How to Choose a Thermal for Foxes
Foxes ask a lot of a thermal. They're small, they sit low to the ground, and you're usually shooting them further out. Deer and pigs are easy by comparison: big heat signatures, and normally closer in. With foxes, the biggest thing is matching your base magnification to how far you shoot.
Scopes
- Get a 50Hz sensor. A 25Hz won't do the job. Foxes move too quick and a 25Hz refresh can't keep up.
- We prefer a 384 sensor. It has more base magnification than the equivalent 640. By equivalent we mean the same focal length and the same micron (µm) size. In that case a 384 has roughly 50% more base magnification than the 640.
- Under 150 metres: a 384 scope with 3x magnification will do it.
- Under 200 metres: a 640 with a 12 micron sensor at around 2.8x works, because you'll get some usable digital zoom out of it. Avoid the 2x or 2.5x 17 micron scopes at this distance. A 384 here shouldn't be under 3.5x.
- Over 200 metres: go a 384 with at least 4x.
Monoculars
To spot foxes out past 300 metres, look for a 35mm lens or bigger. Under 300 metres, 25mm is enough. That gets you good detection distance without giving up too much field of view.
The smaller the lens, the wider the view and the less magnification you get. Foxes are small and low to the ground, so anything under 2.5x in a monocular makes them hard to detect and identify further out.
Need a hand?
Tell us how far you normally shoot and what country you're in, and we'll help you pick the right setup. More reading: Best thermal setup for fox hunting · 25Hz vs 50Hz explained · Thermal scopes · Thermal monoculars.