Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting New England trackers and still-hunters.....do you recommend binoculars?

Never owned a pair of binoculars. I see some whitetail deer trackers use and recommend binos, while others don't seem to use them. Even guys that use iron sights.

Just wondering if any of you still-hunters or trackers use and recommend them?

essential gear imo for use in stillhunting imo, at least for me.

What size and pair do you use and recommend?

I carry a tiny monocular.

I carry a pair of 8x32 Meopta's in my pocket or on the plain old neck strap tucked inside my coat when I am on foot. I have also checked out the Maven 6x32's as well, thinking those might be real nice.

I always carry some type of bino regardless of how I'm hunting. If I'm tracking/still hunting in the ADK I will have a compact pair of 8X Leupold Yosemite under my jacket. They weigh nothing and don't interfere with shooting. I may not use them much but when you need them you'll be glad you have them.

I keep "borrowing" the 6X Leupolds I bought my boys. I have found them WAY more useful in tight cover than I expected to. So much so I am thinking I need a pair of my own. Gonna take a hard look at the Kowa version.

Mule Deer, and maybe some others, have pointed out that higher-powers tend to make stuff “pop” by virtue of the shallower depth of field. Comes at the price of size, weight, and brightness. I carried a Leupy cheapo 6x for a long time, but now have a Sightron 8x32, and use it or the Vortex 10x42 was a Christmas gift some years back. I usually just stuff them inside my outer layer on a harness.

I can’t imagine deer hunting without binoculars no matter what terrain I expected to encounter.

I'm a tracker. I track desert mule deer. I own two 6X, one 6.5X IF, three 8X, one 9X, and one 12X. If I want to see deer before they see me, I need to use binoculars. They allow me to see through cover. I prefer the cheap Leupold, 6X30 Yosemite. For still hunting, a more powerful 8X works better.
The other advantage to me is the ability to see small branches and twigs that can deflect a bullet.
The bucks I hunt are at least 4yrs. old. That means they know how to survive hunters. Trying to hit one as they duck and dodge through cover is really tough. I've got far more stories about the ones that got away than those that I got. Binoculars give me an edge that I really need. E

Still-hunt? Sure. Whatever fits you well.

Tracking? Nope. The lighter my gear the better off I am.

Like the saying goes “don’t leave home without it”

I stillhunt with iron sights and always have a pair of Kowa Genny 8X33s on my chest.
If I was looking for a pair of binos specifically for this use in my thick NE woods, I'd be looking hard at Maven B.3 6x30s. I'm thinking about getting a pair also, because they'll slip easily in and out of vertical chest coat pocket, allowing me to leave the harness at camp, and travel lighter. K.I.S.S.

Rick Young bino harnesss is the way to go.


https://rickyoungoutdoors.com/basic-ultra-light-bino-harness/

This

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I take them with me on every hunt. Archery treestand sitting, or rifle season sneaking.

In Maine I use a small pair of compact Leica's, think they're 10x25s. Small, light and I hardly know they are there. Sometimes you come to openings or cuts that it's good to look over before you go trudging through there. Or see something in heavy stuff that could be an antler or could be a branch, nice to know which. In PA usually use a full size pair unless I'm covering ground, then the Leica's.

I would rather forget my gun, than my binoculars when going hunting.