The 4 Best Night Vision Crossbow Scopes – Reviews 2023

night vision crossbow scope, crossbow night vision scope

Photo by Bill Holler / CC BY

Night hunting with a crossbow is a fun, exciting, and challenging sport, but it can be dangerous if you don’t have the proper gear. One of the most important pieces of gear is a good night vision optic.

Crossbows have different scope requirements than rifles. The best crossbow scopes need to have a lower magnification, preferably less than 6 power. They need to provide a wide, clear sight picture, and should be lightweight. Crossbows are lightweight weapons, so a heavy scope is going to slow you down.

We have found 4 of the best night vision crossbow scopes for your consideration:

Sightmark Photon XT

The Sightmark Photon XT is a long but skinny design that is extremely lightweight, and quite powerful magnification-wise. The Sightmark Photon XT has a 4.6 magnification level, which for a night vision device is nice and high. While a crossbow isn’t a long range weapon, 4.6 magnification is perfect for sighting target across fields and being able to choose or pick your shot with ease. Sure, 4.6 magnification is high for night vision, but compared to a standard scope, it’s low.

The Sightmark Photon XT (see full specs) is extremely light, and Sightmark boasts it is 30 percent lighter than any other scope with similar magnification. You also get a nice long battery life relative to night vision devices. Night vision optics chew through batteries due to the demands placed on the power source, so if you can squeeze some extra life out of a battery, it’s a good day—or night.

This scope is built for a variety of platforms, but is one of the few night vision scopes to have a crossbow reticle. Actually, it has two crossbow reticles. One designed for crossbows with a feet per second rating of 320, 350, and 370, the second crossbow reticle is designed for crossbows over 400 feet per second. The Sightmark Photon is an excellent optic, and gives you a clear field of vision out to a hundred and twenty yards. Its light lasts long and is designed to be used with crossbows; the Sightmark is a hard to beat option.

REVIEW SightMark Photon XT 4.6 SightMark CVR-640

Firefield Night Vision Scope

The Firefield night vision device is one of the cheaper options with a little extra magnification. With its 3 power magnification, it sits firmly in the middle of the magnification scale. This does make it a little more versatile and suited for most situations. The magnification is low enough to be used at closer ranges and far enough to see a decent distance. The 42mm objective lens makes it nice and wide, which means a greater level of illumination and a clearer picture.

The Firefield night vision scope is designed with a built-in IR illuminator that sits on the right hand side of the scope. This illuminator provides just a little bit more light on those dark and hard to see nights. The illuminator is also a safety feature when you have multiple hunters in the field; the illuminator makes it possible to keep track of each hunter.

The Firefield scope has a quick mount and demount lever that makes it very easy to equip to any crossbow with a pic rail. It’s also easy to dismount the scope during the day, one of the real joys of having a quick detach lever. The scope is quite light, and is made with a lot of titanium to keep it light and strong. The scope is perfect for a lightweight build that needs some magnification, but not a ton. Hands down, it’s one of the best night vision crossbow scopes period.

Firefield Night Vision Scope

Firefield Tactical Night Vision Rifle Scope

The Firefield Tactical night vision rifle scopes are a handy little design that gives users an impressive capacity for owning the night. The Firefield Tactical scope has a 2.5 power fixed magnification that’s perfect for the short-range crossbow. The 50mm objective lens really helps keep a large field of view. It offers a max effective range of 200 yards and gives users a picture well within their crossbow’s effective range.

The Firefield NVRS features a durable titanium housing that can take a beating and keep on ticking. When mounted to a crossbow, you are ready to silently prowl for your chosen game with ease. This compact model is affordable, lightweight, and a great option for hunting.

ATN X Sight

American Technologies Network produces some of the most dynamic and well-made night vision scopes in the country. They are used around the world with hunters and even with the military. This specific model, the ATN X Sight, is an outstanding scope for hunting. It can be used during both the day and night due to its digital night vision technology. It delivers crystal clear picture resolution and gives the shooter an adjustable 3 to 14 power magnification. Magnification is smooth and you can push and pull it as needed.

The ATN X Sight comes with the ability to record video for later playback. You can record your shots and kills, or just nature in general. You can also shoot videos and enable the recoil-activated video-recording feature. This is all saved to an SD card that’s an affordable accessory and common enough to find anywhere.

The ATN X Sight also offers shooters the option of black and white night view, a green night view, and of course a full-color day view. The X Sight comes with an illuminator and remote control. Lastly, the X sight comes equipped with a built-in rangefinder that measures distance within 1 yard. Bar none, this is one of the best night vision crossbow scopes for night hunting.

REVIEW: ATN X Sight II HD - Day/Night Vision Scope - Full Demo - Rangefinder + Ballistic Calculator

Own the Night

Crossbow hunting has seen a massive upswing as more and more states are allowing crossbows for general hunting. With this rise in crossbows, we are also luckily (or luckily, depending on your point of view) seeing a rise in hog infestations.

Most states do not allow the night hunting of deer, but it’s free range on hogs. Crossbow hunting has become more popular, hog infestations have increased, and night vision optics are becoming cheaper and more widely available. All of these factors have come together to make the crossbow one of the premier night hunting weapons, and the addition of the best night vision crossbow scopes makes it possible to silently dispatch prey under the cover of the night. Good luck!

Night Vision Rifle Scopes

  • Owner of Reloaderaddict.com, Boyd Smith is a major handgun enthusiast, and although he owns Glocks, he prefers the revolving wheel type. His go-to guns are a Smith & Wesson 642 Performance Center for carry and a Ruger GP100 in the nightstand biometric safe (he has kids). He loads both revolvers with old-school 148-grain Federal Gold Medal .38 wadcutters. It’s OK if you think he’s a wimp. Email him.

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