Hello, So I have been doing some product research for a customer, and thought I would share some pretty interesting discoveries.
First a little bit about thermal imaging. Imaging is in truth not totally accurate. It is more of a scanning. Sensors in the unit scans the radiation emitted from its surroundings in the form of heat radiation it then creates a electronic image that we can understand. Depending on the quality of the device images can be in the form of gray scale ie White "Hot" or use color to tell the user the difference in the heat signatures that is being shown ie Red "Hot".
until recently these devices have been so expensive that the average joe just really could not justify having one.
I am sure most of you has watched good ol Arnold battle it out with the pig face predator and seen super cool scenes (with spooky sound effects of course) of thermal imaging in the works. Actually what was shown in those shots is not as far fetched as you might think.
Thermal imaging can "see" through dense smoke or fog and even into brush piles sensing heat of a deer that has for example laid down to expire. And yes just like ol pig face tracked Arnold through the jungle. Thermal imaging can detect a recent trail of a deer or animal by seeing the ground that has been turned over from passage and or grass laid down and therefor is a different temp and pretty as you please you will see a red trail not visible with the eye.
Another factor about thermal imaging is that it is passive and therefor does not use any light at all. You could be in a totally dark room and see without any type of light whatsoever and vise versa be in a well lit room and see a wire that is over heated in the wall.
So lets put this into a perspective of the average joe (or jane) hunter... how could a thermal imaging system pay for itself? Before I do let me warn you that like airguns states have different laws in allowing and or restricting the use of thermal imaging devices while hunting and or even tracking. So please check with your local game office for those rules. One thing to note, make sure you explain that you want to use a thermal spotting device.. not a scope. there is a huge difference in a thermal Scope and a Thermal Viewer as far as those laws are concerned. Some state allow the use of a thermal spotting device for tracking a shot animal only while others may not allow you to have one on you at all.
1. As mentioned many of the thermal imaging devices are so sensitive that they can detect a trail made by the recent passage of an animal. They are even more effective in following a blood trail as long as its fairly recent. So a unit could very well be used to track down a wounded animal. or even stalk a recently passed animal. I have on more than one occasion walked right up on a Pig or deer that was laying in the brush that i could not see until i was right up on them. For deer we both just get a little thrill and he runs off. For a 300 pound boar Hog with three inch tusk I start looking for a climbable tree and play spider-man... and after the excitement check my fruit-a-looms !
2. For the most part Air Gun hunting, Bow Hunting, And Black Powder hunting has a lot in common for large game anyway. One of those is that for a good clean sure shot we like to get the animal in around 50 yards. This means that Scent, sound, and movement control is essential to a successful hunt. I hunt a lot in the East Texas Piney Woods were visibility is lower and the average range for a rifle shot is somewhere around 50 to 70 yards (even less early season). When I bow hunt I work in areas that offer good choke points bringing my range down to 30 yards and in many cases visibility is close to the same, a trick I like to use is I will work an area that a deer will follow a path around a curve and into my shot path. This lowers the risk of me being spotted by the deer or hog before i see it. What many do not realize is that hogs have much better eyesight than deer do and can be very sneaky even to the point of cutting a trail and viewing out of the edge of a trails vegetation to spot trouble, And while deer has some limitations in eyesight they have twice the amount of cones that are used for movement detection than humans do. So Using a Thermal imaging device would allow you to scan that edge and see them "scoping" the area out. And see further around the curve of a trail. For longer ranges past 150 yards a deer can stand still in the open and the naked eye may not even see it.
3. As mentioned the device is completely passive there is no IR or near IR beam If you have ever looked at many cheaper brand trail cameras you may have noticed a dim red light being emitted off the led's this is what is considered near IR, the reason for this is that the cameras that are full IR can be damaged from to much light and or the pictures would be messed up there has to be some filtering to allow for clean images. Both deer and hogs can see higher and lower in the visible wavelengths than humans can. In fact deer can see in the near IR fairly good and this is one of the reasons why many hunting clothes warn not to wash in color brightening soaps. So Some Near IR Viewers can spook your prey. And IR is useless in fog and or daylight.
4. The use of a thermal imaging device at night is much better than IR because of the ability of using false color and therefore you will not just see just a dark shadow or eye reflection but a white (if grayscale) red or orange image of your prey, Day or Night, even if they are walking outside of the trail or along the brush line, allowing you to zero in on the location. The Thermal device I am talking about can actually work out to 600 yards
5. An actual Thermal Rifle scope will cost you at more than $3000 and that is low-balling the price. The use of a 1st gen IR scope (if at night) and Thermal Viewer can be achieved for around $800.00. You use the thermal spotter to locate and then use the IR to take the shot.
6. And well.....$^&^% You have GOT to include bragging rights in all this too
. After all One upping your buddies in equipment is half the fun right.
Both Seek and FLIR has jumped on the bandwagon of offering models that are affordable for hunters even if they are out on the edge of that affordability.
FLIR has stuck with the same format they have always had that is to say something similar to a range finder or spotting scope and like buying Snap-On Tools you pay a little extra for the big print FLIR on the side of your new toy. That being said FLIR has been The GoTo company for Thermal imaging for years.
Seek has reached out with some unique ideas including devices that will use your smart phone both i-phone and Android as a display.
Some of the models has a range of 600 yards. They also have stand alone versions that are similar in size to a hand held gps device or smart phone
check out this link to some vids of the seek in use
https://player.vimeo.com/video/153836644
First a little bit about thermal imaging. Imaging is in truth not totally accurate. It is more of a scanning. Sensors in the unit scans the radiation emitted from its surroundings in the form of heat radiation it then creates a electronic image that we can understand. Depending on the quality of the device images can be in the form of gray scale ie White "Hot" or use color to tell the user the difference in the heat signatures that is being shown ie Red "Hot".
until recently these devices have been so expensive that the average joe just really could not justify having one.
I am sure most of you has watched good ol Arnold battle it out with the pig face predator and seen super cool scenes (with spooky sound effects of course) of thermal imaging in the works. Actually what was shown in those shots is not as far fetched as you might think.
Thermal imaging can "see" through dense smoke or fog and even into brush piles sensing heat of a deer that has for example laid down to expire. And yes just like ol pig face tracked Arnold through the jungle. Thermal imaging can detect a recent trail of a deer or animal by seeing the ground that has been turned over from passage and or grass laid down and therefor is a different temp and pretty as you please you will see a red trail not visible with the eye.
Another factor about thermal imaging is that it is passive and therefor does not use any light at all. You could be in a totally dark room and see without any type of light whatsoever and vise versa be in a well lit room and see a wire that is over heated in the wall.
So lets put this into a perspective of the average joe (or jane) hunter... how could a thermal imaging system pay for itself? Before I do let me warn you that like airguns states have different laws in allowing and or restricting the use of thermal imaging devices while hunting and or even tracking. So please check with your local game office for those rules. One thing to note, make sure you explain that you want to use a thermal spotting device.. not a scope. there is a huge difference in a thermal Scope and a Thermal Viewer as far as those laws are concerned. Some state allow the use of a thermal spotting device for tracking a shot animal only while others may not allow you to have one on you at all.
1. As mentioned many of the thermal imaging devices are so sensitive that they can detect a trail made by the recent passage of an animal. They are even more effective in following a blood trail as long as its fairly recent. So a unit could very well be used to track down a wounded animal. or even stalk a recently passed animal. I have on more than one occasion walked right up on a Pig or deer that was laying in the brush that i could not see until i was right up on them. For deer we both just get a little thrill and he runs off. For a 300 pound boar Hog with three inch tusk I start looking for a climbable tree and play spider-man... and after the excitement check my fruit-a-looms !
2. For the most part Air Gun hunting, Bow Hunting, And Black Powder hunting has a lot in common for large game anyway. One of those is that for a good clean sure shot we like to get the animal in around 50 yards. This means that Scent, sound, and movement control is essential to a successful hunt. I hunt a lot in the East Texas Piney Woods were visibility is lower and the average range for a rifle shot is somewhere around 50 to 70 yards (even less early season). When I bow hunt I work in areas that offer good choke points bringing my range down to 30 yards and in many cases visibility is close to the same, a trick I like to use is I will work an area that a deer will follow a path around a curve and into my shot path. This lowers the risk of me being spotted by the deer or hog before i see it. What many do not realize is that hogs have much better eyesight than deer do and can be very sneaky even to the point of cutting a trail and viewing out of the edge of a trails vegetation to spot trouble, And while deer has some limitations in eyesight they have twice the amount of cones that are used for movement detection than humans do. So Using a Thermal imaging device would allow you to scan that edge and see them "scoping" the area out. And see further around the curve of a trail. For longer ranges past 150 yards a deer can stand still in the open and the naked eye may not even see it.
3. As mentioned the device is completely passive there is no IR or near IR beam If you have ever looked at many cheaper brand trail cameras you may have noticed a dim red light being emitted off the led's this is what is considered near IR, the reason for this is that the cameras that are full IR can be damaged from to much light and or the pictures would be messed up there has to be some filtering to allow for clean images. Both deer and hogs can see higher and lower in the visible wavelengths than humans can. In fact deer can see in the near IR fairly good and this is one of the reasons why many hunting clothes warn not to wash in color brightening soaps. So Some Near IR Viewers can spook your prey. And IR is useless in fog and or daylight.
4. The use of a thermal imaging device at night is much better than IR because of the ability of using false color and therefore you will not just see just a dark shadow or eye reflection but a white (if grayscale) red or orange image of your prey, Day or Night, even if they are walking outside of the trail or along the brush line, allowing you to zero in on the location. The Thermal device I am talking about can actually work out to 600 yards
5. An actual Thermal Rifle scope will cost you at more than $3000 and that is low-balling the price. The use of a 1st gen IR scope (if at night) and Thermal Viewer can be achieved for around $800.00. You use the thermal spotter to locate and then use the IR to take the shot.
6. And well.....$^&^% You have GOT to include bragging rights in all this too
. After all One upping your buddies in equipment is half the fun right.Both Seek and FLIR has jumped on the bandwagon of offering models that are affordable for hunters even if they are out on the edge of that affordability.
FLIR has stuck with the same format they have always had that is to say something similar to a range finder or spotting scope and like buying Snap-On Tools you pay a little extra for the big print FLIR on the side of your new toy. That being said FLIR has been The GoTo company for Thermal imaging for years.
Seek has reached out with some unique ideas including devices that will use your smart phone both i-phone and Android as a display.
Some of the models has a range of 600 yards. They also have stand alone versions that are similar in size to a hand held gps device or smart phone
check out this link to some vids of the seek in use
https://player.vimeo.com/video/153836644
