For those hunters who use NV, I thought I'd post this video of a big male (40 lbs.) I killed last night 4/23/24. I shot him at 100 yds. with my AR-15 in 223. This rig has a 16" barrel and a Banish 30 suppressor. I'm shooting 50 gr. V-max at 3,225 fps. You will notice that I have very little IR whiteout (photonic barrier) using this suppressor. I have an IR light which shines on the bait pile from the back of my shop, but you can tell when I turn the IR on the rifle on. It is the same one that came with the Wraith 4k mini and it is set on the lowest power and I'm running it on a 16650 battery. The picture was a bit grainy because I bumped the power up to 6x. Any questions please feel free to ask.

Nice shooting and a really nice image especially with factory IR. Good to see one off your bait pile again.

It has been a strange year.  I average over the past 13 years about 15 per season on the bait pile.  This is the first one since last June.  The picture would have been much better if I had not zoomed in to 6x.  I could have made the kill with the 2x native power.

I saw this scope somewhere in the last month for $475 and kicked back and forth the idea to buy it but I don't know squat about this NV scope or any other NV scope so I ask, is this scope worth $475? The scope would be put on a Bushmaster Predator with a 20" barrel if that matters
My youngest son would probably use the scope the most to hunt coyotes maybe two to three times per week from late October to mid March, maybe year round now since he shot a good sized female last week after she came bursting out of the brush to make a meal out of the the strutting Jake and hen turkey that the Jake was trying to impress.

My son wasn't going to shoot the Jake but his shotgun was at the ready in case a Tom came out and my son said that 10 to 15 seconds after he took about 10 seconds of video of the Jake and hen he stopped recording, put his phone down and 10 to 15 seconds after putting his phone down he said total chaos began with the female coyote only succeeding in pulling a feather loose from one of the turkeys as the turkeys took to the air and made their escape with the female coyote taking a full load from a 3" 12 gauge shell for her troubles

This event above has convinced my son that the coyotes are much worse at killing wildlife than the Ohio DNR wants us to believe and he now wants to put a dent, a small dent but still a dent in the local coyote population

$475 is good for the mini 4K. Night Goggles has the Wraith HD 2-16 on sale for $400, and we have the 4K max for $600. The 4K max is the better deal on the Night Goggles site, and to me the best scope in their lineup. It starts at 3x base mage, so not the best solution if shooting most coyotes in close-range, but a good performer. If shooting short-range, I would look at the 2x version of either the HD or the 4K.

The biggest need to be successful at nighttime coyote (if calling coyotes) is a thermal scanner. If a person uses a red light, digital NV, analog NV, or thermal to shoot is the secondary question. You can't shoot what you can't see. If your son is hunting 3 times a week at night, he is going to need a thermal scanner. Here is what will happen if the shooting solution is anything besides thermal. Your son will quickly complain that he can see the coyotes coming with the scanner, but he will soon say he needs thermal to shoot with. It is inevitable. I do not work in sales, but I am just letting you know, it will happen. I realize thermal technology is expensive, but for how much your son is doing this, I would recommend taking the leap and going to thermal for the scanner and scope, right away. I would not spend a lot a money on night vision unless you go with a cheaper option because eventually it may not be used. I actually use the Sightmark Wraith's mainly for daytime coyote filming as they yield a good, recorded image. Once nighttime comes, I switch to a thermal scanner and scope. In Double Up's video, the video looks very good. He is using multiple IR source, and the coyote is coming to a bait pile at fairly close range. This is an example where digital NV works very well.

I will agree with everything Korey has said.  If the NV (in my case Wraith mini) is going on a bolt-action you may want to choose the bigger 4k Max, but if going on an AR, the mini is small and works great.  When going calling, I use thermal to shoot (Bering Optics Super Yoter 640 50mm).  Nothing beats thermal for shooting and is an absolute necessity for scanning.  He will need a handheld thermal scanner of some type.  I could use the Wraith mini for shooting when calling, but it is so much easier to locate the coyote with thermal, and in the event of multiples, the thermal will have you on them immediately.  

With that said, the Wraith mini is a great scope at an excellent price.  I've used mine to take several deer during daytime and it allows you to shoot until legal time expires without using the IR lighting.  With the included IR, the Wraith mini is capable to 150 yds at night.  A more expensive IR will give you more range.  If you do purchase the Wraith, I'd advise to turn the IR on when the stand begins and not wait until the coyote shows up.  The sooner he can get the IR light on the coyote at distance the more acclimated it will be to the small glow at the rifle.  They can't see the IR beam, but they can see the red glow at the IR lens.  

Here is a video of a coyote I shot on Friday night using only the IR light on minimum power that is included with the Wraith mini.  My big IR light that I have on the back of my shop was off in this video, so the only light was from the IR mounted on my rifle.  Range was 100 yds.

Well done once again.

Nice shot, again . What's in your bait pile?

A neighbor/friend raises sheep. We set dead lambs and the occasional coon out but have never had much luck with them. Buzzards pick 'em clean so fast.

Right now, I'm only using fried chicken scraps that a local restaurant saves for me from their one day a week "fried chicken all you can eat lunch buffet."  During the winter, I use roadkill deer in the field behind me at 200 yds. distance.  The deer won't hold up during warm or hot weather as the maggots get them pretty soon.  I put out enough chicken scraps out every day to last the night.  Crows and buzzards finish off any remaining pieces at daylight.