Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 2 Good Reasons For Higher (Variable) X Scopes

Some prefer Fixed,i.e.6X,scopes to Higher (Variable) X scopes.
I'm going to post 2 GOOD reasons for Higher/Variable X scopes.
This guy looks more than just legal to the naked eye or even at modest hunting ranges. However.....at some distance AND broadside
it's a LITTLE different. Those eyeguards can be ALMOST impossible to see.

I killed this guy Dec 4, 2014 at less than 200 yds. I had NO trouble seeing plenty antlers with the naked eye BUT broadside it was another story. In Ark. we have a 3 pt on 1 side rule to be legal.

I HAD to crank my scope UP above 8 X to see 1 eyeguard. He weighed 165 +lbs. He was completely healthy but had run ALL his fat off during the rut. IF you look at his LONG face and the mass in his antlers...he was an older buck.

With a 4 or 6 X scope I would have HAD to pass on him.

This next pic I have already posted in previous yrs but it was the SAME situation. This guy was pushing a doe in a cutover and I had to watch him for several minutes before I could see 1 eyeguard.


This guy weighed 170 something lbs. and at 389 yds you NEED some REAL glass!!!

As you can tell there is no problem in seeing and shooting a legal buck with 4X or 6X scopes. But there ARE times when you need HIGHER magnification to determine a LEGAL buck even when he has PLENTY horn!

i PREFER 4-12X or even 6-18X, although I don't own the latter. Also I have had ONLY 1 variable to puke. It was a 1.5-4X AND I put it on EVERY heavy kicker I played with for a number of years.

Good point, no pun intended. Completely agree.

......or you could just use binoculars to look at things instead of pointing your rifle at them.

CR

Yep.

If you have time to fiddle with scope magnification, or watch the buck chase a doe for several minutes, you have time to use binos.

Some might say that if he's inside 400 yards and it takes 20x to see if he's got 3 points on a side ...

Nice forked horns though-Muddy

I absolutely agree! Most of PA, where, we hunt, went to the same 3pt-on-one-side rule about 10 years ago. In thick timber there are many instances when you only get a quick look at a buck at 100-200 yards. You may only have a couple of seconds to judge the antlers and shoot. We previously used 2-7x scopes and have switched to 3-9x because we had to let so many bucks with lots of antlers walk because we just couldn't be sure at lower magnification.

Yep, I thought that was why we carried binos. I get real worried when I see people using their rifle to glass stuff.

There's a difference between glassing and looking at a deer that's already been identified.

Here is one for ya.

Once, when I was guiding hunters. I had this fella from PA, I was checking out his equipment. I said to him, that's a heck of a scope you have there. (hunter) I like a lot of magnification. "It makes the game closer" (me) Oh really, I didn't know that. (hunter) You should.

Life is such.

Big glass doesn't fit in a saddle scabbard very well.

Okay fellas, I'm going to be nice.
I'll not say how your statements show your ignorance and inexperience at WT hunting in the South or any thicker vegetation. I'll not mention how little time we have MOST of the time in an encounter with a WT buck.

I'll not mention how it takes longer to focus binos than to TWIST the adjustment ring on a variable scope.

Oh! the horror of pointing a rifle at a deer "DURING" deer season!!

WT hunting in many places is quite different than goat hunting on the prairie.

Some things can only be learned thru experience with WT in typical WT habitat.

Please give me credit, I could have been much more critical.

Spot ON!!!

It's easy to distinguish them "that has".....from
them "that has not!"



This man has B T D T !!!

You had several minutes to watch him ? A good 6X rifle scope can show me .30 caliber bullet holes at 200 yds. With a decent 8X binocular, you'd not only see them easily, if you used them right, you'd have had more time to look him over.
I've done lots of hunting in heavy cover for our Blacktails. Here he has to have at least two points in the upper 2/3's of one antler to be legal. You wouldn't believe how many spikes and tiny forked horn bucks we have in some herds.
I've used everything from 2.5-4X B&L's back in the 50's to the 6.5-20X40 Leupold. Trust me, a decent 8-10X binocular beats them all for such jobs. E

Plus a hundert gazillion!

Conversely, after years of nothing but fixed 6x's my last purchase was a 3.5x10 and I have fallen in love with staying well below 6x. Field of view is more of a benefit than higher mag in my woods. All about correct application.

Still love my fixed 6x's but there is room for both in my safe.


Others in your area agree with your logic and it is obviously paying off so by all means stick with it.

Really nice buck. Good shot. Congrats.

This is BS in the type of hunting the OP is talking about. Those bucks are dipping in and out of cover, you better be in the scope once the deer is spotted and ready to shoot when legality is realized or you can kiss that one good by.

Amen!

I just went through my safes of guns and I did find a fixed power K-3 on my single shot 22. Other than that I don't own a fixed power scope. I am happy for all you 4x and 6X users, but I have plenty of power on some of my scopes and more power on all of the rest.

I haven't ever found a situation where a variable was a disadvantage. I have shot 10's of thousands of rounds through variables and only had 2 issues with one particular scope. I haven't found the weak link to a variable and will continue to hunt and kill lots of stuff with them...

Guess I should have used the binos on these first and then shouldered the rifle.






WTH is that?



Or this:



Or this????




Hmmmm????