I am but I'm very early in the assessment which will happen over the next 30-60 days. Keep in mind these are designed for rifles although this scope seems to have the software that will adapt to crossbows

I have the ATN XSight 4K Pro which is day and night capable, an IR based design although thermal is available. It has a zoom function, it's a smart scope (ballistics capable) with excellent picture and video capability and can do blue tooth device streaming. Ultimately the ABL feature for one-button ranging capability which is really a fantastic function.

My initial impression is good with very good potential. The critique I would offer is that this is a software based product which requires updates and the form factor is large compared to traditional crossbow scopes.

There are quite a few reviews. This one is a good intro.

 

Thanks Tx, great looking setup. Hope it works out for you, looking forward to hearing your review. Can you tell me about your front mount?

 

The front scope mount is the standard piece that comes with the scope package. These IR scopes need illumination to work best and that mount gives you two side positions to mount an IR illuminator.

My plan is to be close to my game at night when the illuminator is needed and I'll be hunting from a ground blind with a small shooting window. In a close range situation I won't need the amount of illumination the typical rifle shooter does for shots 50 yards to 200, so I have shelved the high power illuminator a have small "pencile" illuminator. I also changed the side mount to a top mount which I think will work better in my ground blind. Hope to get some testing done next week.

 

Copy, thanks.

 

I swapped the Marksman for the 4K Pro. It's upped the bow weight 1.2 lbs to 12.2 lbs. The good news is it will sit in a field pod while I hunt.

A software upgrade needs to be done then I'll zero it for 25 yards. I'll work on the ballistic settings and the ABL add-on at some point.

 

Very nice looking rig but that would be like Hunting with a heavy barrel rifle I bet. I had a Nitro X with a regular scope & HHA & it was heavy.

 

Must be very expensive?

 

It's not so bad if you are hunting from a fixed location. I'm in a ground blind, ladder stand or climber stand hunting deer and hogs and the biggest challenge is pulling it up the rope after I'm in my stand. And that just making sure it doesn't bump into anything that could do damage.

After I'm sitting in a tree stand it's either in my lap resting on a shooting rail or hanging from a hook. In the ground blind it's on a tripod. Even holding it free hand because of the RDX bow weight distribution, it's not bad at all.

Cost is really pretty reasonable. More expensive than a traditional crossbow scope but about 1/3 the price of a comparable thermal smart scope. Pictures and video automatically taken on the pull of the trigger in HD quality, automatic ranging capability at the press of one button, impressively long battery life at 18 hours, live image sharing via wifi or bluetooth, capable of having multiple weapon profiles. It's a pretty slick device.

 

I’m really wanting to know specifically when you use it from a ground blind, do the screens have to be removed, or will the Illuminator function through the screens?

 

I use the ATN Thor Thermal 1.2 power on my 390 Solution. I find it ok at night , buy daylight not so much. I would suggest to go with the 2 or 3 power optical .
The digital zoom on these cheaper models sucks. Mine cost around $2k. To get something with a 2 or 3 power your looking at 3 or 4 k.
I do like that it will record your shot. Keep in mind ATN is the bottom of the barrel. There are better company's buy way more $$$.

 

They have a storied and tried history for sure but you might try some of their newer products.

3X digital magnification at 35 yards

12X digital magnification at 35 yards

 

Here's my ATN with Vortex Red Dot

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

I'll test that but I'm in a Primos blind and this model doesn't have shoot through screens, so the test may not be conclusive. My guess is no, they won't work the same but may still have some affect. I'm just not geeky enough to know if or how much of the IR wavelength gets disturbed with an opaque screen. I'm sure there is a transmissivity chart on it somewhere.

 

It's the 4K Pro 3-14X IR. A $685-$700 scope. I'd love to have the Thor 4 thermal but now your talking $2K-3K depending on magnification.

 

The IR gives a better picture for sure, but animals can see it unlike a thermal

 

There is a trade off and we'll see how sensitive the pigs are to it. I just zeroed it at 25 yards in day mode. It was previously set at 20 yards and it took three shots to get it dialed in. The zoom capability is interesting. I set it to 7X and was shooting diamond tips on my target pretty easily. Now this is off a rest and at 25 yzrds so close range and nothing magical other than an image size change. Still, it's a nice new option.

I'll check it in a couple hours to see how it looks in the dark.

 

Appears plenty adequate to shoot animals. Was there zero ambient light at the time of your testing? Did you happen to try to sight through the screen on the blind?

 

It was 10:30 with overcast sky so it was dark. I do live in a suburb so it's never what I would call a "pitch black" night. Tonight I had some moonlight and it was better.

I will try a couple illuminators from inside the blind when I get a chance. Maybe next week.

 

Weather was really nice today so after services and a few honey-do's, I zipped over to the ranch for a hog hunt. I got to setup in the SV 270 this evening about 5:30 with the Nitro X and the ATN 4K Pro scope. Hey, no surprise but that's a combo that works!

I hadn't been in the blind 45 minutes and one of the big boars stopped by for a visit. He was pretty aware that an IR light was on and I'm guessing he saw the small red LED in the lamp. At 25 yards he's pretty close and lightning bugs are not happenen this time of year. Unfortunately for him his interest in corn for dinner got the best of him.

 

What was the reaction that made you realize he was aware of an IR light? I thought the whole purpose of IR was that the animals can’t see it?

Nice kill BtW!

 

You are correct, they don't see the light spectrum the illuminator gives off but they can see the red LED inside the unit that creates that light. In this case I'm less than 30 yards from the pig, so he's close.

Every IR unit has a core LED and this pig would see it every time he looked my way. He got nervous at one point and left so I shut the illumintor off and in just a few seconds he was back. I could tell he saw it by cycling it and watching his reaction.

 

I see, thanks for the clarification.

 

This is video from the ATN scope with the very small IR illuminator thats mounted to my scope in the last set of pictures. At 22 yards it was good enough for nice quality images. You will see me shut the illuminator off as the pig is noticing the red LED inside the unit. I turn it back on for a very short time to make the shot.

Remember to shoot pigs low. My shot was about 4" higher than ideal. The skin gets thick on their backs and extends down their side to create a bit of a shield. Low lung/heat shots put these hogs down fast and you will most likely get a complete pass-through.

[video]https://www.dropbox.com/s/9ru4aa104fyaoty/Sandy%20Pig1_012719.MP4?dl=0[/video]

 

Thanks for the video, plenty of light as you said.
I don’t shoot hogs here in NJ so my application would be for Deer under special permits. Just wondering, is it possible it wasn’t the red light the hog was noticing, but possibly a bit of sound/scent/movement from the blind?

 

Believe me, it's the IR. They do sell a different variation of IR that animals can not see..trade off is not as bright..but for 30 yards and under perfect.. I've had many of hogs bust me with a regular IR light

 

Any experience with Deer and the IR?

 

Deer is the worse, then hog, then bear..

 

Go to LoneStar Boar on youtube , he explains it pretty good. I would get the 940 Wavelength, invisible, but doesn't throw out as much light as the 840. But for xbow shooting at 30 yards or under for nighttime shooting it should be perfect.