Thermal monocular ?

Saw one of the hunting shows tonight using one on a recovery. Buck was down back in a thicket and with lights it was impossible to see. With the monocular it was easy to spot even thru all the thick brush. Anyone have one? (or a seek thermal for smart phones) if so what brand and hows the performance of it and useful range?

BPS has the Leupold Tracker on sale for $400. Decent enough for what you're looking for.

I use a couple of military-grade versions that are about 5 years old now. Best answer is: DEPENDS....on vegetation, humidity/rain/fog, temperature, etc.....but yes, on a normal deer season night, with a good thermal viewer/scope, you can detect/see any warm blooded animal not totally masked by brush/hard cover/terrain, to over 500 yards, depending on model. ID of the source is as much a factor of time behind the scope as resolution, but in woods, you’re talking 50-150-200, depending on how thick. Cutovers and fields, they work great. Moving around changes your angle on brush and terrain, and exposes stuff that was masked from one angle. I’ve used them to recover deer where they worked great and helped immensely. I’ve also used them when the deer ran into the thickest stuff around, and nothing could see past a lantern glow or headlamp, anyway. You can see blood for a little while, but it cools very fast in cold weather. The deer can cool fast, too, and glow less than a rabbit, sometimes.

Could not find it for that price on the website

I've used one that looked like the old Sony camcorder, worked very good. GWs in North Carolina I trained with all had them.

It was in the flyer that came in the mail yesterday...

I have used this one Flir

It wasn't for hunting but I was impressed. Price was way higher when I tried it though. May have to get me one.

My Dad has one. I walked outside last time I visited him and he had it out. I looked out in the field with it and saw a spot, so I walked towards it. Got about 50 yards from it and it ran off. It was a rabbit.
From 75 yards I could just tell it was a hot spot hiding in the grass.

Depends on the conditions, model specs and usually price tag, but many you can tell a rabbit to 200+, and deer and hogs and coyotes even further. The ones I’m using right now were the best there was in 2015-2016. I can positively ID deer vs hog vs canine vs small game to 200+. Rain and fog and dew degrade them a bit. I can see rats in a hay field to at least 150. Turkeys are easy to spot, too. They’re just better than your eyes for finding any warm critter instantly. I use them in daytime a good bit.....shadows and cover don’t hide you from seeing where exactly to study with your regular binos, after a scan.....which is handy for preseason scouting. Keep in mind, they’re considered a night vision device, limited to predators in many places, and then only with a permit in others (here). As long as you aren’t shooting with them at night, I’m not sure it’s any issue in Alabama to use them for observation or even as a day sight.....though that’s maybe pretty gray.

I have the leupold thermal unit that looks like a flashlight. The colder it is, the better it is Bc if the diff in temp between surroundings and the deer. No problem to find a mouse/chipmunk out to 50 yards and a rabbit out to 100 ish

Page 26 of the Hunting and Fishing Digest, under General Prohibitions: "It shall be unlawful to possess any equipment that uses electronics to increase the ability to see in the dark (night vision equipment) while hunting any species of wildlife, both protected and unprotected species."

Wouldn't they be extremely helpful in recovering deer after the shot? Wonder what the legality of something like that is? I understand possession being prohibited while hunting, but during the daylight hours it isn't any benefit. If you were using it after dark to track a shot/wounded animal I wonder what the average GW would think?

Ive never had a GW tell me to empty my pack or pockets when ive ran into them. Has anyone else?

First, there are depredation permits for actually ‘using’ technology to HUNT at night. I go by the letter of all of it, when/where it applies. OTOH, DCNR wording makes it illegal to even possess a flashlight while hunting. So, everyone wearing a headlamp to and from a stand, could be construed to be ‘possessing equipment that uses electronics to increase the ability to see in the dark’. LOL

Using technology ethically, and otherwise within the law, just makes any law against mere possession of it fairly unethical on it’s face.....folks can have rifles and spotlights in a vehicle, legally. Loaded, riding around at night, and using the spotlight......now we have the real issue for the law. Game harassment. They had to get there from just outright trying to ban rifles in trucks at night. Having the technology on you means little, unless it’s mounted on a rifle. Purely observation, is not illegal. DCNR will likely have to address its wording, to better reflect the actual illegal act, and not just blanket banning some otherwise legal item and activity. From the flip side: When you have coyotes eating up pets or profits every night, I’m betting some won’t care about proper permitting or legal wording.

Yep, I've had to empty my decoy sacks out in the middle of the inter-coastal waterway before. I've also had them want to check my vest for squirrels and doves, as well as having them look at my shells.

The problem with a thermal imaging device is that you would have to keep it in your truck, go back and get it, then go to find your deer. Also, you would not be able to take a gun with you when you went back to look for it. Also, you would have to prove to the warden you didn't have that device with you when you shot the deer. This can get you into an iffy situation. I hate loosing a deer as much as the next person, but I'd also hate to have my truck and gun confiscated until we went to court, and the judge gave it back to me. (This part I'm not sure of, do they still confiscate your stuff when you are hunting illegally?)

Thermal monoculars are great. They are way more "stronger" than night vision scopes. I have an old one from my father, and I want to buy a new one, maybe from AGM, I heard they produce pretty nice stuff. Their official website ( here: https://www.agmglobalvision.com/thermal-imaging/thermal-weapon-sights ) shows pretty nice and wide spectrum of military goods. Did you something about their warranty policies?

Do it not specify mounted to a weapon. No night vision scopes, thermal scopes, weapon mounted lights?

Possess covers it.....while hunting, but then there’s nuisance permits, outside of deer season. Alabama really needs to change some game laws with regards to ‘outlaw quadrupeds’ like hogs and coyotes, like other states, along with that, eliminating restrictions on those electronic devices outside of game animals.

Dang right they do. There is no excuse for not being able to hunt coyotes at night.