Bought my first thermal

Duhhh said:
Alright guys, thank you all for the advice and help. Got home from work this afternoon and decided to give it hell tonight. It’s -5 with a nasty windchill.

Regardless, the coyotes were on fire tonight! I freakin nailed 8 tonight! Started at 6:30 and finishing up now at 3 am. I’m frozen and my rangefinder on the thermal went down (I’m guessing because of the cold). According to onX line distance, most shots were between 150-280 yards. Estimating distance is a little tricky but I feel like I can identify coyotes 600-500 yards and in. Missed a few still because of rushed shots. Zero seems to be holding well.

I’m actually not thrilled with the thermal. The rangefinder going down sucked and the shot activated recording didn’t activate on the majority of shots.

Definitely need a scanner but I’m surprised I’ve been as successful as I have been.

I dropped the first 4 off at a buddy’s that keeps fur. Wish I would have held onto them so I could get a @Infidel 762 level picture haha.
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congrats on smashing them!

I ran the IRay RH50; it's a completely different class than the Varmint. However, I can hit targets better with the AGM. I was missing too many coyotes beyond 200 yards with the RH50 because the crosshair in the Picture-in-Picture (PIP) would enlarge when I zoomed in on distant coyotes. This required me to zoom in and then focus, which caused me to lose depth perception. It felt like I was adding unnecessary complexity to a straightforward process, resulting in missed shots at the coyotes.

On the other hand, the AGM is simpler to use. I keep it on base magnification and aim through the PIP—it's as easy as point and shoot, thanks to its pinpoint crosshair. I have shot enough with the AGM to judge fairly accurately what is within range based on the crosshair size on a distant coyote.

I sent the Iray back and just sent the Varmint back. I am not sure what I am going to run next as a primary optic. I am going to see what drops at shot show, :unsure:. Hands down I had total confidence in the Varmint V2 50 640 I was running. I went out a couple nights ago and got 15, and last night got 11 and only put one bad hit on a coyote that needed a follow up shot. Ultimately, optics are just tools, and it’s essential to find the ones that work best for you.
 
Infidel 762 said:
congrats on smashing them!

I ran the IRay RH50; it's a completely different class than the Varmint. However, I can hit targets better with the AGM. I was missing too many coyotes beyond 200 yards with the RH50 because the crosshair in the Picture-in-Picture (PIP) would enlarge when I zoomed in on distant coyotes. This required me to zoom in and then focus, which caused me to lose depth perception. It felt like I was adding unnecessary complexity to a straightforward process, resulting in missed shots at the coyotes.

On the other hand, the AGM is simpler to use. I keep it on base magnification and aim through the PIP—it's as easy as point and shoot, thanks to its pinpoint crosshair. I have shot enough with the AGM to judge fairly accurately what is within range based on the crosshair size on a distant coyote.

I sent the Iray back and just sent the Varmint back. I am not sure what I am going to run next as a primary optic. I am going to see what drops at shot show, :unsure:. Hands down I had total confidence in the Varmint V2 50 640 I was running. I went out a couple nights ago and got 15, and last night got 11 and only put one bad hit on a coyote that needed a follow up shot. Ultimately, optics are just tools, and it’s essential to find the ones that work best for you.
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Why did you send the Varmint back? I only have a sample size of 1 but the AGM does seem very user friendly so far. I’ll have to use it a bit more in the cold to see how much I’m going to fuss about the rangefinder.

I cant really get comfortable on the PIP right now. Something about the double Screen throws me off.

I also refuse to look through a 640 right now because I know I’ll have to have it after haha.
 
Like many of you already predicted, I bought a scanner today. Definitely had no intention of buying one this soon but after my outings so far, it’s a must for me. I’m going to rock on with 384 resolution for the rest of the season and look at upgrading before next season.
 
Duhhh said:
Why did you send the Varmint back? I only have a sample size of 1 but the AGM does seem very user friendly so far. I’ll have to use it a bit more in the cold to see how much I’m going to fuss about the rangefinder.
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It was sent to me as a demo unit to help promote it and provide feedback. A longer lasting battery and 1280 resolution would have me wanting to spend money on it. the 18650 batteries loose usage time the more time they are recharged, and sustained below freezing temps drain them fast, especially if you want to use the LRF. the scope will run on low power but the LRF will not.
 
popper43 said:
Just got the Iray TX60 - impressed!! Got a lot of playing before I mount it. Still like the Rattler on the 300BO.
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I like the rattler too. I looked at NocPix and the crosshair in PIP is just like Iray. I used a VISTA H50R one night but the base mag rendered it useless scanning inside of 50 yards.
 
Infidel 762 said:
It was sent to me as a demo unit to help promote it and provide feedback. A longer lasting battery and 1280 resolution would have me wanting to spend money on it. the 18650 batteries loose usage time the more time they are recharged, and sustained below freezing temps drain them fast, especially if you want to use the LRF. the scope will run on low power but the LRF will not.
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Did you ever use nightcore batteries in it? I bought a couple right away and they seemed to hold a charge decently.
 
Duhhh said:
Did you ever use nightcore batteries in it? I bought a couple right away and they seemed to hold a charge decently.
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I purchased one of the NiteCore Cold Weather 18650 batteries and it definitely held up better than my other high quality 18650s in the cold. At least the 1 time I have used it in 10 degree weather in my RIX Thermal. They're insanely expensive at $30 apiece, but a when you consider the expense of EVERYTHING else we have invested in killing coyotes that aren't worth a thing anymore, what's $30?
 
hunt0168 said:
I purchased one of the NiteCore Cold Weather 18650 batteries and it definitely held up better than my other high quality 18650s in the cold. At least the 1 time I have used it in 10 degree weather in my RIX Thermal. They're insanely expensive at $30 apiece, but a when you consider the expense of EVERYTHING else we have invested in killing coyotes that aren't worth a thing anymore, what's $30?
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I thought $30 was cheap after all things considered haha. I got two and ran one for most of the night in the scope at -5.

I only know about them because that’s what we would use in our flashlights at work. Nothing worse than being on the side of the road at night and having the battery crap out.

I’ll throw one in my scanner tomorrow night and see if I can use it the whole night.
 
I run my scanner at base mag for widest FOV and I run my scope at base mag of 2x and the PIP at 8x (640 unit with 16x). The 2x gets me on target fast and 8x helps when they are past 200 yds. It did take me some time to get use to PIP, but now I won't run without it on (scope only)
 
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