My brother and I have been hunting at night for the last five years. He lives out of state, so when we finally get together, it’s a special time. We always make the most of it be renting night vision. It gives us access to the best gear and the price points work well for us. It even gives us the option to switch up the type of gear we use. One hunt we’ll be using the thermal vision scope. The next, we just rent night vision. Honestly, we can’t think of anything better than spending our time in the night.
There is something almost euphoric about walking invisible through the darkness. Your senses and imagination are caught up in the moment. We love the anticipation and the preparation of gearing up for the night out just as much as the hunt itself.
We have developed a reputation around our area for our night hunting. When Dan called with his hog problem, we were very happy to oblige. Dan is a cattle rancher with approximately 3,000 acres. The Hogs have been crossing the river into his pastures, rooting up the fields. We visited with Dan on a Sunday and set our date for Thursday night. We had a good moon and the weather was supposed to be cool with 5-7 mph wind. It was going to be perfect for a hunt in the night.
One of the things I love about night hunting is the anticipation of the evening ahead. It feels a little a wedding. A typical set up starts around 3:00 in the afternoon. Restocking on supplies like energy drinks, ice for the cooler, and sub-sonic ammo for the guns. Then we head out to the field to sight in rifles and test gear. One of our favorite setups is a thermal and a night vision rental. We have a designated spotter with a thermal, and someone else will be the shooter with night vision and an I.R. laser on his rifle. This works well because thermal spots accurately while night vision sees any obstructions that a thermal cannot see.
When we rent night vision or thermal vision, daytime sighting can always be an issue for a nighttime weapon. For the thermal vision scope, the best way to handle it is with hand warmers on the target in winter or a cold pack in summer. The night vision rental can be a bit trickier. We like to leave the cap on the eye piece and align the I.R. laser to the impact point on the existing optic. Once we get everything aligned, tested, and ready to shoot, we head back to the house to grab the night vision rental. We restock, sort, and set up gear all evening in hopes to sling some lead in the pending hours.
We finally drive out to the ranch, and it’s hard to contain the excitement. I love being out into the deepest hours of the night. It’s dark out, but the landscape comes alive. Pulling up to the ranch and into the drive, we already see something in the distance. We leap out of the trucks and move in to get a closer look. A group of hogs are feeding in an open field. A quick wind check reveals we are safe from being spotted. When we move closer, our thermal vision scopes thirteen hogs and a few scattered deer in the field. We approach in range, I can feel my heart start to pound. We are closing in 100 yards, but we like the rush of a close shoot. We inch even closer. Now we are standing at 60 yards. The boar in front of me starts to seem tense so we give the go ahead. My brother is spotting with the thermal and I’ve got my finger on the trigger, eye peering through the night vision scope. We see everything in the night, and our aim is on point. The unspoken rule, shoot on three, applies here. Lasers on the ready, we count, “1, 2…” Whack, whack. You can hear the subsonic bullets whizzing through the fields. When they connect it’s a hollow thud, followed by a crack, and then a crash as the pig crashes down. Whack, whack, more crashes as targets are hit.
It is a gorgeous evening. Of the thirteen hogs we originally spotted, seven are down. We walk over to inspect and take victory pictures to share with our friends and family back home.
When we get back to the truck, our guards are down because of the adrenaline and high of the hunt. There is an excitement and a relief you can feel in the air between me and my brother. We crack open our energy drinks to get some refreshment and replenish on liquids. Laughter abounds as we recall the story that minutes before unfolded. We pick up our night vision rental and hop in the truck again to relive the story over and over. Of all my favorite times, nighttime is my favorite.