It was a night of firsts for me. First time hunting with a suppressor. First time shooting/hunting with thermal. First time hunting off sticks. First hog down.
I definitely had a problem getting on target with the thermal once I started using it in the dark. The problem was my inexperience compounded by my own issues getting the scope properly focused--also an issue of inexperience.
DNS went to a lot of effort to make this hunt work out and provided the equipment as well opportunity for me to learn how to use it prior to dark. I thought I was good to go after accurately putting a couple of rounds on target in daylight, but my lack of experience with thermal left me unable to accurately assess my competence until I was on the spot in the dark and trying to find the hog in the scope.
Fortunately the hog seemed pre-occupied with the local vegetation and that provided time enough to get on target. It got a little tense for awhile during the time I scanned around, finding a rabbit and a lot of monochrome scenery, but no hog.
Many thanks to DNS for the work he put in providing a memorable experience!