Back in 2014, I decided that my eyes had aged enough that it was time to give up my fascination with cheap scopes. I had a bunch of scopes from the 70s onwards that I'd acquired under various circumstances. I doubt I'd paid more than $30 for any of them. Between them and my aging eyes, I'd lost a good 10 minutes of hunting on either side of the day. All I was seeing through the scopes was mud.
I had room to experiment. I bought a Bushnell Elite 3-9X40, a Bushnell Trophy 4-12X40 and a Bushnell Banner 3-9X40, all with the Dawn to Dusk Coatings. Along the way, I compared them to a few other scopes-- Leupolds and the like, and I really couldn't tell the difference. All 3 scopes ended up being just fine. I think the Elite went for $320, the Trophy cost $200+ and the Banner went for well under $100. I successfully hunted with all 3 over the next couple of years. When it came time to buy the next scope, I bought a Banner and at last count, I've purchased 6 more since. I've also now got 2 Banners in 1.5-4.5X32 mounted on shotguns. My sons and my granddaughter now have Bushnell Banners mounted on their deer rifles.
Granted, I'm not all that demanding. Most of the deer I take are shot within 200 yards. Most of my hunting takes place in fairly mild conditions, and I am never more than a half mile away from a warm cabin. Still, I've gone 8 years and I have nary a complaint. All the scopes are easy to adjust and keep their zeroes. I seldom have to make adjustments from year to year unless I'm changing the load.
My question to y'all is this: what am I missing? What would I have gained if I'd doubled or tripled my optics budget?
There's got to be something that my old eyes ain't catching. What is it?
You're a fugking retard.
Cancer isn't going to change that.
