Optimum Insight by Day and Night: Mat Manning Explains the Role Infrared and Thermal Optics Play in His Round-the-clock Pest Control

I get asked so many questions about whether thermal and digital day and night optics are worth investing in, and whether they are as effective by day as they are after dark. The simple answer is that they can make a huge difference to your results in daylight and at night, and, with prices constantly coming down, they may not make so much of a dent in your wallet as you might expect.

Infrared night-vision optics have revolutionised after-dark rat shooting over recent years. Go back a decade or so and these sighting devices were generally too expensive, too heavy and too complicated to use to be a viable option for nailing rats around the farm, or bagging bunnies out on the paddocks. Back then, I was still much of the opinion that I was better off adopting a simple approach with a scope-mounted lamp.

My view has changed now, though. Lamping tactics still work as well as they ever did, but the simple fact is that quarry species will learn to avoid lamplight after sustained shooting pressure. That's why infrared night-vision provides such an edge - you're practically invisible as you snipe pests from the cover of darkness.

Most significantly, this kit has become far more affordable and you can buy a good night-vision optic that produces a full-colour image by day for well under ￡1,000.

CONSIDERED PURCHASE

Let's take the HIKMICRO CHEETAH Digital Day and Night as an example. Prices for this compact scope start at less than ￡500 and you can pick up the model shown here, which features an integral laser rangefinder and infrared illuminator for under ￡600. Of course, that sort of outlay still makes it a considered purchase for most of us, but it's a lot less than we would have been paying for inferior devices just a couple of years ago.

As I've already mentioned, the greatest advantage of night-vision optics is that they don't need any light - not in the usual sense, anyway - for you to see your target. Instead, they have an infrared designator, which provides illumination that is almost impossible to see with the naked eye. This lamp-free approach provides a huge degree of stealth by virtually eliminating any light that could spook nocturnal quarry.

Larger, more powerful illuminators can increase detection range, but small integral units, such as the onboard iluminator on the HIKMICRO CHEETAH, are more than powerful enough for targering rats and rabbits with an air rifle.

EASY OPERATION

Modern digital optics like the HIKMICRO CHEETAH are very easy to operate.

I don't like to have my shooting hampered by complicated electronic equipment and that is certainly not a problem with this device. Set-up is done via an easy-to-navigate menu, and although it has the capability to capture video, you don't actually have to use anything other than the power button when you're out shooting with it.

Two features worth taking advantage of, though, are its laser rangefinder and ballistic calculator, which work together to adjust automatically the aimpoint to compensate for the rise and fall of the pellet as it travels downrange. Some people might think this sort of technology is over the top for a simple airgun, but a pellet has a distinctly curved trajectory, and it can be particularly tricky to work out holdover accurately at close ranges before the pellet has converged with the line of sight. This problem is amplified by the increased gap between the barrel and line of sight on bullpup airguns, but a ballistic calculator takes away all the guesswork and ensures that you're always aiming in the right place, whatever the range.

As for daytime shooting, digital scopes can now rival the optical performance of a conventional telescopic sight when it comes to detail and sharpness. Combine that with the neat features mentioned above, and more than a few others, and they are certainly a viable option for hunting in daylight.

THERMAL SPOTTERS

If you want to give your night shooting even more of a technological boost, and can justify the outlay, a thermal spotter will put more pests in the bag. Being able to spot a rat or rabbit's heat signature, even when it is partially obscured by cover, makes it almost impossible for your quarry to go undetected. Being a bit of a technophobe, I was a bit late to the thermal party, but after using spotters very frequently over the past two or three years, I really don't know how I'd get by without one now - and yes, a decent thermal spotter is useful by day. I find them particularly handy for spotting grey squirrels - both on the ground and in the treetops - and for picking out rabbits that I might have otherwise missed, especially when they are hiding amongst cover such as nettles, brambles or longer patches of grass.

To give to an example of just what thermal spotters can do by day, I recently let a photographer have a look through one while we were on a shoot in the woods. Just as I was about to stand in front of him so he could see my heat profile, he announced that he had spotted a deer less than 50m from where we were standing. I told him it was very unlikely that such a timid animal would hang around while we were talking, but when I took a look for myself, there it was - bold as brass. It obviously felt safe in the cover of the undergrowth and in fairness, we would never have seen it without the thermal monocular.

HIKMICRO LYNX

Like digital night-vision sights, thermal spotters aren't cheap, but they are also a lot less expensive than they used to be. Prices for HIKMICRO's LYNX 2.0, which is currently my go-to thermal monocular, start at under￡900 and you can pick up HIKMICRO's tiny Explorer for just ￡329.99. This little thermal camera plugs into a phone or tablet via a USB C connection and converts it into a handheld thermal spotter.

The LYNX is small enough to stash in a jacket pocket and it took me very little time to master its simple controls. This spotter enables viewing in white hot, red hot, black hot and fusion colour palettes, and a quick flick through them usually reveals one which works best in any given situation.

IDENTIFY THE TARGET

My usual approach when shooting rats at night is to start with a stroll around the holding, during which I will use the spotter to identify the areas where rats are most active. Rather than wandering about and stopping to shoot rats as and when I spot them, I usually adopt a more methodical approach by targeting the busy areas one at a time. This enables me to set up on a stool and shoot from the support of a tripod, which makes for very precise shot placement.

Once I've settled into a spot - usually between 15 and 20 metres from where I expect the rats to be moving - I'll then use my thermal monocualr to scan for activity. For this, I like to have the device set on its lowest magnification to give me the widest possible field of view. Having located a rat in a shootable position, I then move over to my infrared night-vision scope, which will usually be set at between 6x and 10x magnification. Infrared optics tend to produce a clearer image than thermal units and show a lot more detail of not just the target, but also what is in front of and behind it. This enhanced clarity facilities safe and humane shot placement.

KEY EQUIPMENT

Sophisticated modern equipment is no substitute for fieldcraft and a sound understanding of your quarry and its behaviour. If you can't afford to splash out on the latest optics or simply can't justify the outlay, you can still shoot plenty with more traditoinal equipment and methods, but there is no denying that thermal spotters and digital scopes can help to put more in the bag - especially in tough conditions.

With so much cutting-edge kit at our disposal, it is sometimes easy to overlook the low-tech items that can also make a real difference. One key piece of equipment that I think every round-the-clock hunter should have in their arsenal is a decent head lamp. It is all very well being able to spot heat profiles and then shoot through a super-sharp, night-vision scope, but these optics aren't so good when you need to find your way safely around the farm, or over a gate. A good head lamp with an adjustable beam provides light wherever you need it, which is a real asset when you want to see where you're putting your feet or need to reload a magazine in the middle of the night. It will also prove very useful when you need to gather up shot rats for disposal or paunch rabbits at the end of a nocturnal foray.

*Before purchasing any thermal or digital day & night vision device, please make sure you adhere to the local ledislation and only use it when it is allowed. Our ambassadors come from various countries and travel a lot, which allows them to test different devices. We do not encourage or support the illegal use of our devices in any events.