Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics illuminated reticles?

don't have one but wondering if they are worth it? are they any good for hunting other than at night? thanks in advance

one more question- are they illegal in your state or province?

I have one and although its a neat concept, cant really decide if it really justifies itself. Mine is a Meopta 3-12 and is as clear as any scope, but if its too dark to see with the scope, its already illegal to shoot where I live and hunt.

Illumination is a big plus when hunting at night (pigs, varmints) but that's about it. I've never needed a lit reticle during legal hunting hours and I run a Zeiss 3-12 and Leupold with illumination.

I used to have an illuminated Nightforce & it came in handy more than once. If you have heavy cloud cover & your target is in timber it sure doesn't hurt to have a reticle you can easily see, especially very early or late. I don't currently have one but plan on trying to get another Nightforce in the near future.

I have a Elite 4200 1.25x4x24 with the Ill. Dot. Yesterday I needed to run some test loads through my rifles and we are in the middle of a storm here on the coast. The rain was coming down so hard at times it was so dark and rainy that I could barely see the 300yd backstop with the naked eye. The Ill. Dot made hitting the target easier than with the standard reticle. It is on the rig I will be using for calling cats and coyotes out here in the coastal rain forests.

AWS

I bought my first illuminated reticle scope the other day, and it has not even shown up yet.
I don't intended for this to be on a hunting rifle, but for the purpose I have in mind, the illumination was a "must have" feature.

Check out a Trijicon!

I've got a Trijicon 3-9x40 and was able to make out grouse nested in trees about an hour before legal shooting light last time I was out deer hunting. I like them.

I have used some of the best Ill. reticle scopes when hunting in Europe & S&B, Zeiss, & Swarovski are outstanding. Lots of money, starting at about $1,500. I recently mounted a Trijicon for a friend & had an opportunity to field test. A very fine night & low light scope around $800. I do a lot of predator hunting & find Ill. reticle scopes of benefit. The Leupold has probable the worst Ill. design I have used. For general big game hunting in NA Ill. scopes have limited benefits in my opinion.

I have two illuminated reticle scopes. One is a Nightforce and one is a 1.25-4 Elite 4200. From my experience, under certain conditions, they can be of benefit.

Conditions like a overcast day in heavy timber, dawn and dusk are times where an illuminated reticle could help.

While it is nice I think good glass is more important.

I went with a Leupold 1.5-5X with the German #4 illuminated reticle.
The scope showed up FedEx today, and I have to say, with that fat 30MM tube the sight picture is just great.

my nightforce NXS 1-4 has been used 2 times in early morning light. At its lowest setting it allows you to see the reticle when it is just getting light. I think it is more useful when the scope is set at 1X and you need an easy, fast to acquire aiming point in all but the brightest light. After buying it, I am still of the opinion "the jury is still out" regards "need" for illumination.