This pig hunting trip I'm out shooting boars with 3 other mates - All using thermal scopes and scanners. We racked up quite the tally of with 44 pigs, 6 feral cats and a handful of foxes and hares. Of course I'm running my stumpy Ruger American in 308 Winchester.
Wet weather certainly had an impact but we still had an amazing hunt. Having the ATV quad bikes allowed access to area's that were way out of bounds in a heavy 4x4. Some muddy adventures resulted in dirty bikes, guns & riders but huge grins all round.
I'm already scheming for the next hunting trip with these boys when the wheat harvest starts in a few months.
For those interested I'm shooting a Ruger American Predator 18" chambered in 308 Winchester. Fitted into a MDT Gen 2 LSS chassis and running reloads with 150 grain Hornady SST projectiles. My thermal scope is a Pulsar Thermion 2 XP50.
Hunting pigs / hogs on and around a sorghum crop / stubble with my 308 Winchester rifle. The thermal gear certainly is amazing in these conditions but it is challenging to get the buggers with so much cover in the crop. They only come out to drink and mainly in the wee hours of the morning, Worth the effort though and the thermal conditions were nearly perfect resulting in some fantastic close range recordings through the Thermion 2 XP50 scope.
For those interested I'm shooting a Ruger American Predator 18" chambered in 308 Winchester. Fitted into a MDT Gen 2 LSS chassis and running reloads with 150 grain Hornady SST projectiles. My thermal scope is a Pulsar Thermion 2 XP50.
Shooting pigs / hogs on and around a sorghum crop with my 308 Winchester rifle. Bonus invasive feral cats and foxes cop the hammer too. Great trip on the ATV shooting these feral animals with the thermal equipment. Challenging to get the buggers with so much cover in the crop. They only come out to drink and mainly in the wee hours of the morning, Worth the effort though.
For those interested I'm shooting a Ruger American Predator 18" chambered in 308 Winchester. Fitted into a MDT Gen 2 LSS chassis and running reloads with 150 grain Hornady SST projectiles. My thermal scope is a Pulsar Thermion 2 XP50.
Final tally was 15 pigs, 4 feral cats and 10 foxes.
This property I was invited out to do some pest control shooting of foxes and rabbits. Certainly a few about for a small block and I was aiming for headshot s to fill the freezer. Poor conditions and I'll be looking forward to better weather and no fog next time. Still the little Lithgow LA101 17HMR was running well with the PARD NV008 LRF night vision scope.
The new Thermion 2 XP50 thermal rifle scope sure is a cool new tool / toy. In this comparison video I'll pass on my impressions and opinion as a user of the Thermion XQ50 for the last year. Upgrading to the Thermion 2 XP50 is more to improve the quality of my thermal hunting and shooting footage in the YouTube video's. I might as well pass on my review as a general user. I know there's many biased opinions in the expensive thermal game so hopefully I'm not too biased in my thoughts.
This is my 2nd deer hunting trip for fallow bucks during the 2021 rut. Amazing animals to hunt and the 30-06 Tikka rifle is certainly up to the task running 178gr Hornady ELD-X's. I hope you all enjoy these VLog style short hunting video's. It's certainly a challenge to hunt these deer let alone the complexity of self filming things as it all happens.
Great night out shooting foxes with the new Thermion 2 XP50 thermal scope made by Pulsar. I haven't been out on these local lucerne flats for a little while, as usual the foxes were about on the prowl. Few other foxes sighted in the surrounding paddocks I don't have access to be on. So another trip will be on the cards soon now I've cleared some existing fox territory.
I've seen some animal footage of this new Thermion 2 XP50 but not anything in the hunting space I don't believe. This might be some of the first kill footage on YouTube so far.
I will be doing a proper review in time on the Thermion 2 XP50. Just be patient please as I'd like to play with it more to evaluate across varied conditions and animals. The new 25mK sensor and 50mm F1.0 lens do seem to do a stellar task. Conditions last night were around 10°C with high humidity. A thick fog rolled in on my way out the front gate. Certainly an amicable test for the new sensor.
2021 Fallow Deer Rut - I've been keen as to get out hunting fallow bucks this year after the debacle that was 2020 and COVID lockdowns. Like most Hunter Valley NSW deer habitat, Feral pig numbers have certainly spiked recently with some big boars getting around in prime condition.
This is part #2 of a two part series on my late March adventures hunting these amazing animals. Feral and introduced game these critters may be. But as passionate hunters we cherish the opportunity in the rut for dynamic hunting.
On this trip I'm back shooting my 308 Winchester and the XQ50 Thermion scope. I had the ATV quadbike, all the thermal gear and night lights plus an ammo box full of Hornady 150 grain SST reloads. Unfortunately the feral pigs didn't come out to play but I managed to thin out two feral cats, a dozen foxes and a few other assorted feral critters. (I may have shot another mouse.....)
These feral invasive animals don't stand much of a sporting chance with this type of pest control / shooting / night hunting. But that's the idea......... Critters on the deck and not killing native animals is the aim of the game !!!
2021 Fallow Deer Rut - I've been keen as to get out hunting fallow bucks this year after the debacle that was 2020 and COVID lockdowns. Like most Hunter Valley NSW deer habitat, Feral pig numbers have certainly spiked recently with some big boars getting around in prime condition.
This is part #1 of a two part series on my late March adventures hunting these amazing animals. Feral and introduced game these critters may be. But as passionate hunters we cherish the opportunity in the rut for dynamic hunting.
Hunting predator species in Australia at night, AKA - Wild Dogs and Foxes. This is an activity I'm out doing a few nights a week with my thermal hunting equipment. Currently running both a thermal scanner and thermal scope. Wicked combo and it certainly changes the odds in the dark.
Shooting foxes is just something I action if the dog sign is minimal and no wild dog sightings have occurred on the properties.
There has been some local livestock loss in this area but the wild dogs have been very fickle for weeks. Activity is very sporadic and they are very brazen animals. Some kills have been house pets 40 meters from a home.
Rabbit hunting with my new custom Tikka T3 chambered in 6mm BR. This was a quick overnight zip up to a property I hunt in the New England of NSW, Australia. I had the ATV Quadbike in tow and a few tools to thin a few problem rabbits out. The rabbits have been doing a bit of damage to a freshly sown crop of oats and lucerne, This video like most of mine is purley pest control. I'm not shooting them for the pot.
As usual there are always a few troublesome foxes around to hammer as well.
You can probably tell but I'm very happy with how the new 6BR is working out. The carbon fibre stock is very comfortable to shoot in all field positions I encounter. And the carbon fibre wrapped barrel is fantastic so far. Zero complaints running either 75 or 87 grain V-Max's through it.
