What binoculars and power are you all using for hunting and scouting in open country

[chesney14]

I have had Swarvos for about two years and recently purchased the new Leupold BX-4 Pro Guide 8x42. The Leupold Bino is exceptionally clear and works well in low light. Considering I got them on sale for 499 at Midway had i had the opportunity to compare when I bought my 1900.00 Swarvos I would have gone with the Leupold. I also have Vortex and they are very overrated,never again on vortex scopes or binos. optics is a strange business and everyone has to make their own choice.

 

[PNWdude67]

And LOL - with these old eyes - I will check out 12x next time in a sports store.

The trade off is usually light transmission/clarity and width of field.

Yep. You can buy light and clarity but you can't buy Field of view in high power. When scanning an area looking for game I still believe I spot more animals with my old 8x32 swaro set. Then break out the spotter if a closer look is warranted. Maybe as I get accustomed to the 10x42 i will feel differently.

 

[Mike Matteson]

OMG, where do you people Hunt that you need to use Binoculars for hours or for more than 2 minutes?

Nev, Col, Mt, Az, Wy, Mex-ifornia,. I wonder what you have missed? It's takes a long to time to take a far side of hill apart for bedded down animals. The one hunter in Nev looked about 10 min. Didn't see a thing. My son and I saw somewhere around 100 deer bedded down. He could have seen all of them from where he stood from. I will add he was in Hunter Orange from head to toe. With 15x50 I can look over a mile and see things. I don't like, but have a spotting scope too.

 

[bthemongrel]

I realize that these binoculars are not in the price line, you are stating, but. I sit and glass for hours, and use a tripod to do that work. I now use two sets of binoculars. 10 x 50 Swarovski and 15 x 50 set. I would say on the one side of the binoculars be ? x 50 glass. I find more game and do less walking. I don't scare the game off either. In Nev., I was teaching my oldest son to use his field glasses. We had four herds of Muley bedded down and looking them over up to 1000yds away. Another hunter showed up on the opposite side of the small valley. He looked for about 10 minutes, and walked off. He later stop by our camp and talked to one of our group, and stated about the lack of deer in the area. He missed 5 groups of deer bedded down for a total of about 100 deer. So you have to look near and far. The better the glass the farther you can see. We almost missed the fifth group that was below us. The way I train him and my youngest son was have them look along side of me. When I spotted a deer or group I would say sometime about it. They would look and look. Coming back at me saying there isn't any deer. I would cut down the area they needed to look at, and wait. If needed close the area to look even smaller area. If it was herd for deer,I kind of did the same thing. Then I would make them tell me how many deer there, and how many bucks were there too. They learn and they got there count correct. The hardest thing is to make yourself to stay in one spot and glass. You be surprised and what you will see.

I use Steiner 10x50 military/marine porro prism. Get better depth of field compared to roof prism. Around $500. Take a look through them and you'll be surprised!

 

[Mike Matteson]

Any binoculars are better than nothing. Learning to use them is the next step, and that's the hard part. Taking the time to really look.

 

[Mram10us]

EL 12x50s here. Most guys i hunt with use 12 or 15s.

 

[Thomas Culver]

I've had the Maven B.2 11x45's for 4 years now and have been extremely pleased with them. I carry them in a Kuiu carrier and it is a great setup. I also can throw them on the tripod, but I typically hand hold to find game, then use the spotter on the tripod to see if it's something worth going after.

 

[Bruce Jarrett]

I have leica hd-b 10x42. After years of using a pair of $300 Brunton binos I decided it was time. Its nice having the rangefinding capabilities in them also. I got a good deal on them. A little over 2k. I can't even look through less quality glass now though. Nikon fieldscope ed is basically useless now. I also have canon 15x50 image stabilizer binos. Haven't used them since I got the leica. I'm sure there are better but these work for me and my hunting style.

I use Leica 10x50's with range finder. If I was to consider another option it would only be Swarovski

 

[300grains]

Zeiss 8x30 and Kahles 8x42 rf

 

[cantfixstupid]

Swarovski el Range 10x42, nothing else compares, it's a bite out of the piggy bank, but worth the bite, easy to carry, easy to hold up to the eyes and the clarity is second to none, and the range finder is good to 1500 yds.

 

[tomsd]

Swarovski el Range 10x42, nothing else compares, it's a bite out of the piggy bank, but worth the bite, easy to carry, easy to hold up to the eyes and the clarity is second to none, and the range finder is good to 1500 yds.

Any idea if one can pick up Demo models that are a bit discounted - as with some other Binos ?

 

[Flatbow]

No mater what you go with just keep in mind that any power over 10x you will want a tripod. Also, if you are glassing for any length of time.

 

[Swiftkill]

8.5 swaro EL. I tried 8.5s and 10s for about a month, side by side. The 10s magnify more moisture in the air and shake more. Out to 2000 yards there was barely any difference in magnification value in identifying animals. But the vibration and magnified water made the 10s worse. Having a dead solid rest for the 10s help. I wanted binos i could use for everything, theater, birding, close in and far. The 8.5s give a wider FOV. I use them for prairie dog shooting and can easily spot the little doggies at over 1000 yards, mostly beyond shootable distance (on average).( I know some of you have shot PDs at 2000 yards!. Lol). Looking through 10s, on your elbows, for 10 hours, with mirage, is no fun. 8.5s are much better, imho. Also, lesser mag allows more light to enter for low light. However, i have 10s also, but less expensive. If you only have one choice, id go 8 or 8.5. Or 9 if you can find that. I have zeiss 7x42 BGATs which are awesome and i was never hindered by the 7s. I got the swaros 25 years after the zeiss. BTW, the zeiss are up for sale. I can only use so many at one time. Glass is like new. Immaculate. $1500.

 

[Lnewton]

I am sure you have either made a decision or are about to but if you are still searching, check out this article: www.rmef.org/elk-network/making-the-most-of-your-eyes/. May help you in your decision.