Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics What Binoculars would you suggest for Yellow Stone National Park

i agree with glacier john on his nikon se evaluation, but they arent likely to be in your budget range even if you were lucky enough to stumble upon one...however, if you arent going to be packing them over hill and dale all day, look into a swift audbon 820 (8.5x44)....if you ask a birder, both of the mentioned bino's will likely come up...both have outstanding optics IMO

Just get you some 8x or 10x Nikon Monarchs and you will be good to go.They will work just fine.

the 7x36 ZEN ED2 is often overlooked binoculars. I didn't realize how great it is until a friend of mine showed me his pair that he bought after checking out my 8x ED2.

so far 20 or so different binoculars have been suggested(?) meaning beauty is in the eye of the beholder....if you are fortunate enough to live near a cabelas, bass pro, gander, etc. go down and start looking through what your budget can afford and start working your way down in price...i suspect a $100 difference in glass wont be all that easily detected and you'll get what YOUR EYES like vs. what all of us posters like..another consideration you might want to think about, though there is some risk, a $250-$350 budget can often get you a $400,$500,$600, ?? dollar binocular if you go the used route..

LFD, my family (me, wife, and two teenaged daughters) went to Yellowstone last summer. We were there for a few days, camping at Canyon Village. Did a little hiking and a lot of driving through the park (tough to get teenaged girls to do a lot of hiking!).

Anyway, I took my entire "arsenal" of binocs (mostly purchased from Doug/Camera Land, by the way), which included Minox HG in 10x52, Vortex Diamondback in 8x42, Minox 6.5x32, and Leupold Yosemite in 6x30. I like all of them and use them a lot, mainly for various hunting trips as well as other uses.

On the trip, I wanted a pair for everyone to use; we kept most of them on the dashboard. I have to say that when I was choosing, I found myself almost always going for the 10x Minox, especially when viewing from the car and even when taking short hikes. I really like having the extra magnification and had no problem holding them still or dealing with the extra weight.

I got a kick out of this--one day we were driving and came around a bend only to see a dozen or more vehicles pulled over to the side of the road, with lots of people standing and looking at something in the distance. Turns out it was a grizzly on the side of a small mountain, maybe 800 yards or so away. I was using the Minox HGs, throughly enjoying the view. A guy next to me had some smaller binocs (Tasco, if I recall correctly) he was using. I said, "hey, try these for a minute" and handed him the Minox. He looked through them and said, "holy @$%!, these are amazing!" That made me feel pretty good.

Anyway, I think just about anything these guys have recommended will serve you well. I just prefer the bigger glass.

By the way, we arrived in the Park on the Fourth of July and that night it was about 30F where we were camping and then it snowed the next night, so I would encourage you to be prepared for all types of weather conditions.

I've been very happy with 8x30's in all of my travels. Mine are Zeiss Conquests and are always with me. My father has a pair of Minox BV 8x42's and they were in your budget last time I looked. I'd say give Doug at Cameraland a call and tell him your budget and he won't steer you wrong. I'd say look at Minox, Vortex, etc.

Cameraland, Minox BD 8x32.

call doug at cameraland. I got a pair of Zenray ZRS HD 8x42 and was very happy with the pair.