6 Best Night Vision Scopes for Coyote Hunting in 2023 — Reviews & Top Picks

Last Updated on Jan 03 2023

When you’re raising livestock, coyotes can be the biggest pest around. Complicating matters is the fact that they’re nocturnal, so you’ll seldom see them during the day.

That’s why you need to invest in a night vision scope for coyote hunting. With the right scope, you’ll be able to spot these pesky critters and keep your livestock safe. But night vision scopes are far from cheap, which is why it’s so important to get the right scope the first time.

Luckily for you, we tracked down six of the best night vision scopes for coyote hunting and reviewed them for you here.

A Quick Comparison of Our Favorites

	Image	Product	Details
Best Overall		Sightmark Wraith HD Digital Riflescope	Daytime and nighttime modes Easy to swap AA batteries 10 reticle options	CHECK PRICE
Best Value		Bestsight DIY Digital Night Vision Scope	Affordable Easy to install Uses a 5" screen	CHECK PRICE
Premium Choice		ATN Thermal Rifle Scope	Long-lasting battery life Five different magnification Easy to zero	CHECK PRICE
		theOpticGuru Night Scope	Recoil activated video Long battery life Works both day and night	CHECK PRICE
		Night Owl Optics Night Vision Riflescope	Great value IR mode Three different reticle	CHECK PRICE

The 6 Best Night Vision Scopes for Coyote Hunting — Reviews 2023

1. Sightmark Wraith HD Digital Riflescope — Best Overall

When you’re looking for a top-notch night vision scope loaded with features, it’s hard to beat the Sightmark Wraith HD Digital Riflescope. Not only is it a top-notch night vision scope, but it also has a daytime mode, so you don’t have to worry about accidentally frying your scope during the day.

Moreover, you can record and take photos in high definition, and there are five different weapon profiles that you can cycle through to save yourself from having to re-zero your scope if you change weapons or calibers.

However, keep in mind that this has a second focal plane reticle and a shorter 4.5-hour battery life. The biggest drawback is the smaller field of view, but at this price point, it’s a great deal.

2. Bestsight DIY Digital Night Vision Scope — Best Value

If you’re looking for the best night vision scope for coyote hunting for the money, why not convert your existing scope to a reliable night vision option? That’s precisely what you can do with the Bestsight DIY Digital Night Vision Scope.

It’s incredibly affordable and works with just about any traditional scope, but do keep in mind that you won’t be able to “look” through the scope like a traditional optic. Instead, you’ll have a 5″ screen to look through. While it’s easy to see and use, it can take getting used to.

Finally, you can record and take pictures through this screen, it has a daytime and nighttime mode, and it’s easy to remove from your rifle.

3. ATN Thermal Rifle Scope — Premium Choice

While the ATN Thermal Rifle Scope is undoubtedly more on the expensive side, all the features it comes with make it more than worth it. First, there are five different magnification options to choose from, but more importantly, it uses a thermal night vision design.

This means that it works off heat, which is excellent for hunting coyotes. Even if the animal is hiding in vegetation, it’s going to shine like a beacon. When you’re using thermal, there’s no such thing as camouflage.

Even better, this site has a 10-hour battery life and is extremely easy to zero, making it the optimal choice for hunting. However, keep in mind that it doesn’t have photo or video capabilities, but if you’re serious about hunting coyotes, this isn’t too big of a deal.

4. theOpticGuru Night Scope

An excellent choice for coyote hunting is the theOpticGuru Night Scope. There are two different magnification ranges to choose from, and it has both a daytime and nighttime mode. Even better, it has an 18-hour battery life and allows you to stream and record at the same time.

Furthermore, it utilizes recoil-activated video, so you don’t have to record hours upon hours of video while getting your shot. You don’t have to worry about wasting time to turn on your video or risk missing your shot either!

This scope is a little expensive, but it’s still affordable. It is on the larger side as far as scopes go, so if you’re using a smaller weapon, you might have problems mounting and using this scope.

5. Night Owl Optics Night Vision Riflescope

The Night Owl Optics Night Vision Riflescope is a bit of a mixed bag. While it’s available at an excellent price for what you’re getting, there are plenty of things that Night Owl could improve. For starters, there’s only one magnification level: x3.

From there, the battery life is on the shorter side, lasting anywhere from 4 to 7 hours when you’re using IR, and you have to remove the entire scope to replace the batteries! Finally, this scope can’t handle rounds with more than a 30 caliber.

But this scope does have an IR mode and two different reticle styles and colors. Overall, it’s a decent scope for the price.

6. Sniper Night Vision Scope

While “Sniper” might be in the name of this scope, it’s much better suited for video recording instead of shooting. That’s because this scope struggles to hold zero after recoil, which means you’ll have a hard time hitting your target.

Moreover, while it’s rated for a 300-yard range, after 150 yards, the video starts to get a little grainy, until it’s borderline unusable at 300 yards. It does have both a daytime and nighttime mode, though, and it records in 1080p HD. In the end, this isn’t an excellent scope for hunting coyotes, but it is an outstanding scope for spotting them!

Buyer’s Guide: Picking the Best Night Vision Scope for Coyote Hunting

Whether you’ve never purchased a night vision scope before or just want more information, you’ve come to the right place. We know that you’re bound to have a few questions, so we created this comprehensive buyer’s guide to walk you through everything that you need to know.

How to Sight in a Night Vision Scope/Thermal Scope

Just because it’s a night vision scope doesn’t mean that you can skip zeroing it in, but it can be a little tricky if you don’t know what you’re doing.

With these scopes, you have a few options. First, most have a daytime mode, which means you can sight them in during the day when everything is easy to see and then use them at night without any problems.

But if your scope doesn’t have a daytime mode or you just want more of a challenge, you can certainly sight them in at night.

The easiest way to sight in a traditional night vision scope is to place a piece of reflective tape on the center of your target. The reflective tape will shine under night vision, giving you a clear target to aim at.

If you’re using thermal, like the ATN Thermal Rifle Scope, reflective tape will not do the trick. Instead, get a few hand warmers, activate them, and tape them to your target. Since they’re generating heat, they’ll shine under thermal vision, giving you a clear target to aim at.

Mounting Your New Scope

You might have found the perfect scope for your weapon, but if you can’t mount it to your rifle, then you’re out of luck. Besides the Bestsight DIY Digital Night Vision Scope, every scope on this list utilizes a Picatinny/Weaver mounting system. The Bestsight DIY Digital Night Vision Scope simply attaches to a scope that you’ve already mounted to your rifle, so it doesn’t matter what kind of mounting system you have.

But while Picatinny and Weaver rails are the most common mounting systems, a Dovetail mounting system is relatively common too. You can mount any of these scopes on a Dovetail, but you’ll need an adapter.

Keep the Batteries in Mind

One of the most important specifications that you need to look at for a night vision scope is the battery life and how easy the batteries are to replace. One of the last things that you want is to spot a coyote and have your scope fail on you at the last possible second.

Even worse would be heading out and realizing that your night vision scope needs new batteries, but you need to remove the entire scope to replace them. If you need to do that, you’ll have to re-zero your scope, which means your hunt is effectively over.

The good news is that most of the choices on this list have a longer-lasting battery life, and only the Night Owl Optics Night Vision Riflescope requires you to remove the scope to change the batteries.

Do You Need to Record?

Every option on this list besides the ATN Thermal Rifle Scope offers video and photography features, but if your sole purpose is to hunt coyotes, do you really need these features?

The short answer is no, as these features don’t improve your ability to hunt coyotes whatsoever. However, if you’re looking to show off to your friends, it is a nice perk. But keep in mind that these capabilities add more weight to your setup.

If you’re serious about eliminating coyotes and you don’t care about the recording features, the ATN Thermal Rifle Scope is probably the way to go.

Conclusion

After going through the reviews, it’s clear to see that the Sightmark Wraith HD Digital Riflescope is the best night vision scope for coyote hunting if you’re looking for a combination of price and performance. At the same time, the Bestsight DIY Digital Night Vision Scope is ideal for those on a budget.

We understand that it can all be a little overwhelming when you’re trying to get the right scope, but hopefully, this guide walked you through everything that you need to know to put an end to your pesky coyote problem!

You might also want to see some of our other top-trending review posts:

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Featured Image Credit: Rifleman, Shutterstock