i want to hear your opinion. everyone has one

[pressman]

i am fairly new to long range hunting only of about 3 years. i have now purchased a custom built 260 mak. I have upgraded my scope to a Night force 5.5 X 22 X 56 and i have a 4 X 14 X 50 IOR on my custom 223. Now i do live in Indiana but i go to
Wyoming (Sheridan) every year to hunt or just a week of Shooting. on my friends ranch. Now for the problem. I have a 5 year old pare of 10 X 42 Pentex bino's very nice or at least they use to be. last year as i made a set up so i could take a fairly long range shot. this would really be my first long hunting shot. well i found 3 good buck just feeding on the hill side 500 yards away. but when i looked through my bino's to really pick the best one... i actually could not tell which one to shoot... so i has to use my night force scope.. which worked out ok. But now i am thinking of a bino up grade.... wanted to stay in the 1,000 range but i really just don't think I can. buy cheap buy twice is my motto.. so here is where you guys in the field come in. Leica vs swa. or any brand that you have experience with. I would like to stay with the 10 X 42 style just for the compact and feel of things. I know you guys use bino's all the time even for reading the wind. and in a lot of ways you guys are the real deal. not some salesman wanting or needing a commission. clarity is the key. need to be able to count tines.

Thank You

 

[pressman]

no one on this forum has an opinion????

 

[SBruce]

Steiner Night Hunter 10X50 is under $1000, not by much but it is (or was when I bought mine).

Beats my Leupold Gold Ring 10X42s, especially in low light. I've really come to love the IF Binoculars. Steiner is the only company that I know of that currently makes them..........they might even be phasing them out now.? Get em while you can.

Leupold and Steiner are the only Bino's I've ever owned, looked through some swaro's but never bought any.

 

[WyoElk2Hunt]

I use Leupold 8X42 and like them> Lica spotting scope for better look at long range. Usually a good rule is to go to sporting goods store and check out several and pick the one you like, most of them will let you look outside at things.

 

[youngbuck]

Best bang for the buck binos in my opinion is Zen Ray ED2. I didn't believe it until I looked through a pair I purchased. If I needed to buy a pair of binos under 1k, I would definitely look through a a pair, I believe they are around 500 bucks. I prefer them over Monarch ATB, vortex Razor(have yet to see HD version), Zeiss ClassiC. I wouldn't feel at a disadvantage using them over my 10x Geovids if they had a comparable LRF. Sure wish they would come out with some LRF binos. I've spent a lot of time behind glass. They are a steal at 500.

 

[peashooter]

I looked at many brands and bought Swarovski and do not regret the purchase.

 

[Greyfox]

Replaced my Swaros about 4 years ago with Leica Geovids. My buddy a die hard Swaro user, replaced his after trying my Geovids. They all tend to look the same until you get what looks to be a good buck in the shadows. Leica glass is is very hard to beat. I'd say the same for the range finder well.

 

[pressman]

i am leaning toward the lieca myself but i do really know the difference between the geovix and the ultraviz. the one friend i have that has one said go with the ulta??? can anyone explain the difference?

 

[youngbuck]

Geovids have a range finder. Ultravids do not.

 

[cowboy]

I have packed Swaro binocs for over 30 yrs and a hunting partner of mine has Leica's. Neither pair in my opinion will give you detail on horns at 500 yds and beyond. Your current pair of Pentax are not bad binocs - yes there are better but a 8 or 10 power binoc can not hold a candle to a spotting scope. That is what they are made for. We pack a light weight spotter wherever we go and when the binocs find them the spotters come into play.

 

[Pdvdh]

I have packed Swaro binocs for over 30 yrs and a hunting partner of mine has Leica's. Neither pair in my opinion will give you detail on horns at 500 yds and beyond. Your current pair of Pentax are not bad binocs - yes there are better but a 8 or 10 power binoc can not hold a candle to a spotting scope. That is what they are made for. We pack a light weight spotter wherever we go and when the binocs find them the spotters come into play.

Agreed...

 

[Bravo 4]

Keep the binos and get a spotting scope.

 

[royinidaho]

I'm with the binos and spotting scope group!

My eyes suck. I do as well and some times better with a my $29.95 Nikon binos which will fail me the first time they are used in the rain, as with the pricey models.

When things get serious for LR shooting, the spotter is immediately available.

 

[RDM416]

+ 1 for the guys advocating a spotting scope. I glass with either a pair of 10X32 or 10X42 swaro's, but I would give up my swaro's and go with a cheaper bino before I would give up my Zeiss spotting scope. If you really want to be able to judge that whitetail buck at 800, or decide if that elk bull 2 miles away is really worth the effort to go after you simply need more than most bino's can give. Obviously, if you have the coin, a high end pair of bino's and a good spotting is the way to go. For the way I hunt, if I could have only one, I would chose a good spotting scope and a pair of moderately priced bino's. Thats my opinion, for what it is worth....