Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Which one do you consider the Meat and Potatoes Hunting scope today ?

Still three, but in another order...

Zeiss terra, Nikon, meopta meopro / conquest.

Meopta made the Zeiss conquests.

Leupold is a tried-and-true name, and will be around for a long time. That said, I'm a big fan of Vortex. Their Viper line of scopes are great for hunting. And their VIP warranty can't be matched. I have 3-4 Leupold's, but twice as many Vortex. And if I had to buy another scope tomorrow, it would be another Viper.

I tend to think of the 3-9x40 Burris Fullfield as the most inexpensive scope I trust and the Meopro as my preferred hunting scope. If you don’t dial, it’s tough to beat either of those at their price points

I think most every one is dialing these days.

How do you zero the optic to the rifle?

Am I wrong?

I tried the SWFA SS 6x - it was clear and obviously built tough.

But baby, it was BIG! And heavy to match! And those turrets stuck out a mile!

As you may guess, I like my Leupold 6x scopes for general hunting duty.

For longer range, my pick is the Burris Fullfield II's with Ballistic Plex. Once I figure out where my shots land with each of those dots, there is no need for twisting turrets in the field.

My hunting philosophy leans toward getting close (max yardage for me is right at 400 yards, and I like it closer). I know others think that's a chip shot, and I wish them well. Long-range shooting is for those who are prepared with precision instruments and enough practice to to handle them well.

John,

In my experience (which involves a lot of local hunters, as well as others from various parts of the country), you are wrong. I would guess at least 90% are set-and-forget, maybe 95%.

Of course, it depends on who you hang out with.... :-)

JB,

You're spooking my fishing hole.

But you're not wrong.

I have a good many Leupold’s, but they could fail at any moment.

I'd guess that's about right. The only dialing I do is at the range while sighting in, and occasionally for fun with .22s or even CFs, also at the range. There's simply no need in this area, and most of the East. In fact, futzing around with a scope is a great way to miss your chance because opportunities generally come quickly, and game seldom lingers. I haven't had a shot opportunity at over 100 yards in a couple of decades, except the little buck I took in 2018, which appeared at about 200. In that case, I watched him amble my way for about five minutes and took the shot at a lasered 35 yards with my crossbow. In this region, long shot opportunities are generally confined to farms and possibly pipelines or power cuts. Public land is generally heavily forested or thick brush.

I have owned (and still own some) of the higher end scopes from Schmidt & Bender, Zeiss and Swarovski but the Leupold 5HD is the scope I go to today for hunting rifles, I own three now and Leupolds have been my goto for decades, never once disappointed me. I'm not a target/competitive shooter so can't say anything about scopes for that.

Meat and taters is set & forget for me. Leupold VX5HD 2-10x42.

+1
Have three also and they are close to being my ideal hunting scope, the exception being the pitiful wide duplex.
The lit dot helps it somewhat, but I wish they would have left it the same as the VX-R had.

Mechanically they are working fine, but also am not a target/competitive shooter or a sniper. Just a hunter.
(Unless the SHTF worse than it is).

My meat and taters hunting scopes are still 1" Leupold 3-9x40, 2.5-8x36, and 3.5-10x40 variants, most being 5-10 years old, and most wearing the Boone & Crockett or Long Range Duplex reticles. I've got other brands, but mostly 1" Leupolds get taken to the woods.

+1

Meopro 3-9x40 best value out there.

I agree that the Vortex Viper is a very solid scope for the Money. Holds zero, food glass..Not trying to kick the hornets nest but I don’t quite understand the Vortex hate. They provide a wide range of scopes with features for hunters and shooters in just about every price point. Pretty much kicking Leupolds a$$ in features for most price points. Like my Burris more than Leupold VXII too.

Meat and potatoes for me, the Conquest 3-9x40. I picked up several back when they were closing them out for $285 or so.

I don't think there's ever been a better scope for the buck than that one. Glass is great, they track well, hold zero and aren't heavy or bulky. What's not to like.

DF

That scope was a home run.

The majority of my hate for them is the name. What in the schidt does a rifle scope have to do with the swirl in a toilet bowl? I bought one for my grandson a few years back because I ran out of time to buy him a good scope. My similarly priced USA made Redfield Revolution kicked its Chinese ass in every way and it doesn't have an entirely idiotic name.

I could have sworn the two I used to have were made in the Philippines.