I like to scan with thermal and shoot with night vision. I have the AGM 25 monocular thermal which I love, and I shoot with a Pulsar night vision scope. No problem with identification before pulling the trigger.

Swamp Wolf. I got to spend some time with this 1 in West Texas. Government trapper had 1. You can get into AGM like this model for 2500 It has 5 year warranty = Like Iray

Buddy of mine bought a Rattler for feral hog hunting in Alabama, he says it works great.

I wouldn't buy anything but iray or pulsar. ATN is junk.

Come on man,,,,,

Trijicon IR-HUNTER Type 2 1.75-14x35mm

Swamp, I have an iRay Bolt TH50 C that’s above what you’re wanting to spend, but would purchase another or even more expensive iRay in a heartbeat.
I bought an AGM TS35 Rattler 640 as a “backup” that I use (for now) as a scanner. It was less than half the price of the iRay and is a decent scope.
After a year of having them, I’d say the most important feature for me is battery life and batteries. A scope is only good if it’s powered on. The Bolt has an internal battery and takes 18500 batteries as another power option. I can buy 8 batteries for like $30 and hunt all day it I wanted.
The AGM doesn’t have an internal battery and will go through 2 batteries it takes to run it in 2-2.5hrs of continuous use. They do make battery packs for them though.
As far as rifles I’m running the Bolt on an Ruger American Predator right now, but when my Gen 2 comes in it will get the iRay and the Predator with get the AGM. Both guns are suppressor ready. I was “told” you won’t kill as many (hogs, coyotes, etc) with a bolt rifle. I made an ole boy eat those words, lol. I mainly went with a bolt rifle for weight purposes. My hunting is done in brush and having to generally walk fairly long distances to my targets. I tend to be more accurate when I know I just can’t spray and pray too.

Now for $2000 I’d look at AGM or the RIX line. You’ll most likely have to go with a 384 so my advice is don’t ever look through a 640. I don’t care what anyone says there is a night and day difference. Heck I’ve looked through a 1280 and it makes my 640 look like a kids toy.
I think right now you could get the AGM TS35 Rattler 384 for right at $2K. I don’t buy online, I have a guy that I can scopes cheaper than advertised.

Now when shooting anything at night (or day) a suppressor will definitely increase your odds of multiple shots and critters hitting the deck. Especially when shooting around cover and critters disappearing quick. Take everything you know about a critter and throw it away at night. They don’t own the night like I used to think. They own the day, we own the night. Not saying they’re stupid, but there’s no way I should be able to mouth squeak a coyote 50yds from my truck while I’m sitting in it with my rifle hanging out the window. Hogs at night will return to a bait pile within 10-20min after you already dropped a few from the sounder…this is hunting in cover, may not work in fields. And if you’re after hogs, use enough gun to drop them. As far as range, my shots are 200yds and under for the most part. I prefer to sneak in as close as possible and generally set all my bait sites where I’ll have a higher elevation vantage point for multiple shots looking down in the brush. My best night was 6 pigs. 3 on initial shoot, waited 10min then 2 more, waited another 15min and one showed back up…she died too.

Also just so you’ve been warned…it gets addictive!! You’ll get one rifle set up, then the next thing you know your setting up another rifle as a back up or is anyone else wants to tag along, lol!!!

Been waiting on your reply WannaBe. Thanks! May have to get you to come go with me a night or 2 and kill some of em.

I can't speak to thermal scopes but I'll never buy another flir product, ever.

Bought one of the phone plug in thermal units and all worked great until they up and changed the app software. A "new and improved" upgrade they said. Some upgrade, all of the existing units ceased working. Their answer, you have to buy the new model and send in your old one on your dime but we'll give you a small discount on the new one. Like hail I'll spend another dime with you just to have you screw me over again.

Heck tell me when and where. I’ll let you shoot my gun if you want to try one out first. Hoping my new rifle comes in soon. I try and be loyal to locals even if it takes a little while. Owners appreciate the repeat business and I get a little knocked off with each purchase. They always give me my price and the price if anyone asks, lol.

Just a little something else…humidity makes them all “grainy” to an extent. I remember after hunting all Summer, my first cool night had me thinking something was wrong because it was a LOT clearer. My iRay does have an option for real humid nights and it works like advertised. Just recently found it, lol!!!
If you get one go outside at night and use it in your yard learning buttons and where everything is and what each button is used for while it mounted on your weapon of choice. Read the manual…I have both iRay and AGM saved to my phone just incase.
The more you use them the more you learn!!

What IRay are you running? We have the RICO LR 42. I am really liking it, taking a little getting used too and understanding all the features. Which color do you find that works the best for you? I go back and forth between white hot and black hot. Like the black in more open areas. Get a lot more detail with it. White is good for picking up movement quickly.

I got the Bolt TH50 C 640…wish they’d had the voice recording one when I bought mine but it’s probably best I don’t have it, lol.
I started off with white hot, but the last few months I’ve been running black hot. I really prefer it now over anything else. I’ve actually picked out spotted hogs vs solid color hogs. No that doesn’t matter really, except I get pics on my camera and will take out sows first, then boars. If I’ve got a spotted sow on camera, I can differentiate and shoot her first.
And yes, a lot of options to play with. Over time you get quick about what and where to press without your eye ever leaving the scope. I have 8 18500 batteries and NEVER have to worry about running out of power during a hunt no matter how long I stay out.
iRay just came out with a TS60 that’s a 1280. I’m hearing anywhere from $7-9K. I’m hoping more towards the lower end, lol. If so, I might have to do some serious saving and add it to the arsenal.

I have used the IR-Hunter, for the extra cost, I didn't see any reason to get it over the pulsar

No more ATN's for me.

X1,000,000

That sure doesn't look like a coyote in this video. Head/ears looks like a domestic.

Why?

Yeah, that didn’t look like a coyote to me. Maybe it was just the way it transferred to YouTube. I have called in domestics before and quickly realized what they were.

I have the AGM Rattler 35 and have been very pleased with its performance.