Spotlight for hunting coyote

J

jd3020

New member
I have been looking around and some spotlights that mount to your scope so you can turn it on to look for yotes at night. I currently just have a hand held spot light that has three interchangeable lenses from blue to red to orange. Most of the scope mounted lights are red. my question to you all is, is a scope mounted light really nessiciary or will my hand held do just fine? also what do you recomend for a scope mounted light and how well does it work?
 
It depends on how good your handheld is and how good your scope's ability to pick up light is. With a darker field scope (which includes many cheaper scopes and some good ones that just don't transfer low light very well) you may be more challenged.

With a Surefire P60 sort of setup (there are countless LED P60 lights out there, not just Surefire) that run on a couple CR123a batteries (or something comparable) and you can get out to about 100 yards with a good scope, maybe a bit more, 70 with a poor one.

Will that work for you?

You can get a nifty mount to go on your scope and one of the little P60 sorts of lights can mount right on the top of it or if your gun has rails, mount to a rail.

Most P60 lights have a 1" tube which means you can mount them via a very inexpensive quick release 1" scope mount (to weaver rail) that you get at Wal-mart.

How far are you shooting and what critters?
 
I got one from primo's its got a cord and you put the battery in your pocket or belt and clip it to the scope tube...works real good for 100 yds or less ... it was bought for coyote but got re-aligned for the pig war I have going on..much success on pigs, until:( the bulb burned out.... turns out it is a 6v motorcycle bulb so I am going to convert it to the much easier to locate 12v motorcycle bulb, I will connect two battery packs in series.
 
The pig war is going on over here too. I just got a light from Primos too. It's the 250 yard version for $99, and I don't really think that it's good for more than 150 yards, but that's Ok. I was happy to find out that I can still see the reticle without needing a lit reticle scope. The light itself is really lightweight and snaps onto the scope tube easily. The battery is heavy, and I had it on a belt, but will switch it to a cord to wear around my neck. That'll be faster when the hogs are in the front yard at 2 am. I don't know what ya'll have read about animals not seeing the red light, but deer seem to see it just fine. Possums, on the other hand, don't seem to notice it too much, but maybe they aren't too smart. I haven't had a hog in the beam yet, but hope to have one soon. Bottom line...I like the light. And it's good to find out what bulb goes in it. I'm sure I'll need one eventually.
 
I have found that I can hold my Streamlight SL 20 against the forearm, to good effect. I also have a high-CP Q-beam with a red lens and a tubular shroud I made from cardboard--but not as easy to hold the handle against the forearm.

Any sort of cliip-on rig with a pressure switch should work. Use the hand-held so as to not shine directly into Wily's eyes as you call him in, and then press the switch when you're ready to shoot.
 
Yes mr. 603 ... find a bulb now, its a real bummer when the light bulb goes out in the middle of the hunt .... I used it for 8 months sometimes four or five nights a week.
 
I've never used anything but a Q-Beam, but that takes two people.. one to hold the light, and one to shoot.
It does light up the night, though..
I'm interested in the scope mounted spotlights. I'll have to google it to see what's current.
 
I used a Q beam for a while, but my lighting assistant (wife) was never shining the light where I needed it to be shined. That lead to some grumping on my part, which didn't help the situation. So...that's when I decided on that Primos light. Like I mentioned earlier, you don't need a lit reticle to find the crosshairs on the critter, but I'm sure it'd be better if I had one - just a lit dot would be fine. But, I'm through experimenting with just Ok scopes. If I buy another scope, it'll be a proven one, and those good ones with illuminated reticles and the variable range I'd want are really expensive.

As for a spare bulb, I'll google up that Primos light and see if they have replacement bulbs. It would probably be smart to have a spare or two.
 
the 100yd primo's varmint light conversion to 12v was successfull now i can buy bulbs at Wally World or any automotive outlet..I switched from H3 6v to H312v and added another 6v battery pack in series.
 
^Rick,

By switching to a 12v have you gained anything? Other than the ability to get replacement bulbs more easily?
 
I'm really liking that Primos gun light. I'm out on the front porch most nights around 10 pm, and it has enough beam for me to see to the front gate, which is about 130ish yards. I have found that it works best to keep the scope power on the low end of the variable scale. That gets me most light and field of view, which of course is obvious but is also what I ignored a couple of times. I haven't gone the 12 volt route yet. I put the battery on a string loop that I put around my neck, but the battery is heavy and two of them seems a bit much. From critter watching, I'll say that possums, skunks, raccoons and hogs don't get too worried when the light hits them. Deer run like crazy. Haven't had a coyote in the light yet, so I don't know how that's going to go.
 
The light is brighter by a considerable margin, I supect the batteries won't last as long. I only have it on for a few minutes anyhow. The only real draw back is an extra battery in the pocket...I'm big so, the weight gain is negligible to me.
 
I think y'all might be surprised by what is available that isn't so big.

One of these lights...
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/unique...lumen-led-flashlight-black-1-aa-1-14500-30987

running on one of these batteries...
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/ultraf...ted-li-ion-rechargeable-batteries-2-pack-6240

...and a mount something like this (and there are all sorts of variants)
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/qq06-aluminum-alloy-gun-laser-mount-with-hex-wrench-33818

And you should be good to go for less than $35 including the charger for the batteries. http://www.dealextreme.com/p/trustfire-tr-001-multi-purpose-lithium-battery-charger-12594

It works well enough for me to ID a raccoon at 110 yards without a scope, plus is very lightweight.

(talked with landowner who said distance from stand to feeder was 110 yards, now he wants to know why I didn't shoot the coon.)
 
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Anyone got any hints where I can find a 4" red or green lens to cover my big white-beam 6 volt? I don't want to have to buy another light, If I can find a way to "color" the one I have now !
al
 
This pig war sounds like something I would like to be conscripted into. I have seen various posts recently as well as a new reality show called Hog Wild. Where is this pig mayhem located? are they wild boar or just domesticated pigs running wild? It does sound fun though.
 
Technically, they are all the same species, just phenotypic variants of a single genotype. So it really doesn't matter if they are escaped domestics (though defined by some states as feral once they are loose), domestics born in the wild and not been penned (feral), or Russians (AKA wild hogs).

Keep in mind that "wild hogs" or "Russians" from Europe are the base stock of our non-Asian domestic hogs.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=572323&page=2&highlight=phenotype
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=527289&highlight=phenotype

There is no actual mayhem yet, but there is a goodly amount of damage. They are hyping a problem, one that is growing, but they are blowing it out of proportion for how things are right now.

The only things really controlling the hogs is the environment and given how adaptive that they are, if they have access to fresh water and food, they have the ability to survive and to continue to expand their current range.
 
ok what about just using a regular high powered light and mounting it to the scope. I have kind of been looking into this new stream light led with the c4 technology. I think i have found what i want for my coyote set up but what about mounting a regular light to the scope on a 22 for coon hunting?
 
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