Red, I’d be more upset someone thermal hunting in my yard. I don’t know if anyone that’s gonna shoot a dog in someone’s yard next to a house.

If only everyone had a 640 or 1280 thermal...both scope and a scanner....and hunted only on large properties far away from residences...and learned what their targets look and act like beforehand....and made sure of their targets b4 pulling the trigger.....

If you're trying to the make the arguement that a thermal image is as safe, or safer, than a night vision image with respect to identifying the target, you are wrong. Maybe you get it right 99 out of 100 times with a thermal. But you can't mistake a target with night vision when you can see it in real time and in color.

I know a guy who's been hunting with thermals since they were available to the public. Has won many Midwest predator tournaments. He shot a racoon by mistake a few years ago. He thought it was a bobcat. It stepped out of some brush, came in facing him, and then sat down and raised up on its haunches. He said under thermal it looked like a bobcat sitting down and facing him. This was with an agm Adder 384. Target was about 150 yrds away. Not a big mistake as they were both legal to shoot, but nonetheless and misidentified target.

ol' dad

Thanks for the replies, looks like I have some scopes to check I hadn't before, again thanks

One of those big ole owls looks like a bobcat too when sitting beside your caller…until it moved its head, lol.

Same as daytime hunting…the OP is from Montana I’m guessing and can see coyotes farther than we can hear them down here. So yeah, he really needs something “better” for his area. If he’s in a part of Montana where on flat ground he can see 100yds max like us, then go with something “cheaper”. They hunt a lot of public ground out there. Seeing something in the scanner then checking it with the rifle could have you putting crosshairs on another hunter. Think that’s frowned upon in every State.