Hunting Streaming & How It Can Help You
Why is the ability to stream from your scope such an important tool to have? I was asked this question numerous times over the week of SHOT Show while I had the pleasure of working the ATN Booth. To my surprise, the reasons that I always talked about with people were almost shocking. They couldn't believe that they hadn't even thought about it and didn't understand why it wasn't pushed as a capability more, so, I decided to write this little article and explain some of those exact benefits to our base!
As a father, one of the most important things I want to instill in my kids when it comes to hunting and firearms is firearm safety. How to properly handle a loaded firearm, how to properly shoot a firearm and how to be accurate and consistent; are just some of the great benefits this little tool can provide to you. ATN has a wide variety of products in their Smart HD Optics. Whether you are using the X-Sight 4K Pro, Thor 4, Binox 4K or the Binox 4T...this is available for you!
My 5 year old daughter has a suppressed 22 Long Rifle, on top of it sits a X-Sight 4K Pro 5-20. When we go to the range to shoot, we make sure we have plenty of ammo, drinks, snacks and my iPad loaded with the Obsidian 4 App. (The Obsidian App works with the X-Sight II and Thor HD/OTS HD line of products) What I have learned over the past year of working with her is that this provides me an invaluable opportunity to teach her how to shoot, but also I can watch her as she is shooting. I can stream, in real time what she is seeing in the scope to my iPad, but I can also watch her physically as she is behind the rifle. We can discuss what she sees, I can adjust settings on the scope for her and I can coach her on what it is she is seeing, where she is aiming and it allows me to confirm all of that in real time. So, when we are ready to shoot, I can ask her, "Do you see the black circle? If so, put your crosshairs on it." While I am watching her, making sure the safety stays on and her finger is out of the trigger well, I can also watch on the iPad where exactly she is aiming until she gets settled in on where she wants to shoot. At that point, she can then ask to take it off safety, I can verify she stays on target and makes a good shot. It's really proven to be an awesome coaching and learning tool for the both of us, but it also allows me to record her shooting videos as well, that we can play back later on the computer and talk about it.
Another fantastic possibility this provides is one that fellow ATN Ambassador Gene Wisnewski and good friend of mine got to see first-hand that really impressed me. Let's say, for instance, you have a hunter that has a visual impairment or a physical disability that doesn't allow them to get down on a rifle, or let's say they are in a wheelchair or that particular person for whatever reason cannot shoulder a rifle. With a proper mounting system or a tripod system, you can stream the scopes image to a much bigger viewing platform such as a tablet or phone that doesn't require the person to be looking through the scope. This single capability can allow someone who wasn't able to hunt before, the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors just as much as we do.
Thanks to constantly pushing the technological envelope and their desire to bring more people to the shooting and hunting sport, ATN has brought forth product lines that do just that. Thanks to opportunities to engage and discuss with customers at a place like SHOT Show, it gave me the opportunity to see that some things I see as normal, other people never even thought about using the products in these ways. I hope this helps to highlight just ONE of the many awesome features that ATN packs into their units and hopefully this will help you have more success at the range or in the field!
