Hog spotter - Pulsar Recon 550 4x50mm Digital Night Vision Scope

I just got back from a TX hog hunt. The 550 worked much better than expected. We put two guys in a blind, one with the 550 and the other with a rifle with a night scope. The spotter acquires targets and holds then in the IR beam, making it super easy for the shooter to find the hog in his scope. We used the 550 out to ranges of 100 yds or so and it worked very well. The four AA batteries were still going strong after 3 nights of hunting. The IR beam is very bright. We also used it to spot and stalk with close to zero ambient light and had success.

The FOV is small but the unit is small and light so it's easy to scan a large area quickly. If you're just watching a feeder, the FOV is plenty without moving it around. The buttons are simple to operate in the dark. The on/off and IR buttons are the only ones we used. The feature that changes the display color was not especially useful.

This is a very handy little spotter for the money. It is good enough to ID targets at range, small enough to carry in your pocket and saves having to shoulder your weapon every few minutes to scan for hogs. The battery life is good enough for three nights of hunting at least, which is good because the batteries would be a serious pain to change at night in a blind. The battery compartment is difficult to open and it's not easy to get the batteries in correctly. Other than that, I have no complaints whatsoever.