• If you are being asked to change your password, and unsure how to do it, follow these instructions. Click here

Best dawn/dusk low light deer scope

I thought maybe you meant Thermion. LOL
They look awesome!!! Way out of budget.

Yes this scope is just for deer hunting. Legal hours. We saw about 30 deer the other evening in a 25 mile trip from one of our farms to the next. I saw ZERO bucks. My twelve year old saw about 8 or 9 of them. Some of them were 600 yards feeding in bean fields with a dark background. I just wanted to get a scope that would give more than the 9 or 10 power I have had and have better light transmission than my 35 year old scopes.

I needed the best I could get just to be on the same level as my 12 year old without a scope. My wife's family has unreal day and night vision. It appears my 12 year old got those genes.
 
Don't you just envy youth? Ive needed readers for 25 years. Evert few years they got stronger. I've been using 3.0 for a while. I haven't been able to read a text, book or a tv controller for years without them. Recently my doc did some bloodwork and told me I was deficient in lots of minerals. So Ive been on zinc, D3, CoQ, mens multi, C, magnesium and Mic Ultra for 3 weeks. No Idea why or how, but last nite I texted and surfed for hours without glasses. Amazing.
 
Don't you just envy youth? Ive needed readers for 25 years. Evert few years they got stronger. I've been using 3.0 for a while. I haven't been able to read a text, book or a tv controller for years without them. Recently my doc did some bloodwork and told me I was deficient in lots of minerals. So Ive been on zinc, D3, CoQ, mens multi, C, magnesium and Mic Ultra for 3 weeks. No Idea why or how, but last nite I texted and surfed for hours without glasses. Amazing.
That is awesome! My wife has studied lots of diet type things and has helped a lot of people including us with lots of different things.
 
So I am so glad I got a scope with the center dot that illuminates. I have shot my buddies 4x16 scope FFP and sometimes the crosshairs start to blur before I get the shot off.

On the score keeper targets the center dot is orange and my red dot in the Meopta is much smaller than the targets dot at 100 and my old eyes really like that single dot. Doesn't seem to blur Nd even against the orange I can see that I am holding the red dot centered.

Here is a three shot 3/8" group. One shot by me and two shots by my nine yr old. This was out of my new Savage 110 high Country in 7mm rem mag. Group is by the 10" mark.
40A209EF-55A1-4352-9AF0-C597C321EC06.jpeg
 
Gcan I wrote all those supplements down.I already take some but will get the others.
Now if there was a supplement for hearing loss.......
I need to hang around for several years as I have a 7 year old grandson and a 14 month old grand daughter and my wife of 49 years of marriage still makes me smile.Too much going on to leave now
 
So I shot three more again the next day. I got an 11/16" three shots group on top of the 3/8" group. All six shots went 15/16".
79F0ED8B-22E1-4A5B-8D23-D85291072CCE.jpeg
 
As I get older(pigment dispersion glaucoma and floaters) I really lack in dusk and dawn vision when compared to what I had when I was younger.

So have any of you had the opportunity to compare 3x9, 3x10, 3x12, 3x15, 3x18 etc scopes side by side in low light?

I saw a video on youtube where they guys were saying that the VX 3 and VX 6 Leupold had the same clarity the VX 6 just had a lot of other perks to get it to the price it was at.

I saw a Vortex Hog scope 56mm, but some said their "old" Leupolds were much better in low light.

From what searching I have done the VX 6 3x18 looks awesome but the priceo_O

This is not going to be an ELR scope, but more of a 0-400(0-200 mainly) whitetail scope.
Any first hand preferences on great dusk and dawn scope?
For your intended use I have to second Vol1975 on the Leupold VX-5hd 2-10x42. For twice the price I also have a VX-6HD 2-12x42, and it is fantastic, but not twice as good for the money. I use them both on my moon light coyote/fox guns and they are amazing. The Vortex Razor LH 2-10x40 is also pretty impressive and on close-out now for about $450.
 
So, I figured I would pass this along. Tonight I went to my BIL house. His SIL lives on his farm too. They have a pile of guns and scopes. So for the first time we got to compare his VX5 to my Meopta.
His does have a nice FFP reticle that is all marked in MOA. He loves that for prairie doggin when he goes on trips out west. He isn't a calculate and dope kind of guy. He is a shoot look for dust and then see where to aim kind of guy. Dang good at it too.

Anyway, we shot the **** as the evening wore down and by the time it was dark they were super impressed with how bright and clear my Meopta was on 15 compared to his VX5. His was 15 power on top end too. Even dialed back some it didn't have the low light brightness and clarity.

I had looked through his in the day time and really had no idea how they would look side by side. Thought he might even show me up. So, I felt good at the end of the night that they were super impressed with the clarity and brightness and detail.
Helped me confirm that I made a wise choice as far as dawn and dusk deer hunting goes. Maybe even use this on winter night time coyote hunts.
So the vote was 3-0 on the Meopta being the hands down "wow that is clear and bright" winner.
Again thanks to all who steered me in this direction!!!!!
 
So, I figured I would pass this along. Tonight I went to my BIL house. His SIL lives on his farm too. They have a pile of guns and scopes. So for the first time we got to compare his VX5 to my Meopta.
His does have a nice FFP reticle that is all marked in MOA. He loves that for prairie doggin when he goes on trips out west. He isn't a calculate and dope kind of guy. He is a shoot look for dust and then see where to aim kind of guy. Dang good at it too.

Anyway, we shot the **** as the evening wore down and by the time it was dark they were super impressed with how bright and clear my Meopta was on 15 compared to his VX5. His was 15 power on top end too. Even dialed back some it didn't have the low light brightness and clarity.

I had looked through his in the day time and really had no idea how they would look side by side. Thought he might even show me up. So, I felt good at the end of the night that they were super impressed with the clarity and brightness and detail.
Helped me confirm that I made a wise choice as far as dawn and dusk deer hunting goes. Maybe even use this on winter night time coyote hunts.
So the vote was 3-0 on the Meopta being the hands down "wow that is clear and bright" winner.
Again thanks to all who steered me in this direction!!!!!

Good to hear from you. That's a great way to review scopes. Side by side in real life situations. Good luck this winter ;)
 
Here is an update to this thread I started. Got me a big 150" buck!!!

Well the last night of season with about 5 minutes to go Tackett(my 12 year old) spotted me a nice one. Ok so I lied. He is only 139 3/8". 😁

I checked my watch and said we have about 5 minutes of season left. BOOM! South of us about 1/2 mile a shot went off. Tackett said I better watch the CRP to our south in case a buck comes over that hill. He no more than got that out and he said Dad! Big buck!
So I looked in the CRP with my scope and there he was. I thought he might be decent. Tackett was like, Dad you better shoot he is really nice, at least an 8. Think he is a 10! .....Boom!….Whap!
Down he went! I love WSG and I hate WSG!
By the time we walked the 225 out to where he was it was pretty dark but Tackett spotted him with cell phone light.
He actually had a little ground growth. I was just sure he would end up a 120". Just like spending other people's money Tackett seems to want to burn my buck tag pretty quick like. He seems to be pickier about his. 🤣

I will guarantee that if I hadn't bought this new Meopta Meostar R2 I would not have gotten this buck. At 225 yards in the last few minutes of legal shooting light my old scope would have been completely useless. I love the red dot and the wide variety of intensity settings.

A big thanks to all who pointed me in the right direction in this thread.👍👍👍


dad 2.jpg
dad 3.jpg
dad 1.jpg



This next picture is of Tackett's 166" on the left. Mine is on the right. Of course I didn't take a front view of each. This is the only view where mine looks bigger than Tackett's.

dad 4.jpg
 
LRH strikes again. Comes in thinking $500ish, walks out with a $1800 scope.

I still laugh about this comment. It is so true!!!

Here is part of the reason I decided it was time to spend money to help my old eyes out.
(Click on link below to see why I NEEDED to be able to see)

 
Last edited:
Don't you just envy youth? Ive needed readers for 25 years. Evert few years they got stronger. I've been using 3.0 for a while. I haven't been able to read a text, book or a tv controller for years without them. Recently my doc did some bloodwork and told me I was deficient in lots of minerals. So Ive been on zinc, D3, CoQ, mens multi, C, magnesium and Mic Ultra for 3 weeks. No Idea why or how, but last nite I texted and surfed for hours without glasses. Amazing.
Gcan I know how you feel.
We have a close friend back in Louisiana and she ran a H&R Block for 40 some odd years and her eyes were so bad a 3.0 glasses didn't work anymore so she had the eye surgery and she said she can kick herself for not doing it sooner.
She has around 30 pairs of readers all stacked in places she may need them but don't need them anymore.
I'm thinking about it seriously.
Old Rooster
 
BD69,congratulations on you and your Sons bucks their both beauty's ,great write up also ,buy one optka 6or 5 for your boys to share this way 😉dads is free for him !!!🥳cheers
 
Gcan I know how you feel.
We have a close friend back in Louisiana and she ran a H&R Block for 40 some odd years and her eyes were so bad a 3.0 glasses didn't work anymore so she had the eye surgery and she said she can kick herself for not doing it sooner.
She has around 30 pairs of readers all stacked in places she may need them but don't need them anymore.
I'm thinking about it seriously.
Old Rooster
My problem is pigment dispersion glaucoma. I wouldn't even know I had it or that it was affecting me. Only time
I notice it compared to others is in low light. Best way to describe it would be that it just gets dark 15- 30 minutes earlier than it does for others.

Just like tonight we were driving along and Tackett hollered HUGE buck. It was about 15 minutes of daylight left. All I could see was heavy main beams coming out. Couldn't see tines and he was only 100 yards away but he was in a low dark spot. As he ran up the hill he was 300-400 away but had sun on him. Then I could see the 14" G2's no problem.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 4 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.
Top