Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Is Illumination Worth It?

This is 100% true. I used to be a commercial photographer, I was married to a commercial photographer, and we both taught photography for many years. Between us, we spent several decades studying light and color, and teaching others to understand how the two work together and influence each other. We could look at the same thing at the same time and describe it so differently (especially if it was brown or green) that you'd think we were facing in opposite directions and seeing different things. And no, I'm not color blind.

People do not perceive these things in the same way. I think that accounts for 90% of the difference between people's preferences for specific brands of glass.


Okie John

Good post, thank you.

the simple answer is yes and if you can afford it buy a Nightforce scope with illumination its well worth it . good luck,Pete53

Choice of lighted or not also depends on how you shoot when hunting. Do you focus on the part of the animal you want to hit or do you focus on the dot/x-hair and place that on the target in the background? For most its a balancing act between the two but you either do one or the other as your primary technique.

Personally I find the dot or illum x-hairs to dominate the sight picture so not for me. ( and wash out the target behind it in verylow light).

Also I have found that last light shooting for deer or black bear needs to be precise for obvious reasons. If I cant see the target and the crosshairs then its too late!

Fair points by Tesoro. Most of my need for illumination has not concerned game animals, as we can only shoot deer up to 30min after sunset. I've had a few last-minute shots that illumination helped on a deer, but most have been pigs and I was just trying to get the dot somewhere in his basic vital region. The pig shots were not about precision, but merely getting a bullet in his front half. Having said that, I remember one shot several years ago when I did not have illumination and it had gotten too dark to see my crosshairs in my 3-9 VX-II. I couldn't even tell the front half of the pig from the back half. So I dialed down the magnification and waiting until the pig got "skinny", which meant he was either facing me or facing away. I bracketed him with the heavy posts of the duplex and threaded him with a TTSX from a 7mm SAUM. Put it up his backside and the buzzards took me to him a few days later.

Texas heart shot! true hogs and other vermin control might have a more useful application where you just put the dot on the mass and blast away.

The Leupold Fire Dot will adjust down to a level that gives just a slight burnt orange in low light.

Can't tell the illumination is on under standard day light conditions.

I was a sceptic but the VX-6 TMOA Fire Dot changed my mind.

Reading this post about the firedot did not match my experience with mine so I just went out tonight to refresh my memory.
My scope is the VX5HD 3-15x44 w/ the Firedot Duplex (have 3).
Tried it at 1/2 hour after sunset and again 1 hour + after.
At the lowest setting, I had a hard time telling if it was even on, much less "washing out the target". Even when it was almost fully dark.
I could easily turn it up to the 3rd setting before any kind of flare occurred. The second setting was about right, at least you could tell if it was lit for sure.

I know everyone may see things differently, and scope models may differ. But for me the illumination of this scope can definitely be turned down low enough to not have a problem with the lit dot washing out anything.

And, as for me, illumination is a must have feature on my hunting scopes.

I recently bought a 5hd 2-10 firedot and on its lowest setting it washed out the dark target at last light. But with a 3hd 2.5x8 and a swaro z3 3-10 ( all set on 8x) I could see the target and the x-hairs. I could also see both with the 5hd when I turned off the dot. However I will say that having one dosent mean you need to use it all the time. And there might be times when it would come in handy. Its a $100 extra so might be better to have than not if your scope has that option.

I’ve been looking at picking that exact scope up, and was wondering about how visible the (wider) duplex reticle was and if the illuminated dot was worth it over just sticking with the Zeiss Conquest 3-9x40 duplex that I have on that rifle now (which I really like). Not dialing at all and the VX-5 HD 2-10x42 is a great magnification range ,looks like it may fit the rifle well, and be an upgrade in glass and lighting (would be a plus). Would love to go the next size up, but the mounting length is too short to fit without going to a rail and rings, which I don’t want to do on an ultra light rifle.

Also, that scope is selling at almost $1,100 at the only retailers who actually have them in stock, which I think is a lot of cash to upgrade from the Conquest that’s on the rifle now, which works great and has a great duplex that can be clearly seen well after legal shooting light ends.

Maybe I’ll find one in the classifieds for a reasonable amount and give it a try, as full boat msrp/over MAP isn’t that attractive.

I have had zero issues with non-illuminated scopes in both Alberta (black bear), BC (black and grizzly) and Alaska (brown bear). None of my guides used illuminated scopes. We all make our own decisions...

FYI I sent the vx5 back to leupold for a refund. Actually it was the second I returned The first one had a mag ring that I could not turn with 2 fingers, which is common on leups, so I never mounted it. The second was much better so I did take it to the field. It failed my test because the eye box was super finicky on 8-10x in daylight, and at twilight the washout turned the scope black. It just had horrible eyebox compounded with having to adjust your cheek weld depending on the mag.

The vx5 is not a light scope. And if I ever do get an illuminated scope I will get one with a twist knob on the left side. The leupold push button is a total pos design in my view. Forget using it with gloves or when your hands are real cold. When I did my 2nd field test I was in shorts and t-shirt cause it was a 60deg afternoon. But when twilight arrived in the river canyon the temp dropped to hi 30's. I was cold as were my hands and I couldnt feel the damm push button without having to turn the rifle on the side and find it!

Leup does not allow discounting other than, I guess, for open box/demo. If you want to try one then buy one where you can return at no charge and if you like hunt for a used one.

However the big diff between your zeiss and the luep is that your zeiss has a fixed eye relief, so when you shoulder your rifle your form is the same no matter what mag setting. With the leup you have to adjust your head either to the rear or forwards depending. That is fine for bench or bidpod shooting but imo not ideal for all around hunting.

You really cant get much better than that Conquest 3-9 if it has the reticle you like. I'd take your's or the Swaro over about anything else and say heck with the red dot! I had a 3-9 conquest on a 223 and was a fantastic scope.

I just leave the Fire Dot on all the time rather than turning it on in the field. The motion sensor turns it off after 5 minutes of no movement and turns it back on if moved.

I have 8 months continuous use on the battery in my 3-18 that rides on my house/truck AR and it's still going strong. I set it on the second lowest setting and can't see the illum until it gets fairly dark so it does not draw much juice.

Most users find the eye relief and eye box on the VX5s and VX6s to be very forgiving but it's a good example that different people prefer different optics.

Not for me . I have one lighted scope that I inherited but seldom use it . By the time that it is dark enough for me to have an issue seeing regular sights or crosshairs I cant see my target well enough through a scope , or aperture, to feel safe shooting at anything. I'm in my 60's , might have been different when I was much younger . Not worth the risk for me trying to see crosshairs , absolute id of the target and watch for anything behind the target that I don't want to kill in failing light . I just use the extra few minutes of dim light to get out of the woods safely.

Yes, that, plus as I’ve just re-read the thread it’s obvious that the very thing we are talking about- namely “last legal light“- is a term that means literally NOTHING. There is incredible variance in that term. I mean, think about two people on different sides of the same mountain as the sun goes down. “Last legal light” is a moment defined and fixed in time; but those hunters could experience really different conditions at that moment. Much less us all living in different regions but using the term as if it had weight.

What would mean something is a measured number of some kind; Even that gets weird.

Most times, it’s pretty dang dark at last legal light when I’m hunting blacktail in western Oregon. It’s a low-contrast kind of light that my aging eyes don’t do well with. I’ve never killed anything using a lit reticle, but I know for sure there were a few times I was sweating the reticle a bit.

I guess you could say I’m illumination-curious, haha.

Nobody values the input of a Biden voter.

This!