by the barn. Did one last quick scan with the thermal spotter and here comes another one. Got my rifle back out and was amazed it didnt run off. Boom - DRT at 80 yards.
yO2eWIG.jpg

mAyEfAG.jpg

vhArTA6.jpg


That's #9 & #10 since I acquired my X-Sight last year. NV is a gamechanger.

Anyway, the yotes around my place are so darn skittish and leary its quite a challenge, But I've been hunting them for 8 months. The yotes 5 miles away are apparently so brazen and relaxed they just dont care if you're out there or not. Nobody hunts them I guess so they get quite cocky apparently.

There's a new Sheriff in town...LOL
 

Originally Posted By: Burnsome...6mm - Didnt know the 940s dont glow red like the 850s. Might look into getting one of those for the gun.
Burn, some 940nm lights do glow, or at least very faintly. However, the 940 spotlight I use does not show any glow that I can see. The light is a 198 LED spotlight and not a weapon mounted light.

I mounted the spotlight on a tall 4x4 post that is 25 yards from my bait site. I use a small 12-volt battery to power it, and a remote control switch that allows me to control it from inside the cabin. I can turn the light on or off remotely. When the sensor goes off, I deploy the 940nm spotlight to see what is at the bait site. Since there is no glow from it, I can be stealthy. When shooting I use the weapon-mounted 850nm light, though I can easily see to shoot with the 940 if I want to.

At the bottom of the page is a video demonstrating the 940nm spotlight on a coyote, and using the 850 weapon-mounted light to do the shooting. The video isn't a quick bang-flop, so don't lose your breath while you wait. LOL. Trust me, the good comes near the end of the video. I like to get good video, so I generally take my time before shooting.


33466014688_04568d53f7_c.jpg


33466014728_a08c26df7a_c.jpg


46618638284_88bf1c4ce5_c.jpg





I placed the battery at the bottom of the 4x4 post inside a box.


33466014778_c0e4231ccf_c.jpg





This is the remote control unit, Ebay for about $15.


46618638304_cd5081d012_c.jpg




I have a 940nm pill for my TR-38 weapon-mounted light. I can see a very faint red glow around 60 yards or so, but at 100 yards
I don't see any glow. An 850 pill in the same light glows at 100 yards. The 940 pill, as you probably know, does not have the
throw or reach in distance that an 850 light does.




This video demonstrates the 940nm spotlight in action, and then the weapon-mounted 850nm. I used a home-made night vision outfit to take the coyote.







 

Originally Posted By: weekender06 that sure is a great picture when you throw on the 850, PURDY WORK!
The home-made outfit is pretty darn good and allows me to zoom the scope to around 7x to 8x magnification without losing too much clarity. I generally shoot on about 5x or 6x though since that is plenty at 60 yards. I have shot several coyotes with the home build. This outfit works best at a bait site.
 
I didn't go calling last night sort of, but did kill one that I called. I'll explain. My hunting buddy couldn't go tonight and I didn't really feel like going by myself, because I've been down with a terrible cold for over a week. Just at dark (western sky still light) I opened the window and made 3 female howls. Immediately as I was looking through my XQ50 I saw a big coyote way across the field and moving toward the NE. I thought he was going to turn and come down the field to me, but he stopped about 700 yds. away and just laid down in the field. I did a little of the Tony Tebbe Breeding Coyotes, but it didn't break him loose so I closed the window and didn't call anymore.

About 30 minutes later, the alarm went off and I figured I better check. It was 2 gray foxes and a possum on the bait pile, but when I looked back at where the coyote had been, he was coming across the field and almost at the back of my shop. I got the rifle ready while he was behind the shop and evidently he smelled the bait and started up the side of the pond. I dropped him straight on right in his tracks.

It was a big ol' male and heavy. So I guess I sort of called him because that is what brought him in. The shot was at 120 yds. I would have killed him across the back of the pond even if he hadn't smelled the chicken scraps. He was looking for love in all the wrong places. Thermal was good last night, but it all happened so quickly that I didn't really have time to tune the brightness, contrast, and focus. The possum never even moved after the rifle went off. That's what I call standing your ground.

IMG_0469 by Double Up, on Flickr

 
Back
Top