Yukon Digital Ranger + LEDRay Scopelight Combo

[C3PO_1]

My new night-hunting combination arrived morning after ordering from two seperate stores yesterday: first off many thanks Royal Mail for their efficient service. It's winter and my interest in night hunting has been re-energised. After reading various threads on this highly-knowledgeable forum, I wanted a more traditional combination for rats and rabbits.

My previous NV units have been with, in order, the Deben Atom Pro lamp, the Yukon NVRS-F dedicated scope; the Cobra Merlin Gen 1 scope attachment and the SM-3S2 HyperGen dedicated scope. All units were sold after a while, once I got bored with hunting at night, but I have acquired a bit of experience here and there and enough to make good judgements for comparison purposes.

This year I have plumped for a different approach to traditional night-hunting with the Yukon Digital Ranger (£280) and the LEDRay scope-mounted torch (£60). Much has been written about these units so I have decided to give them a try. I'll start with the torch.

LEDRay Scope-Mounted Torch

These LEDray gunlights from Deben are relatively new to the market and offer scope-mounted traditional illumination without the need for a heavy battery attached to the waist. LED power has transformed torch technology and this little unit has much to impress. I bought the version which uses 2 CR123A batteries which a claimed 130 lumens to 90 metres (we'll see about that range in a sec). As I approach my 40th birthday, tonight I still had that sense of excitement I had when I was aged 7 and given an electronic TV game for Christmas. Sad, but true.

Got the unit out of its box at feverish pace and was immediately hit with a sense of disappointment. I specifically ordered the "red" light version and what was before me was the unit with no red-coloured enclosed lens at all. "Bloody hell, how clear do I have to make it!" I irritatingly thought. As I worked out the mechanism to get it back to them and get a new one sent out as quickly as possible, I gave the "white" unit a try. Supplied batteries in and the switch turned on: FANSTASTIC -- IT IS RED AFTER ALL! The Red light is generated from the "bulb", not a coloured lens filter. And what's more, it's bright.

Popped it outside in the garden and the red light penetrated well to 35 yards, 40 at a stretch. Beyond that, it would be difficult to see clearly through the scope so 40 yards is maximum usable range I'd say. Still, good, for 12ft/lbs and red is less likely to spook quarry.

The unit comes equipped with a mounting bracket: simple, well made and functional. Will fit to the scope later. Also included is a second switch unit to allow remote on/off wired function. Otherwise you simply use the standard on/off switch on the back of the standard rear unit of the torch. Overall, very pleased.

Yukon Digital NV Monocular

You can tell an established and customer-focused company immediately by the quality and ease of use of instructions. The Yukon comes out tops with a simple, wrap-around piece of paper with marked instructions on the unit itself, instantly giving the user information about operating buttons. Supplied is a small manual too but I didn't need to read it fully to operate it. A minus point is that the unit does not come supplied with batteries. But, the unit does allow you to run it off the mains so at least I could try it out.

Bearing in mind my last NV unit was the HyperGen dedicated scope, this unit has a lot to live up to. Switching it on, the electionic screen was something very different to what I has been used to. Grey speckles filled the screen until I switched on the IR beam and immediately got "white out". I eventually turned down the brightness and focused the image. At x5 magnification it takes some getting used to but works surprisingly well. Definition is not as good as the HG scope, but you'd not expect it to be. I'd say it was 60% of the quality of the HG tube (a scope which cost £2k). However the Digital Ranger is perfectly good to see rabbits out to 60 yards with the onboard IR unit and well beyond with additional IR illumination, such as laser.

The true test of the units is not in isolation but combined use of course, and over the coming week I shall be testing both in the field. However, preliminary use has left me pleasantly surprised and looking forward to make use of this relatively cheap night hunting rig.