I own an IR Hunter MK3 and, recently, I purchased a Pulsar digisight ultra N355. I figured I'd give my opinions on the two.
IR Hunter MK3
PROS:
1. Best detection
2. Infinite focus
3. Easy to learn and use
CONS:
1. At $7,499 it's expensive
2. Affected by humidity
3. Horrible battery life.
If you're wanting to see a target 1,000+ yards away, a thermal cannot be beat. You can easily see mice at 100+ yards. We've watched windmills at over ten miles away. However, thermal scopes are expensive. You can get one starting at $2,000, but you're giving up a lot of clarity which tends to be an issue even with a high end thermal. With a thermal, you have to learn an animal's characteristics in order to identify them. A possum and a raccoon look similar until you learn their differences. I almost shot a small German Shepherd until I realized it wasn't acting like a coyote. Humidity really affects a thermal scope. High humidity will give you a blurry washed out picture. Since it senses heat, a thermal isn't affected by lack of light. We hunted one night and it was so dark that we couldn't see each other five yards away. The thermal didn't have an issue.
Pulsar digisight ultra N355
PROS:
1. At $1,300, it's much more affordable
2. Picture is much better at closer range.
3. Not as easy to learn.
CONS:
1. Relies on ambient light
2. Manual focus
3. Battery is somewhat better, but still not great
This model is a mid/high range model and it's still cheaper than low end thermals, so that is definitely a plus. Since I've purchased it, all of my shots have been at sixty yards, so I can't comment on shots beyond that. However, at sixty yards, the night vision blows the thermal away in terms of target recognition. You can easily tell what kind of animal you are looking at. The biggest downfall is the fact that night vision relies on ambient light. Obviously, you can get an IR light, but I've read that coyotes can see some of the infrared spectrum. On bright nights, you can see, but I've found that IR light is still nice to have.
If asked which one to buy, I'm going to say thermal every time but night vision is definitely useable. I am not the all knowing guru, but I wanted to let everyone know my experience.
IR Hunter MK3
PROS:
1. Best detection
2. Infinite focus
3. Easy to learn and use
CONS:
1. At $7,499 it's expensive
2. Affected by humidity
3. Horrible battery life.
If you're wanting to see a target 1,000+ yards away, a thermal cannot be beat. You can easily see mice at 100+ yards. We've watched windmills at over ten miles away. However, thermal scopes are expensive. You can get one starting at $2,000, but you're giving up a lot of clarity which tends to be an issue even with a high end thermal. With a thermal, you have to learn an animal's characteristics in order to identify them. A possum and a raccoon look similar until you learn their differences. I almost shot a small German Shepherd until I realized it wasn't acting like a coyote. Humidity really affects a thermal scope. High humidity will give you a blurry washed out picture. Since it senses heat, a thermal isn't affected by lack of light. We hunted one night and it was so dark that we couldn't see each other five yards away. The thermal didn't have an issue.
Pulsar digisight ultra N355
PROS:
1. At $1,300, it's much more affordable
2. Picture is much better at closer range.
3. Not as easy to learn.
CONS:
1. Relies on ambient light
2. Manual focus
3. Battery is somewhat better, but still not great
This model is a mid/high range model and it's still cheaper than low end thermals, so that is definitely a plus. Since I've purchased it, all of my shots have been at sixty yards, so I can't comment on shots beyond that. However, at sixty yards, the night vision blows the thermal away in terms of target recognition. You can easily tell what kind of animal you are looking at. The biggest downfall is the fact that night vision relies on ambient light. Obviously, you can get an IR light, but I've read that coyotes can see some of the infrared spectrum. On bright nights, you can see, but I've found that IR light is still nice to have.
If asked which one to buy, I'm going to say thermal every time but night vision is definitely useable. I am not the all knowing guru, but I wanted to let everyone know my experience.
