Revamped my predator setup this year

[WNYBuckHunter]

Ive been wanting to upgrade my predator hunting gear for a while now, and this year I finally pulled the trigger. Right now Im using my Remington 700 VTR in 308, later this year Ill be putting together something different, probably in 22-250 or 223. A couple of weeks ago I picked up some good thin snow camo pants and jacket that go over my heavy clothes, which is alot better than wrapping myself in a white sheet or using Predator Fall Grey like I had been. I also picked up a Primos Alpha Dogg caller, which I like alot more than my old Flextone call. Not that the Flextone didnt work, I just wanted something with more options for custom calls, etc. Lastly I got a smoking deal on a light kit for night hunting. I got the Wicked Lights w403-ic for my kill light and their ScanPro-ic headlamp for scanning duty. This combo should be so much better than trying to use my handheld light, especially when Im by myself. Im hoping the lights will be here this week so that I can get out for a couple of hunts this weekend.

[chas0218]

I have heard nothing but good things about the wicked lights. My father also has the vtr in .308 and is quite the shooter. If I were building a varmit/predator platform gun I would be going with the 22-250 and a Tikka T3. I think Tikka makes a varmit gun in 22-250 if I'm not mistaken, might be worth looking into. Either way I'm looking forward to what you decide.

[grampy]

26 minutes ago, WNYBuckHunter said:

Ive been wanting to upgrade my predator hunting gear for a while now, and this year I finally pulled the trigger. Right now Im using my Remington 700 VTR in 308, later this year Ill be putting together something different, probably in 22-250 or 223. A couple of weeks ago I picked up some good thin snow camo pants and jacket that go over my heavy clothes, which is alot better than wrapping myself in a white sheet or using Predator Fall Grey like I had been. I also picked up a Primos Alpha Dogg caller, which I like alot more than my old Flextone call. Not that the Flextone didnt work, I just wanted something with more options for custom calls, etc. Lastly I got a smoking deal on a light kit for night hunting. I got the Wicked Lights w403-ic for my kill light and their ScanPro-ic headlamp for scanning duty. This combo should be so much better than trying to use my handheld light, especially when Im by myself. Im hoping the lights will be here this week so that I can get out for a couple of hunts this weekend.

Let me know how you like the Wicked Lights. I may have to order a set. Got a small hand held and looking to upgrade too. Good luck out there with the yotes!!

[WNYBuckHunter]

38 minutes ago, chas0218 said:

I have heard nothing but good things about the wicked lights. My father also has the vtr in .308 and is quite the shooter. If I were building a varmit/predator platform gun I would be going with the 22-250 and a Tikka T3. I think Tikka makes a varmit gun in 22-250 if I'm not mistaken, might be worth looking into. Either way I'm looking forward to what you decide.

The new rig will be a flat top AR with a medium profile barrel that I build myself. Safe Act compliant of course. Id rather have a couple of fast follow up shots available if I need them. My 308 is one hell of a shooter, it just puts a big hole in them. Id like to start tanning and keeping my hides.

[WNYBuckHunter]

32 minutes ago, grampy said:

Let me know how you like the Wicked Lights. I may have to order a set. Got a small hand held and looking to upgrade too. Good luck out there with the yotes!!

Thanks! Will do. Ill do a quick run down of them on here when they come in. Ill point you in the right direction if you decide to get them.

[stoneam2006]

The new rig will be a flat top AR with a medium profile barrel that I build myself. Safe Act compliant of course. Id rather have a couple of fast follow up shots available if I need them. My 308 is one hell of a shooter, it just puts a big hole in them. Id like to start tanning and keeping my hides.

Are you going to tan yourself or send out.

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[WNYBuckHunter]

Probably learn to tan myself.

[stoneam2006]

Probably learn to tan myself.

Sweet keep us updated on that too if you would. Something I'd like to learn eventually

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[WNYBuckHunter]

The UPS guy stopped at my place yesterday and dropped off my Wicked Lights set. I got it all rigged up on my rifle and lined the gun light up with my scope. I have to say, this setup is super nice now. I can see my crosshairs way better than I was able to with my hand held spotlight, and at full magnification on my scope and the light intensity at its max, I can see every little blade of grass at 200 yards, and would be able to ID an animal at 250 to 300 yards with no problem at all. I wouldnt shoot that far at night, but 100 to 150 yards will be no sweat. The scanning headlamp is great as well, very adjustable, light weight and comfortable.The best thing about the lights is they each have a rheostat switch, which allows you to dim them. Not just a couple of high/low settings, but fully dimable. The only complaint I have is the gun light mount. It has windage and elevation adjustment knobs on it, but no type of set screw or anything, so when you focus the light, it moves a bit, which takes the center of the beam out of the center of your scope. Im going to look for a different mount for it at some point to get rid of that issue. Overall though, its a sweet setup. Ill get some pics of the light output tonight when I go hunting.

 

[grampy]

Wow! That looks like a real sweet set up! Come back and give us a review after the first hunt. You got it going for song dogs now!

[rachunter]

Nice set up what color light are you running off the scope?

[chas0218]

What do each use for batteries? Are they the CR123 lithiums?

 

Sorry forgot to mention nice setup!

Edited January 20, 2017 by chas0218

[WNYBuckHunter]

Thanks guys, Ill definitely have some more pics and a bit more of a write up after this weekend. Hopefully Ill have a dog or two on the ground as well.

Im running red lights, but you can get different modules for these and switch them to green or white depending on what you want.

They use the 18650 lithium batteries. There is an extension tube I can get for the gun light to put 2 of the batteries in it, but Id rather not have the extra weight. They sent an extra battery with the set, so I can just keep a spare in the truck and swap it out if the other one runs out.

[PREDATE]

You could shim the light slightly with felt or something. That's what I had to do, although my light is a fixed beam.

[Five Seasons]

hard to tell, how is that mounted to your scope?

[Steve D]

38 minutes ago, WNYBuckHunter said:

The only complaint I have is the gun light mount. It has windage and elevation adjustment knobs on it, but no type of set screw or anything, so when you focus the light, it moves a bit, which takes the center of the beam out of the center of your scope. Im going to look for a different mount for it at some point to

These have been working out pretty good for me. You can slide them left or right to line up the scope pretty easily.

 

[WNYBuckHunter]

10 minutes ago, PREDATE said:

You could shim the light slightly with felt or something. That's what I had to do, although my light is a fixed beam.

Yeah Ill play around with it a bit.

[WNYBuckHunter]

9 minutes ago, Belo said:

hard to tell, how is that mounted to your scope?

Its a 2 piece mount. Theres a small picatinny rail that mounts on the scope tube, then the light mount attaches to that. Heres a pic that shows it better.

[chas0218]

What about this? Granted not adjustable but seems like a little less cumbersome. Might not need to be adjustable as close as it gets the light to the gun.

https://elusivewildlife.com/shop/hunting-lights/light-mounts/kill-light-scopemount-25mm-or-30mm-black.html

[WNYBuckHunter]

I was looking at something like this. I really do like the windage and elevation adjustments in case I use it for different rifles. I just want it to lock into place once its adjusted so there isnt any play in the mount.

 

https://elusivewildlife.com/shop/hunting-lights/light-mounts/kill-lightr-hd-elite-locking-windage-elevation-mount.html

[Five Seasons]

thanks that helps. I might do something like this next year if I decide to get into the yote business. Any concerns with tightening that on your optic? what did the setup set you back?

[Culvercreek hunt club]

25 minutes ago, Belo said:

Any concerns with tightening that on your optic? 

no different really than tightening up the rings on the mounts. I am sure there are torque values, but I am sure are like me and use the "feel" method" lol

[WNYBuckHunter]

28 minutes ago, Belo said:

thanks that helps. I might do something like this next year if I decide to get into the yote business. Any concerns with tightening that on your optic? what did the setup set you back?

Youre welcome. Like Culver said, just like a set of rings. Price wise, it was under $275 shipped for the whole setup. It comes with a hard side case, 4 place charger with cords for home or your car and a few other tid bits. I really tried to beat that price on a comparable setup but couldnt.

[TreeGuy]

Def looks like a useable rig !! Now to get some fur in the crosshairs!!!

Sidebar. Are you planning on upgrading scope anytime soon ? I went with a 3-12x56 and can tell you it's literally night and day with being able to identify past 150 now. My old 4-16x40 was nice but the new optics is hands down the best investment I've made on my setup. If I had thermal money I would have got that but I have too many new toys to justify it now...

[WNYBuckHunter]

On 1/20/2017 at 9:14 PM, TreeGuy said:

Def looks like a useable rig !! Now to get some fur in the crosshairs!!!

Sidebar. Are you planning on upgrading scope anytime soon ? I went with a 3-12x56 and can tell you it's literally night and day with being able to identify past 150 now. My old 4-16x40 was nice but the new optics is hands down the best investment I've made on my setup. If I had thermal money I would have got that but I have too many new toys to justify it now...

Nope. Scope stays the same on this gun. I saw your posts over on the predator forum. I replied to you about the Crossfire II. With this scope I can see a long way at night. The higher end glass like the Viper line does better at light collection so you don't need a larger diameter. The scope you have will most likely be what I put on my AR build though. Unless I go with a night vision scope. Not sure on that yet. Thermal is really nice but too much for me to lay out for a good setup. You're talking 5k plus. I can get an IR setup for less than a grand. I'll probably stick with conventional optics. My insides hurt a bit for what I've spent on predator stuff this year lol.