Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics If money was not an issue?

Mine is the one I have now. A Schmidt & Bender 3-12X40 w/#4 reticle. I've had it going on 16 years now and if I had a chance to buy whatever I wanted again...I'd buy another one. Some guys will dream of a certain scope all of their lives but keep on buying cheaper stuff. You younger guys take heed and buy that dream scope while your young, so you can enjoy it. powdr

DD,

I think the gist of the OP is if someone is buying you a new car gratis and money is no issue, it might be ridiculously pragmatic to pick the Chevy Malibu when the Corvette or Porsche is an option.

Agree. I tell people all the time to buy what you want the first time and it will be cheaper in the long run.

Why? For a 500 yard rifle that you want to walk around and hunt with, I'd dare say that there is no big game animal that you will get with a NF or SB that you couldn't shoot with a Leupie 6x.

Have you encountered situations where you needed the higher-price glass in order to actually harvest game out to 500 yards?

DD,

I think the gist of the OP is if someone is buying you a new car gratis and money is no issue, it might be ridiculously pragmatic to pick the Chevy Malibu when the Corvette or Porsche is an option.

Suppose someone would buy you any scope available for a walk around hunting rifle,whitetails to moose,shots from 10 to 500 yards,what would you pick?

The only stipulation is that whatever you choose,you can't sell it and buy something else with money left over. You have to use your choice for at least the next 5 years for all your walk around-hiking-backpacking hunting.

I'm not using something for the next 5 years unless I've hashed it out and beat it up a bit already. For the 10-500 yards I'll go with what I use now. I'm open to trying lots of stuff to see if it works but I gotta beat on it a bit before I commit...so for me either a 6x42 Leupold or 6x42 SS.

Lot's of $ don't count stuff I'd be happy to try but nothing I want to commit to before using it.

I start laughing every time I see a discussion about this. When I started hunting we all used open sights. Then we had a bid decision to make . K-4 weaver for woods hunting or K-6 for long range. When the Luepold 3x9 was introduced we were in hog heaven. 67.50 for a do it all scope.
My advise is to buy the best glass you can afford. Better to have a 1000.00 scope on a 200.00 rifle than the opposite. Hasbeen

A couple years ago I decided to "trophy" hunt for deer. I decided I wanted a blacktail with antlers wider and taller than the ears with four points on each side. I got out early. There was heavy cloud cover and a mist that first morning. After using my b]BINOCULARS[/b] for a few minutes I found a buck. It was the third or forth place I glassed. I could see the horns were wider than the ears and pretty tall. BUT I couldn't tell if it had four points on both sides. I let the binos go back to my chest and brought up the scope that was set on 5X. I couldn't tell it had five point on both side till it was on 12X.

Then I went to another state. Since I had the "trophy" I was meat hunting. Again I found a deer while using the BINOCULARS. As I was walking to the place I was going to set up my 15X58 binoculars on a tripod a buck came in to view from somewhere. It was a three point on one side area. I could horns, but couldn't tell if it was legal or not. Up came the scope. Again I could not tell it had three points on one side until it was on 12X again. By the time I discovered it was legal I didn't get a shot. It disappeared into a canyon. Later I found one while glassing. But again I couldn't tell if it was legal or not. I put the scope on it and could not tell it had three points until the scope was all the way up to 25X. I was able to get that one.

You see, I don't need a spotting scope since I can check animals I found with the binos because I have a scope adequate for my application. By the way, I almost didn't get to kill the "trophy". If the "trophy" had one more second it would have disappeared into the forest. As it was, it still disappeared at the shot but was lethally hit in front of the right rear ham with the exit right behind the left shoulder. No time for a spotting scope; but time to verify with the rifle scope.

Another one for you. A friend of mine went on a mountain goat hunt with another friend. The guy had 7X binoculars. They found some goats. My buddy got on them with his 6 1/2-20X scope. The other guy watched them for awhile and decided which one he wanted. He put down his binocs and picked up the rifle with a FIXED 4X. Got on the goat and fired. Instantly my buddy cried out, "Why'd you shoot that one?" "It's the one I want," he retorted. "Whadda ya mean? The one you want went over to the left. The one you just killed came out from behind that rock!" In this case and the "trophy" deer case a spotting scope would have been worthless.

This buddy hunts a lot. He used to think like you. Once he found an elk in the timber as he was walking along. He couldn't make out antlers through the timber so brought up his binoculars. It was legal. By the time he got his rifle up he didn't have a shot. Now while walking through the woods while hunting and sees game he verifies the antlers with his rifle scope.

But, hey what do I know? Carry on in all your experience.