HOUND H315R Review: Best Thermal Monocular for Hog Hunting

Written by Richard Johnson, this article explores his hands-on experience with the DNT HOUND H315R.

My Initial Observations

• Out of the box, the optic and case pass my musted on quality, layout and function.

• Size is good and I personally want a device that you can operate with one hand. At 5.25" long and 1.5" wide, it's not hard to handle at all.

• The lanyard may be a little small. My hands are not huge and it's a length could grow 1-2".

Yesterday, I joined two fellow hunters to get some in the field testing. They were heading out to a ranch nearby to coyote hunt. I tagged along to sit in one of the deer/hog blinds to test the HOUND, so tripod in hand, I hit the woods to test.

This is the blind I used last night. It's new so there's some work these folks have to yet to do. Simple yet functional, in a good spot that gets hog, deer, and too many raccoon and squirrel attention...

My Observations after Some Use

• I'm not changing my opinion on size, fit and form. All good IMO.

• The Menu and Button operation for programming and use are very similar to the ZULUS HD V2 so it was easy to navigate and setup. Button size and spacing is good and with some practice, I think a guy could master 4 finger control.

• The objective lens cover is rubber and tethered to the optic. Initially, I wondered why this was designed this way vs a flip open lens cover. After using it, I understand. It's silent and can easily be removed.

• Memory is 32G of internal. Downloading is done by connecting it to the DNT App. Cabling it to your laptop or PC with the supplied USB cable is also applicable.

• The optic has 4 levels of magnification. 1X is 1.5X mag, which is a plus for in-tight use and video recording for a bowhunter. The blind I was in yesterday has a feeder at 16 yards (too close IMO), so the low mag made it a little easier to get a good balanced image.

• The thermal optics are heat sensor-based vs being a digital optic (like a camera) so they are not full color. There are 4 palletes to choose from: White Hot, Black Hot, Red Hot, Iron Hot. I prefer White and Black Hot.

• Button operation for recording, LRF use, magnification took some practice, but after a couple hours of use, I had it figured out.

• The HOUND H315R model has 384 sensor and produces a nice image coupled to a screen that's 1024×786. The comparable thermals I have tested the past 2 years with the same sensor resolution had even less sharp of an image after base magnification.

• The battery is an 18650, and yesterday after 5 hours of use, I had used up the battery. Good news is the flip open battery cover makes low light/no light swaps easier. I'm still suggesting DNT consider the 21700 battery for their next version.

• The DNT App is friendly. You can sync ballistic data, view the HOUND's real-time feed, access the device's album, and easily share your hunting experiences.

HOUND Value

• For deer hunters it's minimal because most US states restrict the use of any thermal device (weapon mounted or handheld).

• For hog and varmint hunting, it's a great scanning tool especially at night and a natural of the guy that has a ZULUS, 4K or a digital optic that can accept range info., be it manual entry or paired. Also, as a recording device if he has none. Recording free-hand is very tricky with movement.

When I hog hunt, my crossbow is tripod mounted, and when using a digital optic like the ZULUS/Vision or 4K, the big value is handheld thermal scanning for targets at distance and through cover before they are in target range, which the digitals can't do nearly as well. It gives you time to spot the target animal, then prepare with your weapon and digital optic.

Summary

• The HOUND H315R will definitely work well as a scanner when hog hunting. It would also help as a tracker find game after hours and in heavy cover. I would use it when scouting new ground as well.

• From what I see, there's little to be unhappy about. From the 10 hours I've spend with it and comparing it to my 2.25x the cost thermal monocular and others I've used, this $1,000 HOUND is what it's advertised to be and comparably affordable. You can easily spend $1500 for a 384 resolution thermal monocular and get less of an optic.