05-25-2020, 08:40 PM
Allen, I can't tell what kind of experience you've had with thermals, but until I had actually used one for stalking/spotting I had no idea how valuable they are to my type of hunting. Like Klem, and probably many others, I have used spotlights, red lights, IR illuminators, and such. I shot a lot of hogs with the different set ups. I even rigged up a fairly cheap nv monocular with a "Hoglight Destroyer" RedLight strapped to it. It was so powerful you could warm your hands with it if need be 
It worked, but still could only make out the eyes and sometimes the head of the hog. Especially the black ones. They suck up light like a black hole. I had a several occasions where I could hear, and smell the hogs, but could not see them because of the fog that had rolled in. I bought a Flir Scout monocular,,,,now I could spot them but still had to look thru my scope to shoot. But, I could get close enough to see them vaguely, but well enough to shoot,,,sometimes.
I bought a pulsar xd38 in 2015 and it opened up a whole new world of hunting. If my pulsar ever quits working, I'll probably not be able to afford another so I'll likely quit hunting. When I was growing up, I thought round steak was good until I tasted a properly cooked 2" thick sirloin done on a pit.
It worked, but still could only make out the eyes and sometimes the head of the hog. Especially the black ones. They suck up light like a black hole. I had a several occasions where I could hear, and smell the hogs, but could not see them because of the fog that had rolled in. I bought a Flir Scout monocular,,,,now I could spot them but still had to look thru my scope to shoot. But, I could get close enough to see them vaguely, but well enough to shoot,,,sometimes.
I bought a pulsar xd38 in 2015 and it opened up a whole new world of hunting. If my pulsar ever quits working, I'll probably not be able to afford another so I'll likely quit hunting. When I was growing up, I thought round steak was good until I tasted a properly cooked 2" thick sirloin done on a pit.