Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Shooting at max scope power?

Hey fellas, for those that are shooting using variable power scopes; do you find yourself shooting at max power when shooting at game or do you dial down in power?

And if you dial down, how many power down?

Debating on having more on hand and not need versus less on hand but needing more.

Thoughts?

I usually carry my scoped rifle set on 4X in open country, any time I get to brush or into a lot of trees I turn it down to the lowest setting.
When setting on stands I turn it up to about 6X. But spend most of my time looking thru my binoculars, which are 10X. I have shot
about half the deer I,ve taken with a variable on the lowest setting. Usually 2.5X. Most Elk I,ve taken were at 4X or higher. Last winters
Elk was at about 200 yards standing in the rain and fog, early in the morning. I tried several settings from 4X to 7X. Finally made out the
one with horns on 5X. First shot hit with my 270 Winchester and 150gr Nosler Partitions at about 3000fps. Bullet penetrated both shoulders
and keep on going. Bull went about 75 yards later. Any way I move my power ring more than anyone I hunt with. I have 3 Nikon Monarchs
with 2X10X40 and 2.5X10X40.

Thx GT50!

Myself, I tend to have power ring set at half power on my optics up to 10x.

But sitting on a ridge or hill glassing, then I am powered up.

WDEA,

I use a 4 1/2-30X50. ALL the time when I am hunting it is set on 4 1/2X. I usually find game with the binoculars but occasionally I find them while walking to a place where I plan to glass. Some time I find something and want to take a closer look. A couple years ago I was hunting Washington in a three point or better area. They define three point or better as a fork with an eye guard or a main beam with two points on it. I found a buck with the binoculars way out on the flat. I could not tell it had three points on one side until the scope was clear up to 25X. On two other occasions I needed to turn up the scope. One I discovered it was legal on 10X and another I discovered it was a shooter on 12X. In both cases I fired with no further a due. If shooting squeaks it would be on 20X.

Almost all the time at the range it is set on 20X; even when shooting off hand. If I want to take a look at bullet holes way out there or show off I turn it up to 30X. When it is on 30X I could read the words "Post Reply" at the bottom of this page if they were 100 yards away.

WDEA, as you can see, answers will vary depending upon where you're hunting and the terrain. Like Ringman, I use my binoculars to find game. Once one is found, I can use the scope to check out the animal. If stand hunting here in Texas, I'll usually leave it on the highest magnification. If I'm walking or in heavier brush/timber, I have it dialed to the lowest setting.

Since this is the long range forum, I'm going out on a limb and saying, when you're moving and something might present a quick shot up close, keep it turned down to the lowest magnification. And if you need to take a "long range" shot using turrets or the reticle, crank it up. As long as we're not talking Hubble telescope magnification.

And if I'm stationary and get a shot at an undisturbed animal at moderate range, I'll crank it up too. I don't hunt with many scopes over 10X though.

LIke most guys who hunt varied terrain, I keep my scopes turned down in the trees and other places where a quick shot is a possibility. When sitting on a ridge or rimrock glassing, my rifle is usually sitting ready on the bipod and the scope is turned up to max. I can see fine details I may or may not see in my binos and make the shot much easier with the highest settings. Usually, though, if you are in that type of situation you have plenty of time to adjust your power ring after spotting game because it is usually far enough away to not be spooked easily. Those are the times I wish I had my Leupold 6.5 x 20 on all my rifles......

Bob

On most of my scopes I keep set at the highest power.. sometimes I turn them down for some reason, but always turn them back up.

Pretty much all spot and stalk hunting. Dial them up to max and that's where they live. Might pull them down if/when hiking through stretches of dark timber.

When considering big game, if I'm using a variable riflescope (an increasingly uncommon scenario for me) I keep the magnification set on 3-4X. It would take an unusual scenario to require more magnification for a big game animal IME, so the dial rarely moves while in the field.

I always keep my scope on the lowest setting(3.5). However, I always turn it to the highest setting, regardless of distance, before I shoot(10).

Unless I'm hunting in dark timber, I normally keep my scopes at or near their highest power setting on my 2-7x33's. On my 300 win mag (mostly used for long range), I normally keep it at its highest setting, which is 9X. I recently replaced one of my rifle scopes with SWFA SS 10X scope (7mm-08) which I have grown to really like (especially the MOA reticles). I will soon be moving it to my 300 Win Mag and replacing with an SWFA SS 6X. Both rifles are normally kept at max power and I like the simplicity of fixed power scopes on hunting rifles. Some will say that a fixed power 10X scope is not the best for hunting but my old 66 year old eyes appreciates the magnification.

Thx fellas, just sampling for info.

At the local gunshop there was some lively discussion albeit with some hocus pocus tossed in as well.

Please continue....

Most of my big game hunting is done with a rifle using a 3-12X scope. The scope usually stays on 3X until I see game then I decide what to turn it to. I'd estimate that 95% of everything I've ever shot has been at 12X, the other 5% at 3X since they were moving. I can't recall ever shooting anything at any power in between, it's either been at max power on undisturbed game, or min power for a quick shot. It does stay at 3X unti it's needed though.

I have mainly 3-9x scopes and similar. As a default setting when hunting they're set to 6x. When stalking thick scrub I'll turn them right down and for long shots I may (or may not) wind them up to full power.

You can make quite long shots on 6x.

I think I must be of a very small minority here on the Fire. I love variables, and I shoot them all through their power ranges.

Working up loads I'm always at max. Especially like 4-.5-14's and 6.5-20's for load development.

Hunting I carry them on low power, but have often had time to take a rest and dial them up to max.

On my long range rigs I shoot the in between powers often. It's one of the reasons I love FFP scopes for long range rigs. I dial my drop and shoot hold off for wind. I find max power can be to much, so I'm often in the middle somewhere.

When I get to a hunting area I look thru the scope and set it for the optimum balance for me for field of view and definition, which is sometimes 3x but usually between 4x to 5x. I very rarely ever change adjustments to make a shot. About the only time I have it on 10x is shooting at targets or when hunting from a stand with very sparse vegetation (arid west Texas) or on treeless plains.

Generally, I hate too much magnification, see something and throw the scope up get a sight picture zoomed in leaving me trying to locate the animal that is missing from the picture. Not for me, maybe this dislike for high magnification is from hunting rabbits as a kid with open sights.

Early mornings and late afternoon mine are set at 3x to let in as much light as possible. Rest of the time set 5-6x and usually dial up to 9x if I have the time to get set.

If one practices with the scope on a high setting then when they accidentally have it on a high setting it's normal. When they set it on a low magnification then it's like a big screen TV.

I zero the scope at the greatest magnification. I check zero at the lowest magnification. For 99% of my hunting I leave it on the lowest setting (usually 3X) and have made shots well past 100 yards on 2X or 3X and the greater field of view is a plus inside 50 yards, sometimes inside 10 yards. If I need more than 2X or 3X there is generally plenty of time to change it, but rarely much time to go down. If moving from the lowest setting I skip everything else and go straight to the greatest magnification where I know it is zeroed. Even the best scopes will have minor POI changes as the magnification is changed. By only using 2 magnifications I limit the possibility for problems. At closer ranges and on the lower magnifications even if the POI is off slightly compared to 9X it will be close enough not to matter. At longer ranges it might.