Thermal imager review: Seek Reveal Pro hand held

Published: 4:45 PM February 10, 2017

Updated: 5:49 PM November 12, 2020

Here we see my dog Gerogie a clear as day. Just look at how small the Seek is in my hand! - Credit: Archant

Phill Price is very impressed by this latest thermal imager

A pigeon sitting in the tree glows to give itself away - Credit: Archant

I love thermal imaging and I’m sure it’s the future of night hunting. It’s so clever that it blows my mind. It’s completely different to other night-vision equipment in that it doesn’t try to amplify ambient light or illuminate with infrared lamps, but sees the heat that the quarry’s body gives off, relative to the cold of the ground around it.

It works day or night and will show any warm thing, even if it’s just a squirrel’s paw wrapped around a branch. Even well-insulated quarry, such as pigeons, show up against the cold sky while sitting on a branch.

Scott Country are the masters of all this new technology and they sent me a hand-held unit, the Reveal Pro from Seek, which is about the size of a smartphone (if a little thicker).

Although there are some set-up options, I just turned it on and it worked immediately. Of course, the first job was to look at my dogs sitting across the office and note how their wet noses appeared black, showing how cold they were against their hot faces. I loved how they left hot spots in the carpet as they walked!

A more useful test was to get out into the countryside and observe typical airgun quarry species in their environments to find out just what the Reveal Pro could do for me as hunter. The first thing I found out is that you need good temperature contrast between the animal or bird and the background. I went out on a particularly warm evening and results weren’t so good, but on the following night, which was much cooler, the rabbits stood out well at 50 yards away. They had no idea I was there in the darkness watching them, and I’d have easily been able to stalk in closer for a shot.

I was really impressed at how well it worked in finding pigeons in leafy trees. I find it incredibly frustrating when I see them fly in to land, yet simply can’t find them to take a shot. Because the Seek will show up anything warm, any part of the bird showing will glow, allowing me to move into the right position.

As thermal imaging has improved and prices come down, I find myself with an incredible hunting tool for just £610, a fraction of what the devices cost only a few years ago. Don’t you love technology?

Model: Seek Reveal Pro

RRP: £609.99

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