Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Scope for Moose hunt

I decide to buy a SAKO Finnlight .300wsm for my moose hunt and possible western hunt in the next few years.
I like the Swarovski or Schmidt and Bender because of clarity and generally buy used or demo's.

The question is what power and do I get a slimmer scope or go an extra inch to reach out a little more.

I built a rifle for moose hunting in Vermont, which is generally going to be shots within 200 yards, never exceeding 300-ish. I chose the S&B Zenith 1.1-4x24 with FD9 reticle. The scope has excellent optics, the reticle is very fast, and reticle subtensions allow for relatively easy holdover estimates out to 400 yards. The turrets also have a ring that is re-settable to zero so it is easy to adjust your zero to obtain different MPBR for different terrain. I like the scope so much I purchased two more - one for my bear gun, and another for a brush gun I am putting together.

Nice.
I didn't consider this scope, I was looking at the 3-12x42 and Swarovski 3-9x42.
I like the #9 reticle, have it on my slug gun in 4x.

I have a S&B 1.5-6x 42 I just took off a rifle (sold the gun) and looking to sell it.

How is it out to 200 yards or more, although I don't think we will be shooting past that; you never know.

Thanks, you opened my eyes.

The 1.5-6x42 Zenith is my favorite hunting scope made, but the 1.1-4x24 seems a bit faster to shoulder and generally on moose you want to make sure you are aiming at the exact correct spot (don't want to zoom too much and have a FOV full of hair). I also find the 1.1-4 doesn't tunnel below 2x like the 1.5-6 does.

As for how it performs at distance, I personally have no problem making hits on 10 or 12" plates out to 600 yards or so with 4x, but that is very specific to the shooter. For example, I generally set my scopes between 8 and 10 power to shoot silhouettes at 1000 yards...at the same time you will have other shooters insist they need 25x min. YMMV.

I’d go with a little more magnification. 2-7, 2.5-8 something like that. Maybe 3-9 on the high end. Something fairly compact would probably be a good choice for walking through brush and wouldn’t affect the balance of the gun much.

Our moose are few and far between down here in Texas, but I could not imagine a better scope than your 1.5-6 S&B as to power. Your reticle is the kicker. If it is not right for the job, change it.

For frame of reference, I have numerous scopes of 3-9 and 3.5-10, but rarely set them above 5-6 power. My favorite bolt action rifle wears a 4X Zeiss, and it kills stuff way out there, even coyotes.

Best wishes,

Jack

I put a Leupold 2.5-8 on my 35 Whelen. Before that, I used a Leupold 1.5-5 on my 375.

You don't need a lot of scope for moose hunting.

You don't need a lot of scope for most "hunting"...

I beg to differ, the worst thing I've found is finding a clear path to them sometimes. So much so I quit using irons and went to scopes so I could pick through the thick stuff or even the burned stuff, to make sure I'd not be deflected.

I can shoot a long ways with irons but I don't find moose out in the wide open where it would be safe...

Obviously when they are in at X feet, its different, but out there a ways, so 50 plus to 100 or 200 yards etc...

I don't think I'd feel comfortable with less than something x9. Just for limb searches. And I like the variables a lot since i can use them for judging width.

True that ...... Most folks would be surprised at how useful a plain old 4x scope is for most "hunting".

I have two rifles topped with 4x and another 4x scope came in today.

I got curious during this discussion so looked at my hunting notes: My wife and I have only taken 5 moose, two in Montana and one each in Alaska, Alberta and British Columbia. We used five different "rifles" (one was a 12-gauge slug gun) over 20 years, and by chance they all had 4x scopes. There were any problems aiming at any of the moose, from the young cow killed with the slug gun to a 58" bull killed in Alaska, but obviously 5 isn't a big sample.

But John your 5 are 5 more than the moose I haven't taken.

I had 20/10 vision for many of my years and "seeing" and placing my shots weren't a problem. A few times when I needed to "needle" my shots for either moose or caribou my Leupold 1.5-5's always worked. In my camp I'll have 2 rifles, irons and a scoped one. Nothing wrong with the clarity of a Leupold here in my parts of Alaska.

Your spot on. Times walking, smelling moose and fresh sign everywhere you can stumble on a bull whether him getting up from a nap or curious who you are and standing before you. Heck, doing some calling they slip right up on you. So speaking for my self I question what I take in ......a low power scope or irons. I have shot one close enough that at 1.5x it was all hair walking at me, seen both eyes and then hair. A 140 grn Bear Claw from a .270 hammered him dead. Summed up having QR levers and irons is a good thing. just saying

ADOG -
I don't know beans about killing moose but I used to hunt bear in thick timber with possible long shots. I have a couple Swarovskis and two Benders with different reticles. My go to for bear is an older Schmidt and Bender variable Klassic model with reticle 9 which is sweet and they can be found reasonably priced. I prefer Benders with fixed power with the A7 reticle for Elk but the flexibility of the variable Klassic plus the 40 or 42 mm objective with super light gathering even in Timber is pretty amazing.

I'm a big fan of S&B and Swarovski.
I'll see how my 1.5-6x42 sits on the rifle and 1-4x24 like Whitebreads set up.
That looks pretty sweet.
I have toyed with a fixed but you never know if you stumble on one pretty close.