1st proper foxing outing with the Archer + NM800ir

silent_varmintor · February 4, 2013

I went out last night to my favourite permission, plan was to do an all nighter there. Was really wanting to get a chance to get the night vision looking better cos i was getting a lot of glare from the nm800ir before and i thought it wasnt all what it was supposed to be. I had to turn down the Iris to stop so much glare getting back in. In the end i took off my sound mod cover to see if that made any difference cos i thought the light was bouncing off that. Once i took it off, wow it was a whole new ball game. Now i know what gen 3 looks like through the scope lol. Before i was reaching distances of 300-350 yards the way it was and then i thought it was nice and clear, now after sorting the problem out i was reaching out to 530 yards to a group of trees. Im not saying i would have taken a shot at that distance but i would have defo have seen movement and eyeshine. A tree closer to me at 420 yards was clear as day and to where i was expecting charlie to come out at 300 yards was unreal. Once this new tube goes in it will be even better. At the mo my camera doesnt pick up the image very well, which is a pity cos even though it has the black patch with the laser burn it still produces a pretty good image. Hopefully the better tube will help the camera to pick up the better image produced.

Once that was all sorted out i turned my attention to foxing. I tried a series of calls that i have but nothing was showing up. Lately ive been thinking about getting one of the digital calls and i remembered i have a video of a vixen barking/screaming on my phone, so just out of curiosity i hung the phone out the window in the truck and played it a couple of times then took another look with the night vision. I heard something wondering about the front of the truck and then i heard what can only be described as a chirping noise and straight away i thought it was a bird of some sort. I couldnt see it though so couldnt confirm what it was. The wind was blowing towards me so i think the call from the phone was carried away from me opposite side i was looking through the truck and with the windows up on that side i never saw anything come down towards me.

I never managed the all nighter cos the weather changed from quite calm to hurricane lol So time to leave i think.

Today i was thinking about what could have been next to the truck and i wondered if it could have been a fox, maybe a cub or something. Did a quick search on youtube and there is a video there of a fox making the exact same noise as i heard. I can only guess and say that the vixen call travelled with the wind and called a fox right in beside me but on the other side of the truck and it took off before i could see it.

Needless to say i have just ordered a digital call that has a 100 yard max distance wireless transmitter and comes with remote control, its called U remote caller, you can upload your own calls to it as well. Ive managed to gather a folder of calls in MP3 format just need to pick the best ones to put on, think you get max 9 calls at one time. Good thing with this is by placing the caller away from me it will draw the fox to it rather than me.

Getting closer to baggin the 1st fox with the new Night Vision set up.

Craig

happyhunter · February 4, 2013

Sounds a very good setup Craig, what rifle/cal are you using with the nv. One thing when calling foxes, make sure you can see all round you as they can and will appear from any direction. Good luck with your next outing and hope you bag a ginger or two.

silent_varmintor · February 4, 2013

thanks mate, after last night i will defo be keeping all the windows down for a proper view. It didnt click til this morning when i remembered about the wind direction.

Rifle is a .223 remington 700 SPS tac in AICS , 60gn V-max homeload, bushnell elite 6500 4.5-30x50.

Already looking forward to my next outing.

gaz6br · February 4, 2013

Nice set up mate, reckon you will have plenty of fun with that

silent_varmintor · February 4, 2013

ill post up a couple pics of the rifles, also got a .22 semi auto that im gonna use the archer with.Its a spikes tactical, i bought a Mamba Lite as they are really good with NV add on but as its an M4 based rifle i need big mounts, i had a set of warne meduim but the 44mm lens was touching the handguard. not sure how big they need to be for the 44mm to clear the handguard.

Anybody with an AR15 that uses scope mounts, can you let me know what height ill need for a 44 mm lens to clear.