Coyote hunting with thermals doesn’t have to cost you a second mortgage. Here’s how we put together a night-hunting rig that gets the job done without emptying the bank account — and the story of the first coyote it put down.
The Setup
The wind was dead calm, temperatures hovering in the low twenties. Perfect conditions for calling predators. We set up on a ridge overlooking a wide-open hay meadow — the kind of spot coyotes cruise through after dark looking for mice and rabbits.
The Gear
Here’s what we were running:
- Helmet: ActionUnion tactical helmet — solid mount platform without the $500+ price tag of military-spec options
- Thermal Monocular: Armasight Sidekick 320 — clips onto the helmet for hands-free scanning. The 320 resolution is more than enough to pick up coyotes at several hundred yards
- Tripod: BOG DeathGrip — rock-solid shooting platform that lets you stay on target without fatigue
- Rifle: Ruger American Gen II in .22 ARC — flat-shooting, minimal recoil, and deadly accurate on predator-sized game
- Suppressor: Rugged — keeps the noise down so you don’t blow up the whole area after one shot
- Caller: ICOtec electronic caller — set it out 100 yards downwind and let it do the work
- Thermal Scope: AGM Rattler TS25-256 — affordable thermal optic that punches way above its price point
The Hunt
We got the caller going with a cottontail distress sequence. Within fifteen minutes, a shape materialized on the thermal — trotting in from the east, nose into the wind, locked onto the sound.
The coyote committed hard, closing the distance fast. At 100 yards it paused broadside, and through the AGM Rattler the heat signature was unmistakable. One squeeze of the trigger from the .22 ARC and the coyote dropped where it stood.
No drama. No lost animal. Just a clean, efficient predator hunt made possible by gear that didn’t require a trust fund to acquire.
The Bottom Line
You don’t need $10,000 worth of night-vision and thermal equipment to be effective after dark. Smart choices on mid-tier thermals, a solid shooting platform, and a flat-shooting suppressed rifle will put fur on the ground. The coyotes don’t know how much you spent — they just know they shouldn’t have come to the call.
