Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics what power of binos do you like?

quality 7x for me, roof or porro

I prefer 8X the vast majority of the time.

10X, same/same for rifle scopes, not a lot a good man with a good rifle and 10X scope cant get done.

8X

7x is my favorite but hard to find in a good dielectric roof I can afford so ....it is 8x that has me looking for a wider FOC 6.5 to compliment.

Had a pretty cheap Russian pair of 7x35 and still think that is just about THE perfect config for me.

Another that prefers 8X for most everything.

Never heard of anyone doing any good with a fixed 10X scope.

I like 7-8x compacts for walking around, full sized 10x for sitting or glassing from camp / truck. I dropped my old cheap-assed Nikon 8x20s 2 years ago in ML season and bent them beyond repair. They weren't great but they got the job done. Last year I hadn't gotten around to replacing them so I lugged my old LEupold 10x42 gold rings .. optically incredible but heavy. I picked up a Leica monovid a while back and I really like it think it's fine for handgun / muzzleloader / iron-sighted rifle hunting and maybe adequate for regular rifle hunting in timber, but I'd like to have a pair of compact 8x 'nocs again.

Always run 8x here in the dense woods as well as out west but have my eye on some Kowa 6.5x for here and then I’d “have to” try some 10x for our west...

VARIABLE, but you knew that.

I got no regrets with my 8.5x42 ELs.

I’ve tried 10x for general use but even though I primarily hunt wide open spaces I keep going back to 8x because I just can’t seem to hold the 10x steady enough without some form of rest. I use bino straps, grip the bill of my cap, use my shooting stick etc. but just get a steadier view with the 8’s. I have 12.5x for use with a tripod so my 10x generally stay home.

Depends on what I'm hunting and how I'm hunting. When I'm hunting desert mulies, because I'm hunting tracks, I usually carry a 6X. They are very light, easy on the eyes, and a lot sharper for detail than many would think. I have three, a 6X30 Yosemite, a 6X32 Katmai, and a 6.5X32 IF.
For open country I prefer an 8X, either an 8X32 for light weight, or a heavy 8X42. For serious glassing, I really like my 12X50 Leica. E

10x50 for me. Jeep doesn’t care how heavy they are. Hasbeen

8 x 32 for a neck glass; 18 x 56 for the big glass.

My wife and I have 20 binoculars in magnifications from 6x to 16x. The numbers of each break down like this:

6x--1
7x--5
8x--5 (including Eileens favorite, an 8.5x Swarovski EL)
10x--6
12x--1 (This is actually a Leica 8+12x42 Duovid, so could add one more to the 8x list)
16x--1

Have hunted with them all, but which to use depends on several factors, including the country, the size of the animal, and how "shy" it is. As any example, used the 6x (an early 6x30 Leupold Yosemite) to take my only grizzly, an interior Alaska bear found in pretty much wide-open tundra country. The bear showed up very obviously a mile away.

But for a general fixed-power hunting binocular I prefer 10x, both in open country and woods. In open country 10x definitely has an edge on 8x, and also in woods, where 10x can not only reveal more detail, but has a shallower depth of field, which can reveal animals by slowly "scrolling" with the focus ring. Have spotted many deer this way. But I also apparently have steadier hands than some of my friends.

I would also guess that it depends on what kind of "glassing" any hunter generally does. I am often sitting down and carefully glassing for small parts of animals, whether at 400 or 1000 yards. Some hunters only use binoculars to look at something they've already seen, especially in thicker cover.

My absolute favorite all-around binocular is the 8+12 Duovid, which can provide the "steadiness" of 8x and even more detail than 10x. It's disadvantage is weight, but even then it's only a pound heavier than binoculars many would consider VERY light, maybe even too light for steady glassing.

I have 8x43 Zenray ED3's. I'm very comfortable with that size and magnification from in the woods to shooting across pastures on the East Coast.



Dan

I only hunt from treestands for WT and hogs. In most of the areas where I hunt, the longest shot will be about 150 yards with the majority being inside of 100. For me the 7x50 binos are just right, especially for low light situations. I use either a Steiner 7x50 porro or a Meopta Meostar B1 7x50 roof.

8x42 Vipers..got rid of the tens & these are better..

6x for hunting in GA pines and hardwoods