Do you use 10x binos for Big Game Hunting?

If so, what brand do you use? Specifically looking for what 10x40 or 10x42 type bino you're using.

I'll start with my 10x42 Swaro EL's.

For most of my western hunting I'm using swaro 10x42 SLC's.

Pentax 10x42 dcf wp II.
Good value in a mid range glass.

I use 10x42 Swarovski SLC binoculars in big country. For everything else I use a Nikon Premier LXL 8x32.

Great stuff guys! Thanks a bunch and keep em coming!!

I use a 10x42 Swaro for everything except bird hunting (I carry a Zeiss compact in my shirt pocket for that). I use my binocular extensively year-round for birding, to check out things when driving out here in the sticks, and around the house to check out birds and things out in the adjacent pastures.

Once you get used to using the glass, it's no problem to use it even in thick cover. I use a binocular harness and can wear it all day without fatigue. I prefer it to my wife's 8x30 Swaro for just about any use.

Absolutely yes. Since I purchased my Swarovski 10x42 EL's I've forgotten there is any other Binos in the world.

10x42 Leupold gold ring HDs.

Optically excellent but they're kinda heavy for lugging around. The FOV is pretty limited for still hunting the heavy brush like I do. They are awesome truck 'nocs. I go back to my cheap Nikon 8x20s when I hit the brush. I think a real clear 6-8X is more generally useful as a hunting binocular than a 10X but at the time I didn't have a spotting scope and tried to kill 2 birds with one stone.

Tom

I have used Swaro 10x42's SLC for everything for 10+ years. Saying that though I have a pair of Swaro 10x32 EL's that I am going to use this year.

Dink

I'm curious, what's the reason for the thread?

Big 10X group hug?

I s'spect it's because a lot of "experts" claim that 10X is too big.

Yeah Brad. I'm starting a club.

Thanks again guys!

I use 10x42 swaro SLC's also.

When I want to use a 10x, and I choose a 10 often, it is usually my Leica 10x42.

last season 6x in the woods / most of the time, and 12x when only stand hunting the bigger fields.

Both were fine, and for me (600yds max visibility) the 6x would have been fine.

That said, I have a 10x coming in to add to my stable!

binocs are like guns...

I run my 10*42 EL's about 80% and 20% for my smaller 8*32 Leica UV's.

I've been slumming 10x42 Nikon Monarch ATB's for about 6 years. Keep telling myself I need to save up and get something better but honestly they are good enough for me. Of course I haven't compared them to the really high dollar chit either so I don't see what I'm 'missing'....grin

10x40 Zeiss Classics for me!

8x40 Zeiss Conquest and Minox Porros 10x40

Leica 10x42 UV's most of the time. Just purchased the Vortex Viper 6x32's. I'm very impressed with them so far. Will be toting them in my pack this year as well.

Sorta. My Nikon 7-15X35 has a 10X in there somewhere. They work like a champ.

i use Leupold 10x42 GR HD's.

Last pair I'll ever buy.

Leica 10x50 Trinovids for me.

Really? Who are these experts?

10x52 Minox for me..............

raghorn,

what does that weigh?

Zeiss Victory 10x42s here. Worked well for p-dog hunting in SoDak.

Quite perceptive!

I like to talk about what I have too! I was going to mention my Switch Power binoculars but you caught us.

10x42 SLC HD's, or 10x42 Gold Ring HD's.

It's a miracle you kill anything with that old crap........

+1

Tried all the rest and found I liked these best!

Not really sure what your point is there Savage, but thanks for your input. Maybe you could clarify.

Thanks for all of the replies guys! I have a couple products on the design table related to high end optics. Just trying to see what numbers of certain types of glass are out there in your hands. Thanks again!!

Savage never really has a "point".




haha, no kidding. I'm a little bit bummed I won't be able to see many birds this year, while I wait for a big buck to show himself! haha

I hunt with 10x42 Swaro new SLC and Zeiss Classic 8x30.

Minox 10x52 HG for me!

If you're looking for mites on a sparrow's azz you're screwed!

If you gave me a 10X42 Sawro EL, I'd sell it and buy something more reliable.
BTW, I've been known to hunt with my 12X50 Leica BN. Wish I could afford a 20X60 Zeiss IS. Now that's big and heavy. E

E my man, thx for the afternoon chuckle...

Dober

Sell it and help pay for that frontal lobatomy...

Thats too funny! I've had mine since EL's first came out and never had an issue.

Same here.

Vortex Sidewinder 10x42. No hugs needed.

E:
Your dislike of Swarovski is well-known here, but your ignorance is showing, the Swaro. EL. is
one of the best binoculars made. I suppose that means your recs. here do not mean much.

What is it all about ?? Get a life.

Usually either 8x20 Leica Ultravids or 6x32 Leupold Katmai. I like to go lite.



I've had numerous high end Alpha glass but I enjoy the Leupolds more than any other binoc I've owned for the combination of weight, size, FOV, dusk viewing and optical quality.

I have two pair of the Minox HG 10x43 BR's one for myself an another pair for the wife.

Tim

Minox 10X43HG's

10x42 Leica Ultravid (pre HD) and 10x42 Zeiss FL's with Lotutec. Can't decide which one I like more so I run both. It's also nice to have two around in case your buddy is in need of borrowing good optics on a hunt.

Canon 10x42L image stabilized binos. Pure magic. Love 'em to death. If I lost ALL my junk, I'd have to buy another pair. They're addicting.

I have pretty much always had a 10X of some type around.For the last 3 years I've been using a 10x42 Leica UV HD.

10x42 Bushnell Legend Ultra HD.

Hi,

For the last 30 years I have used 10x40 / 10x42 binoculars for all my big game hunting and general use.
My first really good binocular was a Swarovski Habicht 10x40 WA. After 20 years of really hard use it was stollen. Then 2001, a Leica Trinovid BA 10x42. I sold it to buy a Zeiss Victory FL 10x42 in 2005. In 2008 I bought throught e-bay an almost new (made in 2003) Swarovski Habicht 10x40 WGA for an incredible price. These last two are my present general porpouse binocular. Great both!!! Nice examples of the last tecnology, and the great old way to make a binocular to last a lifetime. And then some more.

PH

Yes, 10x40 Swarovski Habicht, porro prisms, bought new in Austria in 1982. Still superb. Had a pair of Leica 10x40 roof prisms, didn't like them near as much, so they went down the road and I've stuck w/ the old Swaros.

When I want really light weight, I default to some older Nikon Nippon Kogaku 8x30s from the late 60s. Also superb resolution, and very compact and light. I also really like a similar pair of Nippon Kogaku/Nikon 9x35s of about the same vintage. Great glass, when you can find them, at great prices.

I like 10x for big game hunting as well. Maybe my eyes aren't as good as others, but it takes at least 10x for me to get a descent idea of the animals head gear.

Seems like with lower powered optics I can just tell if it's a buck/bull/tom or a doe/cow/hen when they are way out. 10x seems to give me a much better idea if they are worth chasing or not.

I own and use 8X and 10X. I've never had too much magnification for my hunting here in southwest AK, but when I lived on the east coast 8X was ample from treestands and the "40 acre" homestead.

Wait, did somebody say that if they were given swaro 10x42 ELs they'd return them for something more reliable? Or did I just dream that? Either way, it was pretty funny.

Talk to Phil Shoemaker. He's an Alaskan Guide and hunts in some of the toughest conditions imaginable. He owns two pair of Swarovski bino's.

10X42 Swaro SLC's. Had them 15 years

Added a par of the older Swaro 7X30's last year (good price,so I bought)which I really like as well.

Still use the 10X42's more

Funny, my Leica 12x50bn's have been sent back to Leica two times for repair of a [bleep] focal adjustment that went crazy both times (no fault of my own and a charge of $250). My Swaro EL 8.5x 42 have taken a beating over 7 years and are working properly to this day.

What has been your personal experiance with the Swaro EL series E ?

Good luck with that.......

Sure do, 10X42 SLCs. Great binos. I just bought a pair of 8X30 SLCs from Doug (AT A GREAT PRICE) to complement them. And when range finding is critical, my 8x42 Leica Ultravids. Great binos but heavy. jorge

That's a great suggestion RD. While you are at it fellas, ask him about all the Swaros he's seen fog over the years. As opposed to the numbers of Leicas, Nikon LX's, and even the Leupold Yosemites.
If you guys want to spend that kind of money on binoculars that are that flimsy in construction as the EL's and have a track record of fogging like the Swaros do, be my guest. I'm still waiting for somebody to give me one so I can sell it.....
I've never owned a Swaro. That's because I listen to those I trust with more expereince than I do as to what to buy and why. That has worked out very well BTW. E

They don't make tools hard enough for E's hard head!!

I hunt with Leica 8x32's.

That said, since making trips to Eastern Washington where the open country makes it unlikely to get within 200 yds of deer, I am in the hunt for a pair of 10x bino's. I borrowed a pair of 10x's last year, and for the life of me, I cannot figure out how experts can disparage them with a straight face. Like a lot of things in life, you have to get what works for you. You don't have to please anyone besides yourself, especially when you're spending your own money.

If 10x's get it done for you, go for it!

If you like 12x's don't feel guilty by the criticism from a guy who gets it done with 6x's.

I've asked Phil what he owns these days and as far as Swarovski's are concerned, he owns EL's and SLC HD's. I trust what he says. Personally, I don't care what happened years and years ago. I do the same thing when purchasing a car or truck. Take Porsche for instance. World dominance in endurance racing, yet I'm sure if I searched hard enough I could find an isolated incident of a blown transmission. It's irrelevant in the big picture.

I do think Swaro's are a touch "softer" than Leica's, but after Leica, Swaro is what I'd own... and have in fact owned a couple of SLC's that always served me well.

I think most of the Swaro criticism is BS...

CNBC did a story on the Remington 700 and their triggers........I wouldn't own one now..

Back to the original question, no.

I carry 8x42's, if I need more power than that I have a pair of big eyes and a spotter depending on the country and what I'm hunting.

I prefer the wider FOV, more relaxed image, and the less shake off hand of 8's.

I have nothing against 10x and one of my best hunting buddys carries 10x42 Swaro's because he prefers 10's, I just like slightly lower power bins better.

I hunt alot of country where you measure the distance you can see and spot game in miles instead of yards and I would still take 8x or even 7x for my around-the-neck bins over 10x any day.

YMMV

Bill

Can I get your permission to repeat this story 500 times ?

Sure can!

My oldest Swaro is a 20-year-old 10x42 SLC. It has been back to Swarovski twice: first for a diopter adjustment at about five years of age and last year for a new prism (after being run over by a Jeep). The first trip was no charge and the bino came back looking like new. The trip last year was $250 for repairs and (once again) the bino came back looking like new. For the first 12 years, I carried this glass every day, either on the seat of my truck or in a bino harness.

The second oldest is an 8x30 SLC that I bought for my wife about six months after I bought the 10x42s. It has never had a problem despite having been ripped off of her shoulder by a limb and then run over by a Polaris 500 ATV that was following her. She carries it in her truck everywhere she goes and refuses to put it in a case of any kind.

Third is a nine-year old 10x42 EL that has accompanied me on trips to Namibia, Alaska and most of the western states. It spent two weeks with me on Kodiak with rain and/or fog every day and the temperature hovering in the 30s and 40s. No problems so far...

Right now, the outside temperature is declining from a high of 99 today with relative humidity which bottomed out at 5%. If any of these binos were going to fog or leak due to a failure of the seals, it would have happened long before now. Our climate is hot and dusty, not ideal for optics. You could argue that a sample of three is pretty small, but the dealer that I bought mine from has sold almost 100 different Swaros over the last twenty years and only two have been returned for warranty service (mine and one other).

Pretty good stuff right there mudhen. Hard to argue with that.

Don't hold your breath, no one is going to give you a set.

Good to see you get all of your information from listening to one guy and living in a vacuum - keep being ignorant, odviously (that's how you spell it) it's worked for you thus far.

Nikon Premier SE 10x42, have served me well over the years.Yes, I know that they are not 'waterproof'. I have never had a problem

Leica's 10x42 Ultravids is what I always grab!

First year I went to Zimbabwe I used 10x42 Swarovski SLC's for the next 7 trips I went up to 10x50 Swarovski SLC's for better early morn late evening use. While they are heavy I have worn them for everystep I have taken on safari and that's a lot of steps. Most reliable Binoculars i've ever had. Used a fine old pair of Bausch & Lomb 9x35's till someone wanted them more than me and relieved me of them. Replaced them with a pair of 8x30 Swarovski SLC's but missed the higher power glasses.

I use Nikon Premier LXL 8x32 for bird hunting and I Pentax 10x42 dcf wp II for other.

My eyes seem to like Zeiss. I have 10X42 FL Victory binocs and I like them. I could have gone with Swaros but I have stayed with Zeiss stuff. Both my spotters are Zeiss as well.

There are no flies on Swaros, Leica or even the upper levels of Nikons. Different people have different eyes. I think that you get what you pay for with top notch glass.

Sincerely,
Thomas