IS Lamping Finished

[Gerry78]

Posting this regarding my foxing In summer months go out probably once a week winter months Honestly once a month I wouldn’t Class myself as a heavy Fox Hunter But do enjoy it with my CZ 222 and scope torch and lamp My mates who do a lot of Fox shooting  Are now using night vision and thermal etc Watching hunting shows  on YouTube I very rarely see them using lamps My question is to the forum is Lamping Finished As everyone I’d talk to shooters gun dealers  etc Are telling me night vision and thermal is all everyone is using Any one on here like me Still just use lamps 

[WalkedUp]

I just use lamps. But I am poor. If I wasn’t poor I would cheat too! 

[ninjaferret]

I use thermal, spotter and a lamp, and I always will.

[Gerry78]

Cheers lads I don’t have the money myself to spend small fortune on thermal And night vision etc But it seems to me now that lamping not as popular as years back with technology being better I do agree a lot more foxes being hunted with thermal etc I’m probably what you call old fashioned lol 

[scarecrow243]

you can get cheapish night vision add on etc or pay £500 and above for a night vision rifle scope

[strimmer_13]

I lamp. If I could afford it I'd go thermal, but I think a pard will be next 

[steve_b_wales]

I use NV and recently, thermal. I still enjoy using a lamp though.

[rapid .25]

I also use NV but was brought up using lamp and still keep the tradition going It's still very challenging and I enjoy every minute of it even when the bulb starts flickering just as your set to take your shot, lol.

[Bumble]

6 hours ago, strimmer_13 said:

I lamp. If I could afford it I'd go thermal, but I think a pard will be next 

I’m in the same position. I account for a fair few each year lamping, but can’t afford nor justify a thermal scope. The PARD 007 looks like a reasonable bit of kit though, and I can use it on the .243 & .17hmr. 

[Gerry78]

Thanks for the replies I’ve never looked at at the Pard Any price range for it And is it easy to set up I still use a fixed scope 6x42 S&Bender on my 222 old school 🙄👍

[Lampwick]

I’ve used all three! Lamping, night vision and Thermal! 
Lamping works, night vision is better but Thermal is the nuts. Yes it’s not cheap but if you can afford it you won’t look back. 
People still shoot muzzle loaders and enjoy it, but you don’t see many on driven days!!  

[Catamong]

I am useless with a rifle and usually end up doing most of the driving around the stubble fields, leaving far more talented shots to keep the foxes in check on the flatbed pickup.

I am lead to believe that thermal is the way that most serious shooters are now heading, although I will miss the excitement of seeing that pair of eyes in the lamp beam being squeeked in ever closer to the moment of reckoning with the 30.06..!

Cat😎

 

[Walker570]

There are one or two of us on here who go back a very long time and I can remember the days when two of us would take it in turns carrying a 12v car battery in a shopping basket and used a Lucas flame thrower car spot light and kill foxes with a 12 gauge, we did move up to a 10 gauge for a short spell.  60s and early 70s.  Moved on to centre fires and lamps from vehicles in the late 70 and early 80s and had a fully kitted out ATV with lamp in the early 90s with which I must have killed close to four figures of foxes.  Stayed that way right through to the last five years when I moved on to NV spotter and scope fitment.  My total kit cost me just over £400, the scope bit was one of the last Dave G made and has killed a lot of foxes and rabbits.  The spotter I have is a £120 Elite similar but better quality I believe than the Firefox. I have a friend who has all singing all dancing thermal and scope fitment and when he told me how much my eyes watered. He doesn't seem to shoot any more than I do.

Almost all of my foxing these days is from high seats on known travel lines, knowledge of which has built up over 25yrs.

[Dave-G]

Better options than lamping are more productive up to a point that quarry thins out with a slower reproduction rate - and thermal users are more likely to wipe out their permissions unless they are exceptionally populated. Most of my permissions are barely worth going to now to the point that all my home built NV spotting and shooting devices are near redundant.

[Walker570]

Back in the 80s I did a fair amount of foxing down in the Welsh Hills and Valleys and there is no doubt a thermal unit would have made a big difference to locating possible targets without disturbing them with a powerful lamp and I am sure today thermal equipment is a great boon in those circumstances but a relatively cheap add on NV unit will still kill a lot on normal agricultural land. 

[Gerry78]

15 hours ago, Dave-G said:

Better options than lamping are more productive up to a point that quarry thins out with a slower reproduction rate - and thermal users are more likely to wipe out their permissions unless they are exceptionally populated. Most of my permissions are barely worth going to now to the point that all my home built NV spotting and shooting devices are near redundant.

That’s a good point I also forgot to ask in my original post Does thermal make it too easy for Fox shooting now As I said I don’t shoot tons of foxes but I like to take a couple here and there keep farmer happy My mate who bought thermal doesn’t even really use calls he just sets up in the dark and uses The thermal to scan the fields making no disturbance I have to Admit he shoots a lot of foxes this way But my Heart still skips a beat when I see A pair of Fox 🦊 eyes reflecting in the lamp beam 👍

[Dave-G]

11 minutes ago, Gerry78 said:

That’s a good point I also forgot to ask in my original post Does thermal make it too easy for Fox shooting now As I said I don’t shoot tons of foxes but I like to take a couple here and there keep farmer happy My mate who bought thermal doesn’t even really use calls he just sets up in the dark and uses The thermal to scan the fields making no disturbance I have to Admit he shoots a lot of foxes this way But my Heart still skips a beat when I see A pair of Fox 🦊 eyes reflecting in the lamp beam 👍

I guess its a case of considering how much you need to eradicate vermin Vs reducing pests with a hobby pursuit.

[wymberley]

Because I've only had experience of Service items I know no better, but as thermal scopes have been mentioned can we now get sporting versions that will positively identify a fox sized quarry? Or are we actually talking spotting scopes?

[Dave-G]

4 hours ago, wymberley said:

Because I've only had experience of Service items I know no better, but as thermal scopes have been mentioned can we now get sporting versions that will positively identify a fox sized quarry? Or are we actually talking spotting scopes?

Both - I only have a thermal roof spotter I built myself and no experience of thermal rifle scopes but there are quite a few around now for sporting shooters. Prices range up to somewhere around £4K. I won't link to any as I don't have experience of them but i'm sure someone will be along soon who has. 

Or ask on the night vision forum and search you tube for thermal rifle scopes.

Edited August 5, 2020 by Dave-G

[KFC]

I'm definitely on a budget but the Pard007 has been a blessing for me. It's affordable and I can switch it easily between my air rifle and 22lr as well as using it as a spotting scope.

Since I changed from lamping the main advantage is that I don't have worry about a 'well meaning member of the public' phoning the Police. I do phone 101 for an incident number but, sometimes, it makes no difference.