The best thermal scopes for coyote hunting

Why a coyote is a harder thermal target than a hog

Most thermal buying advice is written around deer and hogs. A coyote is a different animal in the two ways that decide whether a thermal works: it is much smaller, and it is much cooler.

The Missouri Department of Conservation field guide puts a coyote at a total length of 39 to 54 inches with a 10 to 16 inch tail, which leaves a body of roughly 30 inches, and a weight of 18 to 30 pounds. TPWD calls the Texas coyote "very similar in size to a small German Shepherd" at an average of 25 to 40 pounds, primarily nocturnal, ranging throughout the state. Compare that with the feral hog the rest of this site is built around: the same field guide series gives hogs a length "to 5 feet."

Two thirds less animal, and less of it radiating heat. That is the whole argument for buying a different scope than you would for a feeder full of pigs.

The pixel math for a coyote

How well a thermal shows an animal comes down to how many sensor pixels land on it. The formula we use across this site: inches covered by one pixel = distance in yards × 0.036 × pixel pitch in µm ÷ lens focal length in mm. Divide the animal's length by that number.

Read the first column and the last together, because that is the real decision. Pixels on target depend only on pitch and lens — a 640 sensor does not put more pixels on a coyote than a 384 with the same pitch and lens. What the 640 buys you is field of view: the oneleaf Mars shows 12.5° through the same 35 mm lens where the 384 ThOR 6 Elite shows 7.53° and the GRL335 shows 6.5°.

That matters more on coyotes than on hogs. A hog walks into a feeder and mills around. A called coyote arrives fast, off the line you expected, and often crosses. A wider picture is how you find it before it finds you.

What actually matters for coyotes

1. NETD, more than on hogs. A 200 pound hog is a furnace. A 25 pound canine on a cold February night is not. Our picks run from ≤15 mK (ThOR 6 Elite) to <25 mK (Talion, Storm S3, GRL335). Lower is better, and on a coyote you notice.
2. Field of view for the close shot. A caller brings animals to inside 100 yards more often than not. The Mars and the Talion publish the widest views here.
3. A rangefinder for the hang-up. Coyotes that circle downwind and stop at 180 to 250 yards are the ones you miss. Four of our seven picks have a built-in laser rangefinder; the Mars publishes 5.5 to 1,300 yards and the Storm S6R 1,312 yards.
4. Runtime that covers a full set of stands. Calling means moving. The Thermion 2 LRF XQ50 Pro claims up to 10 hours and the ThOR 6 Elite about 9; the two RIX scopes claim about 4 to 4.5 hours per 18650.
5. Weight, because you carry it between stands. The Storm S3 is about 0.97 lb; the Thermion 2 LRF XQ50 Pro is 0.97 kg — roughly twice as much.

Detection-range claims are not on that list. Every maker here claims well over a thousand yards of detection, and none of those numbers means you can tell a coyote from a house cat out there.

How we picked

We took every thermal riflescope in our registry with a 35 mm or longer lens — the honest starting point for an animal this small — and read each maker's published spec page and warranty terms again on September 26, 2026. Each is scored on our published thermal rubric: sensor and lens for identifying an animal (30%), usability at night (20%), battery and power (15%), durability (15%), warranty and support (10%) and value within its budget tier (10%).

We have not tested these units. Scores come from published specs, manuals and warranty terms, and the rubric is printed in full on our How We Choose page. Short-lens scopes that do well on hogs at a feeder — the ATN ThOR 6 Mini 256 and the AGM Rattler V2 19-256 on our under-$1,000 ranking — are deliberately not here: 15 to 19 mm of lens is not enough glass for a 30 inch animal past a pasture's width.

The picks side by side

The picks in context

1. oneleaf.ai Mars MT1000LRF (35 mm)

The best coyote scope in our registry on paper, for one reason: it is the only unit that combines a 640x512 sensor, a built-in rangefinder and a genuinely wide view. The 2x base with a 12.5° x 10.1° field is close to twice the width of the 384 scopes at the same 35 mm, so a coyote crossing at 80 yards stays in the picture, and the <20 mK NETD holds it against cold ground. IP67, a 6000 J recoil rating and swappable 50 mm and 75 mm lenses if you later move to longer country. The cost is a three-year warranty where RIX and ATN give five, and about 5 hours per 18650.

2. ATN ThOR 6 Elite LRF 384 3.5-28x

Buy this one if your ground is cold. A published NETD of ≤15 mK is the most sensitive figure anywhere in our registry, and on a small canine that is the spec that decides whether you see an animal or a smudge. It adds a 1,000 m rangefinder, a 1920x1080 display, IP67, a 6000 J rating, about 9 hours on two 18650s and a five-year warranty. The trade-off is the view: 7.53° x 5.65° is workable but narrow, and ATN ships it for 30 mm rings that are not in the box.

3. RIX Storm S6R 640 (35 mm)

A 640 sensor, <20 mK, a 1,312 yard rangefinder with a ballistic calculator, a five-year warranty and a Picatinny QD mount included, in a body about a pound. It ranks below the Mars because RIX publishes no field of view and no IP rating for it, and the battery claim is about 4 hours per 18650 — the shortest here, and a real problem if you are running three or four stands a night.

4. Pulsar Talion XQ35 Pro

The one to buy if you call coyotes in tight. At 10.7° x 8° it has the widest published view of any 384 here, Pulsar quotes the sensor at sNETD <15 mK, and the body is IPX7 with a 6000 J rating and up to 9 hours on an APS 5T pack. The catch is the 17 µm pitch: through the same 35 mm lens it puts about 17 pixels across a coyote at 100 yards where the 12 µm scopes put 24. That is a fair trade for a called-in animal and a bad one for a 250 yard shot.

5. Pulsar Thermion 2 LRF XQ50 Pro

The reach pick. A 50 mm lens brings the 17 µm sensor back level with the 12 µm 35 mm scopes — about 25 pixels on a coyote at 100 yards — and adds an 800 m rangefinder, IPX7, up to 10 hours of runtime and a warranty that runs to five years with registration. It is also the heaviest here at 0.97 kg, mounts in 30 mm rings, and its 7.5° x 5.6° view is tight for a close call. For open plains in West Texas, it is the right tool.

6. RIX Storm S3 384 (35 mm)

Under a pound with a 12 µm 384 sensor, <25 mK, a 6000 J rating, a five-year warranty and a QD mount in the box. That is a lot of scope for the money and easy to carry between stands. It loses ground on runtime (about 4.5 hours per 18650), a missing IP rating and no rangefinder, which is the feature you most want when a coyote stops on the far edge of a field.

7. GOYOJO GRL335

The budget answer, and the only one of these picks that sits under the $1,000 tier. A 12 µm 384 behind a 35 mm lens puts the same 24 pixels on a coyote at 100 yards as scopes costing twice as much, with <25 mK, a five-year warranty, a 1000 g recoil rating and a one-shot zero. The 6.5° x 4.5° view is the narrowest here, it is IP65 rather than IP67, and there is no rangefinder. If money is the constraint, start here and buy the rangefinder later as a handheld.

One rig for hogs and coyotes

Most people reading this already have a hog problem and are adding coyotes, or the reverse. The good news is that the middle of this list serves both. A 35 mm, 12 µm scope with a rangefinder — the Mars, the ThOR 6 Elite or the Storm S6R — has enough field of view for a sounder at a feeder and enough sensitivity for a single canine at 150 yards.

Where the rigs diverge is at the ends. A 15 to 19 mm scope built for a close feeder, of the kind we rank on the under-$1,000 page, runs out of detail on a coyote quickly. And a 50 mm scope bought for open coyote country is hard work when six hogs pour in at 40 yards. If you must pick one, pick 35 mm. Our main thermal scope ranking for hogs and 256 vs 384 vs 640 go deeper on that trade.

Calling technique, lights and the rest of the night setup are covered in our guide to night hunting coyotes, which also has what ICWDM and TPWD publish about when coyotes move.

What to look for in a coyote thermal

1. At least 35 mm of lens. Below that, a 30 inch animal runs out of pixels inside 100 yards. Every pick on this page is 35 mm or 50 mm for that reason.
2. A published NETD, and the lowest you can afford. ≤15 mK (ThOR 6 Elite) and <20 mK (Mars, Storm S6R) are the figures to want. A maker who won't print NETD is telling you something.
3. A field of view you can actually hunt. Anything under about 7° gets hard when an animal comes in fast. Pulsar and oneleaf publish theirs; RIX does not.
4. A rangefinder if you shoot past 150 yards. It is the single feature that most changes hit rate on hung-up coyotes, and it is built into four of these seven.
5. Batteries you can swap in the dark. Two 18650s and a charger cost little next to the scope. The RIX units especially need spares.
6. The mount, in or out of the box. RIX and oneleaf include Picatinny mounts; the ThOR 6 Elite and the Thermion 2 need 30 mm rings you buy separately.

Setting up a night stand with a thermal

• Range the ground before dark if you can. Even with a laser rangefinder in the scope, knowing the fence line and the far brush edge in daylight saves you a decision you don't have time for.
• Scan with something other than the rifle. Sweeping a muzzle across ground you haven't identified is how accidents happen. A handheld monocular is the fix; see our thermal monocular picks and monocular vs scope.
• Set up so the downwind circle is in your field of view. Coyotes finish downwind. If the wide side of your view isn't covering that arc, the scope's field of view is wasted.
• Save a second zero profile. Most of these scopes hold several. One for the rifle you shoot hogs with at 60 yards and one for the 200 yard coyote set is worth the five minutes. Our zeroing guide covers the process.
• Shoot from a rest. A 30 inch animal at 200 yards does not forgive a wobble. Our shooting sticks and tripods page ranks the options.
• Use the recording. All seven picks record. Reviewing the clip is often the only way to know where the shot went in the dark.

Coyote thermal mistakes

• Buying a hog scope for coyotes. A 19 mm lens over a feeder is a fine hog setup and a poor coyote setup. The lens, not the price, is the mismatch.
• Thinking a 640 sensor puts more pixels on the animal. It doesn't. Pitch and lens do that. The 640 gives you a wider picture at the same detail.
• Shopping on detection range. These scopes claim 1,350 m to more than 2,700 m. Those are claims about spotting a heat source, not identifying a 25 pound canine.
• Ignoring NETD because it's an unfamiliar number. On a cold night and a small animal, it is the spec you will notice first.
• Forgetting the coyote might be the symptom. Coyotes and hogs often show up on the same ground for the same reason. Our guide to getting rid of feral hogs covers the whole-property plan.