high power binocs

guywhofishes

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Because I am now the proud owner of a 6.5 Godsend, I suspect I'll be shooting some really big bucks at 300-500 yd.

That means I'll need to score them from a great distance with my ancient eyeballs. Problem is that I find spotting scopes to be ocular drudgery compared to binocs. So I am thinking I need a good pair of big buck scoring binocs - but I know very little about them.

Please advise.

ps. Hey skeet team, I forgot my phone at home today, so your advise via text will be falling on deaf ears for a bit. I'll read your jabs, insults, and assorted "hey idiot, you shoulda bought that scope we told you about last month" texts when I get home
 


BGH

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What ever you choose, make sure to put them on a tripod. (Assuming you go with a 15 power bino)
 

Retired Educator

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My experience when buying any glass is to make sure you take them outside and maybe at lowlight to look through them. If you want to see how they work at 800 yds, it will help to look at something at 800 yds. You most likely won't be looking at a deer outside the store but you can compare clarity by looking at branches, etc. at long range to see how each set of glass works at a longer range. I'm assuming you know how to set a pair of binoculars for your eyesight. My advice is to try them to help make your decision. You don't have to buy the most expensive pair, but a pretty good general rule is that you will get what you pay for. You don't need to spend $2000, but you won't get anything satisfactory for $100 either. Kind of set a limit of what you want to spend and only try those types. Have looked through high end binoculars and there is definitely a difference in my experience.

I'm not much of a true trophy hunter. My judgement is not usually based on what I think an animal will score. It's more of a "Holy shit" judgement. If I see a buck that meets that criteria I'm done scoring.
 

guywhofishes

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My judgement is not usually based on what I think an animal will score. It's more of a "Holy shit" judgement. If I see a buck that meets that criteria I'm done scoring.

same here

except once in a while there's the "holy #### is that considerably smaller than it looked" moment

those moments make me sad - especially on the first day of the season
 

johnr

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My experience when buying any glass is to make sure you take them outside and maybe at lowlight to look through them. If you want to see how they work at 800 yds, it will help to look at something at 800 yds. You most likely won't be looking at a deer outside the store but you can compare clarity by looking at branches, etc. at long range to see how each set of glass works at a longer range. I'm assuming you know how to set a pair of binoculars for your eyesight. My advice is to try them to help make your decision. You don't have to buy the most expensive pair, but a pretty good general rule is that you will get what you pay for. You don't need to spend $2000, but you won't get anything satisfactory for $100 either. Kind of set a limit of what you want to spend and only try those types. Have looked through high end binoculars and there is definitely a difference in my experience.

I'm not much of a true trophy hunter. My judgement is not usually based on what I think an animal will score. It's more of a "Holy shit" judgement. If I see a buck that meets that criteria I'm done scoring.
My guess is that $2,000 wont be out of the guywhofishes budget. He is likely looking for ones at double that rate, maybe ones he could modify, or build himself?
 


SDMF

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same here

except once in a while there's the "holy #### is that considerably smaller than it looked" moment

those moments make me sad - especially on the first day of the season

#Groudnshrinkage.

Probably just nab my 15x Swaro's, haul them to the boxcars for a weekend and decide WTF for yourself.
 

Captain Ahab

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Open the wallet, "creaking sound" then blow the dust out and reach deep for the German/Austrian glass.;)
 
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sweeney

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Get either swaro or leica rangefinding ones, will make what your trying to do so much easier.
 

Kurtr

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Swaro and done with it. Slc 15x56 with outdoorsman adapter on outdoors man tripod. Or comparable Leica or zeiss
 

bigsky2

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Meopta Meostar 15's on a tripod. Not quite Swarovski but still very high quality European glass. Some even like them more than the Swaro's.
 

wjschmaltz

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I have a couple very successful sheep guide friends that have both Swaro and Meopta spotters and take/prefer Meopta.

Range finding binos have a very specific use. I personally would rather carry both binos and a range finder in most hunting situations.
 


NDbowman

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I've always felt if what I consider a shooter walks out, you won't need binocs to tell, you'll know instantly. I guess I don't need to score them I just have that Holy Shit feeling and thats good enough. I carry an 8 power set of Steiners that sometimes I wish were 10 power but they work well in low light and are quite clear. I've got a big Swaro 20-60 spotting scope that I rarely use anymore, but it is nice to have when you really want to check something out. I find with the spotting scope watching fields you rarely use 60x because by the time the big bucks come out its usually dark enough that 20x works better.
 

SDMF

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I have a couple very successful sheep guide friends that have both Swaro and Meopta spotters and take/prefer Meopta.

Range finding binos have a very specific use. I personally would rather carry both binos and a range finder in most hunting situations.

The Meopta 20-70 Spotters are fantastic. I have 10x42 and 8x32 Meostar binocs that I also believe to be very good. I'd like to see the 15X Meopta along w/Swaro HD's. I had a pre-HD set of 15x56 Swaro that I didn't like as well because the eye-relief didn't allow me to use my glasses. The newer SLC HD is easy to use with glasses on and has a wider FOV compared to the earlier model.

Assuming resolution, eye-relief, and FOV were similar, I'd not hesitate to save $$ and buy Meopta over Swaro.
 


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