Optics

In this article, I cover the IRay ZOOM, which offers a unique feature to a thermal scanner.

I had just shot the biggest black bear of my life. Thirty minutes later, I shot an even bigger one.

After running the Pulsar Thermion 2 XP50 for around 6 months through many nights out in the field, I will share some of the features and my experiences with this optic. animals, thermal is king.

I dropped down onto the other side of the ranch gate and onto the saturated soil. I was hunting private property south of Longview, Texas, in early April 2021, and it had been raining much of the last 24 hours. It had been raining pretty steady for the last three days of my time here in East Texas, which made the fields and pastures even more inviting to the feral hogs that so love to root up the ground.

The Bering Optics Hogster Stimulus is no question fantastic for the dollar, if you are on a very limited budget. At $1599, you would be hard pressed to find something that will hang with it as far as capabilities go. But what if you have a little more in the tank? To answer that question, we took a look at the Stimulus side by side with Hogster R-35.

I’m always looking for a better mousetrap. So far, the AZIAK Equipment bino clamp is the best lightweight bino/tripod adapter I’ve seen for hunting and lightweight applications where saving every ounce of weight matters.

That was one of the furthest shots I’ve even made with a thermal optic, at night, on a hog. My guide and fellow hunters were cheering my shot, and I certainly felt good about it. But I also knew the REAP-IR made the shot possible.

Thermal optics have long been the domain of the, uh, not poor. While some people have a job that can justify the upfront cost, it has not been a realistic option for the masses. Granted, prices have gone down. But not down to the point of accessibility to the masses. Until now.

The new infiRay Cabin CBL19 thermal monocular is now available to the US market, through a relatively new company, iRayUSA. It features a high-resolution display and a 384×288 sensor core. The result is a crisp, detailed image that’s able to detect heat out to 1,070 yards.