VPAC was established in 2015. Through our experience controlling vertebrate pest animals on private properties, public land and government land in rural and high density peri-urban areas around Melbourne, we have developed our skills and processes to become highly efficient and productive at safely reducing these animal populations (especially wild deer) in areas where they have become a problem.
Through the course of setting up VPAC, we have been dedicated to developing sensible and cost effective plans that focus on realistic assessments of our ability to achieve desired results for our customers in way that is low cost, low impact, productive and ethical. Respect towards the animals we are controlling is always a big part of our plans and plays a large part in the decision to use shooting as a control method. That being said, where control by shooting is required and performed properly, it is often the most humane and effective way to minimize the negitive effects caused by unchecked feral animal populations.
Collectively, our staff have many years hunting and shooting experience on pest control projects. We bring this experience to every job that we attend, but above all safety and an ethical approach to feral animal control is what we strive for. We are committed to performing a quality, reliable service that is safe and effective.
On every job we seek to find the best control method for the customer, property and target species, whilst keeping safety and an ethical approach as our main priorities.
We quote every job on a case by case basis, with end costs taken into consideration. For example: If a smaller private, or hobby farm is not able afford the sort of costs involved in a larger commercial operation, then we will tailor the project to suit the budget of the client after discussing the most cost effective options for that particular property and target species, such as combining projects across neighboring properties to share costs, offseting costs through game meat harvesting, options for per animal rates, and only working during peak animal movement periods to increase time vs effectiveness.
We are completely transparent regarding our costs and and methods.
We do not start work until an we have completed a Job Safety Analysis for the property. This includes but is not exclusive to:
Your reference is our business! We strive for a professional, high quality standard, and aim to leave every customer completely satisfied. The more you like the way we work, the more work we get, so your opinion counts!
A Thermal Monocular is small handheld device that is used to help locate heat signatures in low light and some daytime conditions. These devices have become a dependable part of our every day equipment, and help us to quickly and safely locate target species without the use of spotlights.
Infrared scopes were used on many of our rifles in the past and are designed to work in low to zero light conditions, without the use of a spotlight. The main advantage to using infrared scopes is that we are able to execute more controlled and ethical shots on target species that are not under stress caused by a spotlight, as they are often completely unaware of our presence before the shot is taken. This is important because a stressed animal is often a more difficult target. Infrared scopes used to be an invaluable tool for helping us control animals, but only in open areas where foliage is not present. In areas that are close to or even inside bush lines, Infrared scopes do not function as well as thermal technology because of the flaring on foreground foliage causing the site picture to black out the target in the background. Since the advance of thermal technology we now use exclusively Pard thermal scopes for all operations. .
Right is a still pic taken from a video recorded on one of our night vision scopes. Notice how the target animal, a Sambar deer, is very hard to properly see and identify. As such, a shot cannot be taken and time is wasted. In this instance we would always use thermal equipment, as Sambar tend to habitate in dense areas with lots of foliage cover, and rarely venture out in the open. The pic below shows a similar situation where a sambar deer is obscured by foliage, however the thermal scope clearly shows the animal and a proper shot is able to be taken.
We use PARD thermal scopes on all of our rifles. Thermal scopes are designed to detect the heat of an animal in almost all light conditions and are used exclusively as infrared is not an option in conditions such as fog or heavy cover. Thermal scopes help us to execute more controlled and ethical shots on target species, especially deer, that are not under stress caused by a spotlight, as they are often completely unaware of our presence before the shot is taken. This is important because a stressed animal is often a more difficult target. Because we strive towards the most ethical methods, we find thermal scopes an invaluable tool for helping us control animals with accurate shot placement.
Left is a still shot taken from a video recorded on one of our thermal scopes. You will notice the vast difference in clarity over the night vision picture of a deer in a similar heavy foliage situation above. Thermal scopes we use do no suffer from image flare and are extremely effective at acquiring clear images of target species in heavy cover situations.
It is through years of experience and the use of thermal technology that give us the edge over hard to control feral deer populations, and helps us keep running and invoice costs to a minimum.
Over the years at VPAC we have extensively field tested and have had varying degrees of success with different brands of thermal scopes and monoculars. Since 2020 We have been running PARD scopes almost exclusively on all of our rifles because they have proven to be a very well made and reliable unit with perfect zero hold in extremely rugged and demanding conditions. So much so in fact that we feel the need to provide some info below and share our experience with this brand of thermal optic.
The main scope we use on most of our rifles is the PARD SA45 LRF. If you'd like to see the specs, prices, pics etc please click here to visit PARD Australia's website www.pardaustralia.com.au
I'd like to mention that we are currently sponsored by PARD Australia but the relationship was set up because we contacted them as we were already using their products, were very happy with them and wanted some input to the development of future models. Below is some honest feedback and Pros & Cons drawn from our experience using the SA45 LRF scopes.
Pros
- Pard thermal scopes have the best zero hold of any scope we have used.
It seems to be the nature of thermal optics that they tend to zero drift over time (lose correct point of impact). We are not sure why this happens, maybe it's to do with software/ hardware that runs them or maybe it is due to scope body construction. No matter what the cause is, in a professional environment a scope that suffers from zero drift means extra work checking and maintaining the zero and lower productivity when it loses zero in the field. After many years and many brands tested we have found PARD scopes to have perfect zero hold, something that we think should be a minimum standard.
- Rugged construction
One of the first things you notice when you pick up a PARD scope is how good the construction is. The scope body is milled from a single piece of Aluminium and is very, very strong. In our line of work our equipment is subjected to the most extreme conditions you could possible imagine. Rattling around on vehicle mounts, sand, mud, water, getting knocked when getting in and out of vehicles, banged about on boats and during shipping, the list is endless and these scopes have held up to conditions and impacts that I personally would consider terminal for many other brands.
- Small & Lightweight
PARD scopes are very small and super lightweight which makes the rifles they are mounted to easier to carry and handle.
- The buttons are not easily bumped
Some of the other thermal scopes we have used have buttons on them that area easily bumped and we have experienced instances where the zero coordinates or weapon profiles have been accidentally changed due to bumping the buttons whilst rifle is slung or during transport. The PARD units have small buttons that require a reasonable amount of pressure to function and we have not experience any accidental button entries with these scopes.
- The image has a lot of 'Pop'
PARD scopes seem to have slightly more image 'Pop' than some of the other brands we have used. What this means is that it is very easy to distinguish a heat source from the background (trees rocks etc). Making targets easy to acquire and track. This does come at a certain amount of lose of fine detail on the target (you may not see hair, eyes etc as well), but in our experience this is a compromise worth making as it is much faster to acquire and pick up on stationary and moving targets.
- Hard line video output
PARD scopes have a hardliner or 'Wired' video output rather than a wifi video output. If you are ruining a video feed to a screen to monitor operations this is important as wifi connections are prone to latency, connection issues and dropouts. A hard wired video output works without latency and dropouts.
- Built in laser
These scopes have a built in laser that can be zero'd to the crosshairs. This is essential for designating and finding downed animals in the field.
Effective Laser Range Finder
PARD LRF Model scopes have quite a good quality range finder that works out to around 600y. Essential when taking shots over 250y
- Uses 18650 batteries
All PARD scope uses 18650 rechargeable batteries that can be purchased cheaply and easily. Much better that proprietary battery packs that can be expensive and hard to get. Plus 18650 batteries run in many of our other devices so we already have a good supply of them.
- Good base zoom
SA45 LRF is 3.9X base (minimum) zoom. If you have a lower resolution scope, but a higher base zoom, then you will not have to digitally zoom as much to get up to a decent long range soon, and as such will not pixilated your image. The SA45 LRF is base zoom 3.9 so 2 X is 7.8 zoom which is more than enough for a 300 to 400y shot on a deer..
If you have a high res scope that is say 1.2 X zoom then you will need to digitally zoom it more times to get to a decent magnification eg: 1.2 X 2 = 2.4 - X 2 =4.8 - X 2 = 9.6. Now you have digitally zoomed 3 times and you will have a more pixilated image at a higher magnification.
- Good quality scope base mount
On of the things we often see overlooked by thermal scope manufacturers is a good quality scope base mount. Or they are supplied with over complicated QD base mounts. As these scopes usually require proprietary scope mounts, often you do not have a choice but to use the scope base mount supplied with the scope. the PARD scopes come supplied with a very good quality, rugged design, simple to use scope base mount. One look at it when you open the box and you just know it will work.
NOTE - you will need to use Blue (med hold) locktight on the screws that mount the scope base to the scope or the will rattle lose. Trust me :)
Cons
- No internal video recording
We have been told by PARD that internal video recording is something that is in the pipeline, but for now the thermal line of PARD scopes do not have internal recording. It is possible to connect a DVR unit to the video output and record your shots, but this is not ideal.
- Range finder is on right hand side of scope
The range finder on the LRF model scopes is on the right hand side of the scope. Not a problem for Semi - Auto rifles but it can cause an issue with a right handed bolt action rifles, especially ones with a high bolt throw. We do have these scopes mounted on many RH bolt action rifles without too many issues, but it is worth mentioning that if you have large bolt handle with a high throw angle, you may run in to issues with the bolt hitting the range finder, however this can often be remedied by mounting the scope slight further forward on the pic rail.
- No sound output
Again, this is something that is in the pipeline for later models. Not a deal breaker but would be nice to have.
- Image quality is not as crisp as some high end scopes
I find this an interesting point to make about the PARD scopes -while the image quality is certainly not as good as some of the super high end thermal optics, it is certainly more than enough clarity to take confident shots on deer out to 500 yards in suitable conditions. So while I agree that yes, you could spend more money on a different brand thermal optic and obtain better clarity, I would argue that in our situation (commercial deer control) it is overkill.
- Scope may require shimming
Most digital scopes (thermal or IR) have a function that automatically centers the reticle in the middle of the screen after the zero has been adjusted and set. Pard scopes do not have this function and have gotten around this by supplying a shim kit to raise or lower the front or rear of the scope mechanically when mounting helping to maintain the reticle in the centre of the screen. Personally I have not had to shim any of our scopes, they all have the reticle relatively centered.
This is not really a con, and in my opinion more a positive. With out experience in the past with other brands of thermal optics not holding zero, we are not entirely sure whether an automatic reticle centering function is contributing to zero drift or not. If the PARD units have done away with this function and given us a mechanical option, well then I see it as one less point of failure.
I would like to say that everything written above is not intended as a promotion of PARD thermal optics, it is simply our experience using these scopes on 1000's of hours of commercial deer control projects across Victoria. The PARD equipment we are currently using has, quite frankly, given us astonishing reliability and value for money. Hence why I am more than happy to give this feedback in the hope that it helps others make a more informed decision when purchasing thermal optics.
Jake - VPAC
Spotlighting target animals can be very effective in the proper situations, but spotlights can also spook target species, be disruptive to neighbours and other non target species and can cause target animals undue stress that can lead to a more difficult shot. The use of spotlights as a control method on professional deer control projects is not an effective method.
Drones are an invaluable tool for assessing clients properties for safety and for acquiring positioning of target species. We will often use a drone to provide us with a quick aerial survey of a property before taking on a job. This allows us to help develop a plan using the live aerial feed to help our clients describe problem areas and areas of concern where safety may be a issue. Using aerial surveys helps us speed up the process of assessing larger properties. Aerial surveys also assists us with locating target species quickly and efficiently, helping us to develop an approach plan for the most effective result.
All of the above equipment helps us immensely, not only for cleaner and more ethical control of pest animals but also with planning and execution, so we have less time on the ground to get the job done, which in turn means greater savings to our clients.
