Well guys, I appreciate all and I mean all of your replies.
I do a lot of bush hunting at very close ranges, where I don't even take my binoculars. In spring and summer the Red and Sika deer venture out into more open country for the grass. They can be found early morning and evening on river flats, slips and clearings in heavily forested areas at say 70-220 yards, to open tussock country where the distances can be 600-1,000 yards or more. As I use a Sako 85 .308 with a Z6 1.7-10x42 scope, I limit my shooting to no more than 400 yards. If I see a good animal worth shooting at more than that distance, I'll attempt to get as close as I can.
Many deer don't venture out until just on dark, particularly so in well hunted public land. On private land and more remote areas they're naturally less cautious.
My Zeiss Victory HT 10x42 is a very good binocular in low light and very sharp too, but I find the barrels a little too fat for my girly sized hands. I also don't find the eyecups particularly comfortable. Apart from that, I like them. I can hold them reasonably steady up to a point. Not so easy though after hiking up some steep ridge as my recovery rate is nowhere near what it used to be. Still, I always glass from a sitting position unless it's a quick glance while on the move.
A good friend who uses Swaro EL 10x42 Range binos, dropped by tonight. He's a very successful and open minded hunter and he agreed with what shrapnel suggested. I can buy the 8x32 SV and trial them and if I don't want to keep them then I can sell them here in NZ. Swarovski is very popular with hunters here along with Leica. Zeiss less so as the importer seems to concentrate more on Conquest HD scopes. All the high end optics are expensive here so I would probably not lose any money on the 8x32 SV's and probably not on the Victory HT's either as I bought them at a good price from Camerland and I'll no doubt do the same with the 8x32 SV.
Thanks again for your help and hot barrels to you all.
