By Charlie Benton
“Get ready to shoot that big bastard again. Sounds like he’s about to charge us,” Mike called over as we both scanned the densely wooded, pitch-black gully into which the whole passel scampered after our shots.
“I’ve never heard a boar growl like that. Have you?” I asked.
“I’ve never heard a boar growl at all,” Mike said.
It’s pretty much impossible to have anything less than a great time on a pig hunt when pigs are present. Parts of Europe restrict hunters to only shooting certain weight classes of wild boar based on their sex. However, here in America, there’s essentially a free-for-all—and with good reason: pigs are extremely destructive, reproduce year-round, and, while rare, the chance of one attacking you with their razor-sharp cutters is never zero.
Mike’s invitation to hunt pigs on his lease in South Georgia gave me the opportunity to try out my new Armasight Jockey 640 Compact Thermal Clip-On. One of the biggest advantages to using a clip-on thermal as opposed to a thermal scope is the fact that it’s made to quickly clip on to your daytime rig, directly in front of your existing optic, and run at night without any other adjustments necessary—no more swapping out scopes and re-zeroing or having to outfit one rifle for daytime hunting and another for night hunting. When daylight comes, simply unclip the thermal and keep running your rifle, again, without any further adjustments.
On the Hunt
I killed a nice mottled boar the first night and had already put down a solid black boar early the second night when we heard a large sounder through the woods. We crept around a bend that fed into a small, rolling hillside surrounded by thick pines and hardwoods. By the time we got into a decent shooting position, most of the pigs had fed down the hill and out of sight, but the biggest boar in the group was still visible enough for a decent shot. Mike and I counted down and fired simultaneously. Pigs ran everywhere. Mike dropped a smaller one that broke from the group and ran and stopped at the far edge of the field. The big boar and the rest of the passel charged down into a draw thick with trees. Then the growling started—and it was close. We both felt good about our shots, so we figured he may be in the throes of death, but he didn’t sound wounded—he sounded pissed.
Mike and I swept our thermals across the woodline, certain we’d see a heat signature barrelling towards us, but we didn’t. After a few tense minutes—and with feral grins—we pressed forward, just inside the woods. A hot-white flash appeared around the side of a tree 30 yards below. I quickly aimed and fired. No squeal. No more growling, either.
A minute of silence followed, and we made our way down through thick briars and undergrowth. I smelled him before I saw him. Standing over the lifeless hog, he didn’t look as big as he did when Mike and I took our first shots. Leaning down and examining him, I figured out why he looked smaller—he was a totally different boar. The only wound on this guy was a headshot. So where was the giant porker we’d shot together? Despite a good search that night and a thorough search with a dog the next day, we never found him. Weird.
Armasight Jockey Features
I’m pretty comfortable with using the Jockey after that pig hunt and some time in the woods around my house. This American-made thermal easily attaches and detaches to a pic rail via an included quick-detach mount and is designed to work best with scopes dialed down to under 5x magnification. Three buttons along the top control the functions of the unit, from power to accessing on-screen menus for image adjustments, on-board recording, zoom, and color palette selection (white hot, black hot, multi-colored, target-hot-orange, and sepia). Maybe my eyes are just giving out, but I did find myself struggling to read the menu options on screen due to the small font. As hunters aren’t typically using the screen to make adjustments via the menu while actively shooting, it seems like the font size could be increased without sacrificing performance. I was, however, satisfied with the overall image quality, and no trouble identifying and acquiring targets.
Another useful feature the Jockey gives you is the option of using your existing scope’s reticle or, with a click of a button, supplementing with their built-in illuminated reticle in the event that your daytime scope’s reticle isn’t illuminated. As far as added weight, with batteries installed and the pic rail mount attached, the entire unit only weighs 18 ounces, which I found to be impressively minimal. The Jockey is also capable of recording video and taking still photos.
Final note: While thermal optics are primarily used for night hunting, I’ve become a big fan of tossing a clip-on in my pack on evening hunts to help recover animals killed near last light. They’re easy to hold and operate with one hand and perfect for showing the glow of downed game in the dark, whether you’re looking in a field, a hillside, or the woods. Some commie states heavily restrict the use of thermals, so read up before heading out.
Cost: $3,499.
Pros: American-made, quickly attaches/detaches to your existing daytime hunting rig, good image quality, easy to operate, lightweight.
Cons: Font size on screen is pretty small.
