Optics

[Trm82]

Agree with you , but I've have the two you mentioned, and never have failed me yet, always track perfect, shoot out to 700 which is a little far for making a clean kill I think, and if you want to spent thousands go for it, but if you have 7-12 guns you use and shoot , spending $50,000 for scopes to use on them is a little much don't you think. ?

I agree. Back when I was younger and life was simple I used a tikka t3 in 270 wsm with a bushnell elite 2.5-10 and man did I stack up the game. My biggest trophy's fell to that set up.
Run what you can afford and enjoy your time out there whether it's at the range or in the bush.

 

[Mike D Texas]

Yes, I've heard. I may have even seen some results from some of that testing. I wish the testing was done by 3rd party testing labs to get accurate, unbiased results over a significant sized test group.

Have you seen the tests? I do take the results somewhat with a grain of salt but he is very methodical and repeatable in the way the tests are done and if the scope loses zero or fails to track properly or return to zero; larger sample sizes aren't going to make that get any better.

 

[Mike D Texas]

Not always the Equipment, But always the Operator!

I've killed truckloads of animals back when I couldn't afford quality optics. I've had many Tasco, Simmons and Bushnell scopes over the years, but that doesn't mean they are a quality optic.

If you are a deer stand hunter looking over a feeder or food plot, you probably don't need a higher quality scope. But when you are hunting and shooting at long distance, in varies terrain and varied lighting conditions, you do.

 

[trydab]

i can pay any amount to get my scopes

 

[Mike D Texas]

i can pay any amount to get my scopes

Ok?

 

[Xescane]

Never owned a scope over $500 in 35 years of hunting. The one near that price is a vortex viper hst on a 300 mag that kills coyotes all day out to 700 yards. I've only had one scope go bad and it was a tasco I had hunted with for 20 years. I still have a tasco golden antler on my 243 since 1996. Never missed a shot that wasn't my fault. 99% of animals killed in North Idaho are shot at 200 yards or less anyways.
I simply can't justify spending a ton of money on something that isn't making me money. If your competing sure. If your rich buy something from gunwerks. They cost more than my last pickup. Military guys don't have to buy there's anyways so they can get schmit.

 

[comfisherman]

i can pay any amount to get my scopes

You appeared on 90% of the threads I'm involved in during the last 12 hrs.... with impressive broad knowledge such as this. Guessing post count bump for classifieds pm or a really poorly written large language model...

 

[Sobewan]

Am I the only one who mounts iron sights as a backup? I read of too many hunts ruined by a broken scope.
Some of my rifles have only iron sights.

I used to hunt exclusively with iron sights until a few years ago when I wanted to test my ability to shoot at longer distances. I still keep a couple rifles without scopes for hunting varmints under 150 yds but I have adapted to using scopes more and more. I look for clarity and eye-relief as well as weight in deciding what scopes to buy. So far I am really happy with the choices I have made in the lower tier section ($300-500). I don't abuse my gear so I am sure they will last me as long as I need them and for the distances I shoot (under 600 yd). Hard to justify spending more on a scope when I am just filling a freezer or killing/chasing off unwanted varmints.

 

[KsKevin]

Indeed! I learned this lesson the hard way. Low light evening hunt and I could see the buck of a lifetime through my binos. Threw up my rifle and could not see the deer no matter how hard I tried. Switched back to binos, there he was, this went on until darkness took over and I walked out. The deer was a great 10 pointer with a huge body, who was in no hurry to move on. Next weekend I had the same optics as my binos. You can't shoot what you can't see. I still can remember that incident.

Same issue with a rangefinder. That last 5min of shooting time and he steps into edge of woods but can't get a good read on distance.