Digital rifle sight isn’t picture perfect

A rifle sight that incorporates a digital camera and computerized trajectory compensation has created a buzz heard far beyond the shooting industry’s annual trade show last month.

Some critics among the 30,000 people attending the SHOT Show in Reno wondered whether the digital age will take hunters beyond the line of fair chase.

Most shooters, however, are simply curious and eager for more details about this technology that’s already being used by the U.S. military.

The DigitalHunter rifle sight from Texas-based Elcan is not a scope, but rather a compact digital video camera with a zoom lens that translates the image to an LCD screen.

Similar to traditional glass-and-metal variable-power telescopic sights, the DigitalHunter incorporates crosshairs and a zoom mechanism that will enlarge the target image from 2.5 to 13.5 times.

That’s pretty much where the similarities end.

The DigitalHunter is designed to download data from a computer ballistics program so the scope knows the rifle caliber, bullet weight, powder charge, barrel length and action. Once the shooter zeroes in the rifle to a set distance, such as 100 yards, the scope will adjust the crosshairs for the change in trajectory at different yardages indicated by the hunter with the press of a button.

However, despite early media reports, the DigitalHunter does not incorporate a laser range finder, Rusty Mauldin, product manager, said in a telephone interview from his office in Dallas. A hunter must push a button to enter the distance to the target into the scope in order for the reticle to adjust so the hunter does not have to estimate how high to hold the crosshairs above the zero-point at increasing yardages.

A sight that automatically finds range and calculates trajectory is clearly within the range of technology, but it’s not here yet, he said.

The sight’s photographic and video capabilities are perhaps the most entertaining.

Use the optics as a camera to snap a 3 mega-pixel digital image of the target or use it as a camcorder to create 5 seconds of shot-activated digital video.

“Now if you see a nice eight-point, you can pass on him and take a picture through the sight, and your friends will have to believe you,” Josh Ward, an Elcan spokesman, told the Detroit Free Press. “You have proof that you could have taken him.”

When the power is on, the DigitalHunter is constantly recording new digital video and dropping out the old within its 5-second memory. The 5-second sequence can be set to contain video that is all before the shot, a combination of video before the shot and after the shot, or all after the shot.

This allows the hunter to analyze the aim, shot and impact on the sights LCD screen. The video also can be transferred to a computer and played on external monitors back at home.

The shooter education applications are obvious, and one can only imagine the harassment a hunter might get back at the hunting lodge during the playback of a missed shot.

The sight includes four different reticles that can be changed with the push of a button and used for various purposes.

For example, traditional black crosshairs can be changed to white crosshairs to contrast with low-light situations or a dark target such as a black bear.

The different reticle choices — crosshairs, posts, dots — also can be pre-programmed with different sight-in distances. Reticle 1 could be zeroed for 100 yards, Reticle 2 for 300 yards and so on, enabling the hunter to change reticles with a button push and then hold the crosshairs directly on the point of impact, that is, assuming there’s no other variables such as wind.

The feature also could be used to have the different reticles set up for different bullets, one for a light varmint load, for example, and one for a heavier big-game load.

Mauldin warned that the DigitalHunter is still in the prototype stage and testing and modification will continue through May. He said he can’t say for sure how the product might be changed before it’s available to consumers.

At this point, however, the sight has numerous specifications that could make hunters recoil.

Weight and cost: A traditional Leupold VX III 3.5-to-10-power telescopic sight weighs 15 ounces and costs around $500. The DigitalHunter weighs 28 ounces and is expected to cost somewhere between $1,500 and $2,000 if it’s available as scheduled this summer.

Batteries and weatherproofness: While traditional scopes have no electronics to react to moisture and temperature, the Digital Hunter runs on four AA batteries that provide four hours of operation — at room temperature. Battery life is longer with rechargeable or lithium batteries.

“The plan is to have a sleep mode that will extend battery life,” Mauldin said. “We’re confident that it’s weatherproof because we’ve designed scopes since the ‘80s for defense applications and electronic infrared scopes for the military for three years.”

The temperature operating range is 120 degrees down to minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit, he said.

Durability: The jury is still out on the field life of the DigitalHunter. Currently the prototypes are going through shock testing that involves mounting on rifles of different calibers and firing an arsenal of ammunition to assess the effect of recoil.

“We’ll fire 10,000 rounds, starting with the .22-250, then the .30-06 and the .300 Winchester mag and we’ll go up to .50 caliber to look for its limitations,” Mauldin said.

Lowlight limitations: In most hunting situations, the display is bright and protected from glare by a removable rubber eyepiece, Mauldin said. “In my tests, it performed very well, better than the eye can do, through the first 15 minutes after sunset. After that period, it was reacting to lights and darks and the image wasn’t as good.”

In Idaho, the shooting hours for big-game hunting are 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset.

“The DigitalHunter does not have infrared capability,” Mauldin said. “It’s not a night scope. It’s designed to be used during legal hunting hours.”