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

I mostly still hunt with a scope and I always have my Leupold BX-3 8x32 Mojaves with me. I don't like the idea of identifying something by pointing my rifle at it.

I still hunt Pacific Northwest tree farms for blacktails, elk, and bear. I always use binos. My favorite pair were Leica 7x42s but I sold them to raise money during a divorce. I have a pair of 8x32 Leicas now but prefer the 7x42.


Okie John

I have an old and well worn set of Pentex 8x24 compacts that aren't great light transmitters, but they work well enough from dawn to dusk, allowing me to pick a buck out of the background. Like everyone has said, the binos allow you to see through the woods in much greater detail.

Another vote for the Leupold 6x Yosemites/Kowas. I like 6x because I can one-hand them and they're steady enough, gun in the other hand ready to rock. I use them for checking sign I don't want to walk over to and looking for deer in brush while still-hunting. Tracking, I use them if the buck leaves the thick stuff and crosses open hardwoods. Can't tell you how many times they cross open hardwoods then turn to watch their back track and catch me coming out of the spruces across a bowl. Also, if he looks like he's going to bed or starts feeding. I wouldn't be without them.

I always have a pair of Nikon 10x25 handy. Binos let you see into heavy brush in a way your eyes can't.

I don't hunt anywhere or anyway without my binos. 8.5x42 ELs. I heard the virtues of a smaller bino for woods hunting here on the Fire so I tried some Nikon monarch 7s 8x30. I couldn't warm up to them so I went back to the larger ELs. I primarily hunt in the eastern woods. I see many more deer when Im on the glass than not. More importantly I see them way sooner with binos.

I have had these Leupold 6x32 Katmai binoculars for a long time. I really should use them more, i have spotted so many deer with them that I normally would have not seen. The thing I like about them is how you “penetrate” the cover. As I get older, my focused vision gets more one dimensional, I only focus on one object at a time. Using the optic, I see deep into the cover, viewing everything, near and far. They are especially useful for me when I’m looking into a stand of spruce or cedar, to my naked eye it almost looks like a black curtain, but with the binoculars I see much deeper. The reason I don’t use them as much as I should, is they just feel awkward around my neck, I guess I never used them enough to be comfortable with them as part of my gear. I think I’ll seriously rethink that. Great topic!

IMHO there is a big difference between still hunting and tracking. Sneaking up on something that may or may not be there compared to knowing he is in front of you but where. By the time you finish dinking around with binoculars to see a buck you’ve tracked for 4 hours and is now 30 yards in front of you in green growth, the game is over.

I use binoculars when I’m still hunting or sitting. Never tracking

YMMV

I would agree with JDK. I've attempted but never successfully tracked one, binoculars are used way less, and often not at all. So many opt to not carry the extra weight/gear. If you see that buck your rifle is coming up not your binos. But for me when I hit the open hardwoods or a large cut I like to see if he's standing on the far side looking back at me or standing there and I can't spot him with my eye so for me the binos are worth it then. Some people don't worry too much about bumping him they'll just keep after him until.......

Unfortunately tracking snow during deer season is becoming rare even in places like northern Maine, so my forays turn more into a still hunt usually, with an early morning and end of the day hour sit.