Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Which Binoculars do I want for western hunting?

Damn. I'm a member of that demographic.



If I use a stick, when I close my eyes and jerk the trigger, I don't miss near as much.

I have 8x30 and 10x42 premium glass......
If I was going to put on lots of miles and just wanted a "rack"......8's would do.
If I was going looking for only a big rack? 10's would be the minimum..... and a spotter. YMMV.

'slave,

How are you using your 10x's? Can you effectivelly glass off hand or are you mostly mounting them on a tripod?

David

That pretty well covers it.

A tripod is not needed for 10x binos. Something I've noticed about folks who see too much wobble in 10xs is they don't get themselves stable. They just stand there wobbling around in the wind trying to glass.

Lean on a tree. Hold the rim of your ball cap with both index fingers. Adjust the bino straps to provide some tension at viewing height. Sit down. Simple little techniques that work, which apply whether one is using 10x or 6x binos.

David,
I sit.

David,

I use a 10x42 exclusively, and while glassing can be done effectively from field positions for a while, eventually the minor shaking and vibrations start to tire the eyes. It's amazing how much more detail you can see with the bino mounted on a tripod, simply due to the elimination of the vibrations. Try it. You'll like it, especially for prolonged glassing sessions.

prairie_goat,

Quick question- have you tried using a 10x bino mounted on a tripod?

I just returned from a western hunt and used a pair of 8x42s. I prefer the 8x for overall general use. If I was going to use a tripod I'd rather have 10x, but I rarely do so prefer the 8x. I did compare the 8x vs 10x of the same manuafcturer on the trip and didn't notice any real advantage of one over the other. I could get by fine with either but like the subtle differences of the 8x.

It is tough to agree with you for several reasons, you are considered more of a Northern hunter rather than a Western hunter, most of the time you are either wrong or overly bias. on this topic I must agree with you 100%, only problem is most of the time my 15x56's are already on the tripod(-:

Yes. It works, but if I�m going to the trouble of carrying a tripod, it�s attached to a spotting scope or set of Big Eyes.

yup...

It was a joke David. Sorry it came across wrong.

Just finished Washington state elk season with a friend of mine and he had a pair of 8x32 swaros and I had my 12x50 swaros. When we were glassing he would see an elk at about 800 yards and then I would burst his bubble and tell him it was a rock or butt of a fallen tree. And even in the trees I can focus past the close stuff and focus on an object through the trees to see if it is hair or wood. Don't like packing a spotting scope where we hunt to much up and down and weight, which my friend learned this year can be your worst enemy.

David,

Don't know why you inferred I was glassing "offhand" with 10-powers all the time. I don't, any more than the rest of the hunters who've suggested at least 10x. Though I don't find them a handicap at shorter ranges when glassing without a rest, either.

Right now, however, I am guessing from various comments that some of the people who are strong proponents of 8x do a lot of their glassing unsupported, and at relatively close distances. (I may be wrong, but that's my guess.) One reason is the comments on the greater depth of field of 8x binoculars. This is true, but only to a limited extent. At any distance where you really need to sit down and glass the landscape, the depth of field of either 8x or 10x binoculars is infinite.

In addition, many years ago the late John Wootters said he actually preferred higher-magnification binoculars for hunting in the thick brush of his native Texas. The reason? Their shallower depth of field. He found he could "fuzz out" intervening brush, and often find bucks he couldn't have seen in lower-X binoculars because too much brush both in front and behind the deer remained in focus. I tried it, and as with most things having to do with deer hunting, John was absolutely right.

MD,

I know that's not the only way you use your bino's, I'm focusing on it because that's what I'm most concerned with - maybe I shouldn't be. A large part of the problem maybe my lack of experience in open country hunting.

I have done quite a bit of what I call stalk hunting. I walk very slowly and quietly 5 or 10 yards, stop scan 270deg with my eyes, then again with a more detailed scan with my Bino's. Repeat. Hunting like this I find the 10x significantly less useful than 6x, a large part of the reason is image shake. From a stand where I can prop up, it's not hard to use 10x, and on some of the more open stands I've had where I could see a long way, the 10x's are an advantage.

I assumed that most open country hunting is a blend of the above. Perhaps walking faster/further without stopping, but still periodic glassing, until a likely vantage point is reached for a more detailed search. I was assuming the detailed search meant a spotting scope.

Dacid

Darn. Now I'm going to have to throw out my 8x32 EL Swaros ;-)

It's a good thing I'm addicted to good optics as I don't see any problem with getting all of; a pair of 8x32's if you need to be nice and light, a pair of 10x42s and a spotter. I've found with optics as with many other things, until you try them for yourself, by buying them and spending time with them (not just looking through), you really don't know what works for you.

My philosophy which I would recommend to the OP is pick something in high quality glass, for the features important to you (e.g. lightweight = 8x32, more mag 10x42). Get something that will have great resale if you sell eventually. I like to buy for life but often you found something that just does not work for you.

You guys have me convinced to buy a pair of 10x42 ELs. I'm afraid if I do I will love then and will come up with reasons to hang on to both the 8x32 and 10x42 :-(

My current philosophy is 8x32 ELs + ATS 65mm spotter. Going to try it out real soon and report back on how it worked for me.

David,

Some hunters do indeed use a spotting scope for a detailed search, especially at longer distances. But searching for long periods is much more comfortable with binoculars than a scope, because your eyes are much more relaxed when both can remain open and looking. (I do sometimes use a scope for long-distance searching, but leave a piece of tape on the scope, which I place across the left lens of my glasses when glassing for long periods. This allows me to leave both eyes open, rather than squinting with my left eye, but it's still not as comfortable as using a binocular.)

Normally, if I find deer with at least a 10x binocular, and if I can't tell exactly how big it is, or the deer I find is a doe and a buck might be nearby but semi-hidden, I then use the spotter. (It would be nice to always hunt country where it's always immediately apparent exactly how big a buck is in 8x binoculars, or where big bucks always are out in the open where both antlers are totally visible, but for some reason that doesn't always happen to me.)

There are many areas where your "stalk" hunting works very well for mule deer, but in more open areas it's not as effective. This is why my 8-12x Leica Duovid is my favorite all-around big country binocular. It might seem a little heavy to people used to light 6x to 8x binoculars, but evidently I long ago became immune to those thoughts, because I've found a slightly "too heavy" binocular far more effective than a too light binocular.

But it's also why I suggested in two of my previous posts that you bring both a smaller binocular and a big one on your hunt. One or the other will probably be more useful in whatever country you're hunting. If you can only afford one really good glass, I'd suggest you make it the more powerful one, and bring one of the smaller binoculars you already own for the other--probably the one you already prefer for your stalk hunting.

canoetrpr,

Some people think I have too many binoculars, but among them are both 8x32 and 10x42 EL's. I love them both--and find uses for both!

But if I could only own one it would be the 10x42, because there are many times when I can see stuff clearly through it that I wouldn't see as clearly with the 8x32. Sometimes that's because the object is farther away, sometimes it's because the light is dim, and sometimes it's because of both.

Been there and bought the t-shirt. I won't be without both from here on out.
And, you need a 6x too.

I haven't had a problem with 10x42s yet but maybe I'm doing something wrong.

Tanner

heck with the 6x's. You really need to round out yer spotter collection to match the binoc's.

Think Big and Little.....

grab the 80mm spotter to go along with the 65.