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Night hunting

2K views 22 replies 13 participants last post by  1911NUT 
#1 ·
Who hunts at night (where legal) and what gear do you use?
 
#4 ·
We spotlight fairly regularly chasing foxes and under permit Kangaroos. The best nights are those with little to no Moon and little to no wind.
The biggest problem is judging distances especially where the shots can go out to 200+ yards and that is why I use a 22/250AI and 60gn Hornady SP's in a 1:12 twist because it has that 350yd advantage over the .222 and .223(around 250yds tops) for a more certain hit.
We use a button whistle for the foxes and 9" spotlight. For rabbits it's either my BRNO .22 with 40gn HP's or my Stirling .22 magnum on both close foxes and rabbits.
If we're out West chasing pigs at night there's my 30/06AI with 165gn Sierra Game Kings, my mates 30/06 with 165gn BT's or my YB using my CMC Howa .270 with 130gn Game Kings.
 
#5 ·
I no longer hunt at all, but I did recently purchase an ATN X sight, which is popular with night hunters, especially wild boar hunters. A users group routinely posts videos of some great night shots. I liked the ATN day-night vision binoculars, so bought this sight for my Tavor 5.56. It has LOTS of features that hunters could use; automatic wind compensation using a built in compass, elevation compensation, and takes pictures or videos as well. I have NOT USED it yet, as have been buried in other things - it is just sitting there still IN THE BOX!!
 
#8 ·
We hunt Texas every year, which it is legal to use night type and other units.
I wish we could in Tennessee but we can not. The only exception is a special permit from Tennessee to hunt wild pigs on private property due to them being destructive.
But in Texas we do a lot of night hunting. I use a Sabre Defense 6.5 Grendel AR-15 with an ATN PS22 Night Vision unit attached on the Picitinny Rail in front of my Leupold Scope. I also have an L-3 Warrior Systems Thermal which also attaches.
We also use some 300 Black Out AR-s with Suppressors, NV and Thermals.
When I use to hunt fox in Indiana we used a light with a red lens.
In Texas we hunt Pigs, Coyotes and Bobcats at night. Of course we also hunt them with deer in the day. Night hunting is exciting and a lot of fun as well as being productive. We use gut piles as well as a Fox Pro and Mouth Calls.
As I stated, wish we could hunt with them at night in Tennessee. But I understand why! Unfortunately there would be a lot of guys who would be shooting deer at night in the mountains. A couple of years ago I wrote the State a Letter asking them to consider selling and attaching a Predator Hunter Permit with our license so we could hunt at night with equipment. And as it happens anyone caught hunting with the above equipment without a Permit would have their equipment confiscated. At the present this is a normal practice here in Tennessee for those who violate "serious" hunting and fishing violations. But not surprised about the response to the Predator Permit letter! I never heard back from them!!! Imagine that!

03
 
#9 ·
i use to lots of night time hunting with my uncle going **** hunting. we never cared about killing the *****, as we were more into the chasing with the hounds and teaching them to track and bay the *****. my uncle did a lot of competition **** hunts with his hounds, so the hunting we did was more training and practice. and it was lots of fun being out in the woods at night chasing the hounds when they got on ****'s track or scent.

did some night time coyote hunting years back. used a huge spotlight and varmint call to bring them in. that was also about the time when i found the 25-06 was just about the perfect larger varmint calibers ever invented!
 
#10 ·
Lots of **** hunting. I use Blueticks, but have used Walkers and Black And Tans. Used an old single shot Revelation 22 rifle and a wheat light. Still use the old school wheat light, but I usually carry the Ruger Single Six now.

Most of my hog hunting is done at night as well. I have 3 Red ones to strike and bay, and a pitbull to catch. I like to have at least 2 Pitts, but the older one crossed over the rainbow in his sleep. I carry a 44 Magnum SBH and a 300 BLK, just built a 6.5 Grendel. But we try not to kill them. Once the dogs get them under control, we pull the pigs back legs from under him. Take them home and pen them up a while. Feed them sweet feed and let the taint go away.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Two types hunt at night.
The ones in it gor the hunt, the others get their equipment confiscated, fined and some even a little jail time for makin $$ on the shady side of the law.
The local hardware store used to sell used & abused guns, some those guns were severly beaten up, with glued n patched stocks from jack lighters pitching guns in the ditch before the game warden pulled them over.
In those days a **** was pretty much a $20 bill with a tail (unskinned price was $7 less)

In Nebraska, the State DNR used roving task forces, with a aircraft and up to 5 vehicles to vector in on jack lighters, deer poachers and **** hunters.

When I was young, we ran hounds in the Sandhills, mostly Walkers and Black n Tans.
Actually the best one Id ever seen was a half blood walker/rat terrier female, that dog had a great nose on her, several times she would wind **** right out the back of a moving pickup truck.
Dad had a male Weimaraner that in a past scrap with a **** turned into a **** killing obsession, That dogs mission in life was Only to kill ****.
**** dogs can come in many guises.
Most dogs used are from **** hunting bloodlines.
And a few just have a talent for it.
Then you have the blooded Me Too type dogs that run along and go through the motions but dont really have the passion.

That oddest night hunting dog we had was the porcupine killing Airedale Terrier
That just like the Weimaraner which had a past trauma that motivated their bloodlust.
This female airedale could kill them without getting loaded up with quills.

Night hunting with dogs is about as fun as it gets. The dogs used to get excited if you came out the house after dark, the sound of the door closing would get them wound up.
Dogs recognize guns, they see a rifle and instantly their all jazzed to go hunting! :D
Its no fun hunting with other dogs that run deer or bobcat. :(
A group could blow the whole night chasing down a runoff dog.

**** dog song
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dHbi37DdzvA&ved=0ahUKEwis_8rGs8bXAhXKxVQKHbqPCvoQwqsBCDUwBw&usg=AOvVaw1ko6XRYuGwn-7h9V-qel9-

1920's possum hunting song.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QFssS-ozmdo&ved=0ahUKEwi8lsnUtMbXAhXDx1QKHeyTDxUQwqsBCCAwAA&usg=AOvVaw0j7clBN2c_9Xhjy84YdNfB

Some the different places you can get **** hound supplies.
https://www.googleadservices.com/pa...ahUKEwiltZyStcbXAhVElVQKHYu-Da0Q0QwIJQ&adurl=

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...-Da0QFgguMAA&usg=AOvVaw3N3k-0BTBTpdjpDvzbL6NX

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...-Da0QFgg4MAE&usg=AOvVaw0mUqFvj6ZxFJ2SqMxWD9E1

https://www.googleadservices.com/pa...ahUKEwiltZyStcbXAhVElVQKHYu-Da0Q0QwIIg&adurl=

And for folks that dont mind reading.
Hunting Houndsmen
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...HDMcQFgguMAI&usg=AOvVaw1xNaRpBTjsCnKXa-qosTdM
Full Cry
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...HDMcQFggwMAM&usg=AOvVaw21HMj2hiUXAxsbOfnIUhVc

American Cooner Magazine https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...HDMcQFgg2MAY&usg=AOvVaw0-XKlhOYBZnripzbyceHOn

CoonDawgs.com - A Site for Houndsmen, Coonhounds, and **** Hunters.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...HDMcQFgg4MAc&usg=AOvVaw1bZEVwziCgcTo5xG349Apb
 
#15 · (Edited)
I remember Dad saying dont let your dogs scrap with ****, they are nasty fighters, they roll onto their back and are all teeth and claws, as their bites can lead to a case of idiopathic acute polyradiculoneuritis.

.http://www.petwave.com/Dogs/Health/Coonhound-Paralysis.aspx

**** bite paralysis signs develop rapidly and often start with hind end weakness. Dogs then may have a change in their voice, become stiff and lose their leg reflexes. Most continue to urinate and defecate normally and can still wag their tails. They chew and swallow as usual, and their appetite and thirst are unaffected. The paralysis generally worsens for several days after signs appear, and then stabilizes. Most dogs recover spontaneously, without treatment and without any permanent damage.

For lighting back in the 1980's really brite flashlights were available, those zenon lamps were like becons were just begging the attention from the game warden.
So we used just enough light to get the job done, Brinkman made a decent 12 volt rechargeable lantern that was just like a 6 volt lantern but you pull the lamp assy directly out and stashed in there was the cigrette lighter plug to recharge on the go.
we used to sit up on high ground at night with the lights off and watch for night hunters, some the new guys had powerfull xenon lamps or million candle power hand spotlights and their area looked like a rock concert going full blast with lights flashing this way and that way and sometimes the lamp would send a beam straight up like a hollywood search light, they they'd flash a tree and the whole tree would light up, or flash the light out over a body of water/ice and again resulting in another searchlight like stab of light energy into the night sky.

What Im getting at is the less you call attention to your self the longer you get to hunt, call attention to your self by cutting fences, rileing livestock and creating a night time light show, all will eventually lead to a negative public view of your night hunting activites.
The next time something is wrong or missing the night hunters will shoulder the blame.
We always told our neighbors we were running **** hounds.
Our place was big enough to hunt on that we never really had to go run accross their places.
Another was asking folks that had huge tracts of land like big farms that center pivoted irrigated corn if we could hunt those field in the winter as they had more desireable environemnt to hunt.
They always had **** feeding on down corn in winter.
In the Sandhills we had a smaller darker prairie ****, lived in old coyote and badger dens.
They would sometimes tree in small hackberry, elm or cedar trees and in creek bottoms where huse old cotton woods could den a whole pile of ****.
To shine up in a tree with **** eyes reflecting back is what we called christmas trees.
 
#16 ·
I have had several hounds get **** bite fever. All recovered.

We never had any issues using lights. I used and still do a wheat light. We also had a gazillion candle power light that wait powered by a motorcycle battery. It was heavy to tote and only had an expectancy of 15 minutes or so. But we only used it after we shined their eyes.

Never had any issues with landowners either. It takes a sorry sort to cut fences and worry livestock anyways. ***** and especially pigs are destructive critters. I am often asked to hunt them.

Also never had any issues with game wardens. The few times I have been checked were always professional.

I guess I don't get the worries. Doing right and respecting the property owners has always worked for me ????
 
#17 ·
we **** hunted on very large tracts of land that we had permission to be hunting on. there were several we hunted on, with the smallest being over 3500 acres, and one of them that was over 10K acres.

and the lighting we had at the time, compared to some of the modern lighting, was a bit lacking! we had the headlamps that were mounted on a hardhat, and the battery pack was attached to your belt.

technically we weren't really hunted, because we didn't kill the ***** when we had them treed. we always carried a 22 rifle or a shotgun, since running across snakes was not uncommon by any stretch. our main purpose was getting the hounds in practice for competition **** hunting, and all we cared about was their ability to track and tree the ****.
 
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#18 · (Edited)
Of course there is Frog Giger's

Going after frogs at night. :D
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BrN4AdPj6Fw&ved=0ahUKEwj7vZivt8bXAhVKjVQKHRtiBugQwqsBCFQwCg&usg=AOvVaw1ccBcblekBI6bN6iGZC24l

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...iBugQFgh3MBU&usg=AOvVaw1fujgI4unWFVR31ZGjJtOs.

And night time bowfishing for carp and gar.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=abh08QtyqWE&ved=0ahUKEwinr-m3uMbXAhWqw1QKHfl4CCYQtwIIHTAA&usg=AOvVaw0xFSmGN1Elij8QKk3fHx-2

I recall my grandfater and great uncles talking about going out after dark to harvest pheasants in fields after picking corn.
This was in the 1940's they had a 1930's international pickup truck with big ole fenders a fella could sit on, one guy drove, a couple fella's sat astradle each front fenders right next ta headlight with a pitchfork and their boot heels hooked on the front bumper, they would drive down the rows of a picked field of corn with the headlights off? Or mostly taped over, pheasants would sit tite after dark till your almost on top of them and would flush close the truck, each fella on a fender would swing a pichfork and twang down a pheasant, they had my dad and uncles (all under age 10) riding in the back quickly bail off the running boaards n grab a stunned pheasant, wring its neck and huck it in the truck bed.
I disremember if they taped off most the headlight or what for light, tail light gave the kids enuf light to grab them though.

Heres a 1950's era Farmall picking.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3NQRriyAWJM&ved=0ahUKEwikyK-DvMbXAhVIj1QKHctqARAQo7QBCCcwBQ&usg=AOvVaw1utdX8L9RH8PKCQ8Nxuta3
 
#19 · (Edited)
I found the stock stamped sheetmetal marlin rimfire iron sights worked as good as any for night hunting with handheld flashlight in the days before fancy fiber sights and scopes and optic sights.
The worst was Rugers fragile folding rear sight and that brass bead front when using a flashlight.
I had a winchester 9422 that had a semi-buckhorn rear sight that was a challange to shoot with after dark.

When brush popping at night with iron sights you need to mark a witness mark on the front dovetail so a quick check the marks are lighned up, for rear sights with a separate stepped elevator, one can give it a wrap of electrical tape to keep that little metal stepped piece in place where it should.
And most those dovetailed rear sights have a point which one can use in conjunction with a light ***** punch witness mark to keep things shooting straight in the dark.
Helps when you have a chance to stop every once in awhile to check your gear, check your firearms sights, mags, ammo and your hunt permit is still along for the ride.

The problem with box mags is they drop out the gun in the worst places and at the most inoppertune time in the dark.
Ruger mags were pretty bad for dropping out
So we took to carrying that cube mag in a jacket pocket.
It beats backtracking a semi froze swamp looking for a missing mag, a missing mag basicly makes your rifle a single shot.
I liked tube mags and would remove the whole mag tube when reloading, one slip of the muzzle with a portion of that mag tube still in the housing would pretty much render your rifle a single shot by bending that housing, bending it back straight and bind free can be a major pain in a shop with tools and light and a bench vise, definately something your not able to do in a brush patch in the dark with at best a leatherman pocket tool.
 

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#20 ·
Saw two good Walker Hounds killed by the other hounds during my cook hunting years.

First one fell off a high rock ledge and hung its back leg in a brush pile.
It started hollering because of the pain . Rest of the hounds pulled off the track came back and killed it before we could get to it.
Second hung her back leg in a woven wire fence. Same thing. The other four hounds two it's litter mates killed it.
My dad always said a pack of dogs would do that but until I saw it I was skeptical.
He was right though.
 
#21 ·
Just wow. I don't think my dogs would come off the chase. Once they strike they are bent to bay. But I have never had a dog serounsly hurt either.

I did have a incident that resulted in me getting a bit hurt. The hounds had a fairly nice hog bayed up. Turned loose the catch dogs who made short work of their job. I went to truss the pig, but before I could get it's hind legs up (get a hogs legs up you can trundle it around like a wheelbarrow, they can't turn) the pig got loose from the catch dogs. The dogs went back to their work, but now I was in the way. Meatloaf chomped down on my leg. He immediately let go, looks at me with a look that said uh-oh sorry, and rolled over on his back!
 
#22 ·
Another funny night hunting story.

We have an area just inside a tree line that has an area of low mounds in it. Local legend has that it is an old burial ground and is haunted. My father in law and I had just come through that area and came into a field. Our truck was parked on the far side. I was carrying the rifle and a burlap sack with the nights bounty in it.

I was maybe 10 yards into the field when one of the ghosts had me! I can still remember the sound and it touching me. And my father in law laughing! He said I screamed, jumped so high he could see the moon under my feet. The rifle was flying off in one direction, the burlap sack in the other, and the birds flying around me.

I had stepped into a covey of sleeping quail!
 
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