I also turn the rifle light on only at the moment I'm near pulling the trigger.. when hunting with a partner there is no time when light isn't on the target..the guy scanning/calling/shotgunning picks its eyes up and keeps the outer edge of the halo on it, never taking it off..in the meantime, the shooter is going through the motions of preparing for his shot..as the quarry nears, the shooter can then turn his gun light on..doing it this way, there is never a time when the light is not on the animal..so the shock of no light and then light never occurs...sometimes the shooter scans also... in that scenario, if he picks something up, the non shooting scanner than takes over with his light and at that moment the shooter shuts his off and gets ready... that is why, to me, hunting solo at night is tough..because you need to find a way to efficiently transition from the scanning to the rifle light..obviously, guys do all it the time with much success..so there, keeping the light on the entire time could be the ticket.. when I used to night hunt alone I had some success too but I found it harder..maybe I should have tried the constant light method..I rarely hunt alone at night anymore..if I do, I may try it that way