I really got (back) into air-gunning as a result of my yard being taken over by rats and chipmunks! They have destroyed my courtyard and front walkway.
I've gone through a few PCP airguns before landing on the EDgun Leshiy as my primary airgun. The constant with all of them before the Leshiy was the ATN X-sight on top and a few different IR lights supporting it.
I started with the x-sight II HD, and it was at the time the perfect solution for me. While I think it's a great entry level NV scope, it certainly had it's issues... for me it was the need for an external battery, eye relief (it was basically nothing), and the zoom buttons took way longer to get on target than I often had time for with rats! My upgrade to the ATN X-Sight 4K Pro would have to wait until it came out though!
I paired it with a few different IR gun lights, and as with the battery, they just seemed to be too bulky for the Leshiy. I was searching Amazon one day, and found that pistol gun lights might be the better choice. I ended up with the Streamlight TLR-1 IR, show above.
My night kit though goes well beyond what's on the EDgun Leshiy. I fully embrace every piece of technology I can to give me the upper hand. One of my biggest weapons in this battle is Outdoor night vision cameras and IR spot lights. I use the Nest IQ (4K) Outdoor cameras. They are expensive, but the image quality (very much needed to pickup rats) is leaps and bounds above the previous versions. You can also opt for other cameras, or even the older Outdoor HD model (which is basically 50% less!)
The secret to Night Vision though is the IR. You can go from grainy to perfectly clear when you turn an IR on and off. The issue with these lights is they all mostly use an expense CR123a battery... and you rip through them. I stumbled across a more permanent solution, and the results were nothing short of amazing. It not only made the security camera perfectly clear, it did the same for the scope!
I use my iPad or Phone with the Nest app. I setup zones with each camera, and when it detects an object moving, it throws an alert on my phone, along with an image of what it captured. This makes catching the very skittish rats a lot easier! It also lets me keep the scope on area, and keep an eye out on the other hot spots.
So the final upgrade was the ATN X-Sight 4K Pro 3-14x! This is a very big upgrade from the HD II series... including: a dedicated zoom wheel, internal 18hr battery, 4K sensor, 30mm rings, and eye relief... to name just a few. I've struggled a bit being an early adopter, but the firmware updates are starting to roll in, and it's been a true pleasure to use. If you're looking for the perfect day/night hunting scope... then look now further!
Head on over to the YouTube Channel to see full footage, but here's a highlight reel of seeing my full night vision, backyard pesting setup!