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Binoculars

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
Supporting Member
31,856
260
SW Ohio
The prolblem is your not seeing whats there


Ouch!!! Lol.

Seriously Though fellas, I'm not suggesting you ought to go out and throw down a grand or more on field glasses but the next time your at Cabelas, Bass Pro or other outdoor store spend some quality time at the optics dept. Our discussions around deer camp focuses alot on the reliability of our gear. Optics gets brought up on more than one occasion and we mostly agree on one thing. If you were only aloud ONE thing in your backpack as far as hunting assesseries, our binos were the answer. So the way I look at it, as important they are too me they might as well be above just fair, good or average.

I'll even go so far as to say my binos take a front seat to my lunch on an all day sit......but that just me.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
The prolblem is your not seeing whats there

It's not like I'm hunting in Colorado. I'm lucky to see 200 yards around here. I have a $150 pair of Bushnell 10x42 and they are more than adequate. I'd understand the necessity for quality optics in a western environment where you make your living behind your glass. But I'm not hunting in places where I need to rely on my optics. I honestly don't believe my cheap binos are costing me deer sightings...
 
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finelyshedded

You know what!!!
Supporting Member
31,856
260
SW Ohio
It's not like I'm hunting in Colorado. I'm lucky to see 200 yards around here. I have a $150 pair of Bushnell 10x42 and they are more than adequate. I'd understand the necessity for quality optics in a western environment where you make your living behind your glass. But I'm not hunting in places where I need to rely on my optics. I honestly don't believe my cheap binos are costing me deer sightings...


Lol Jesse! Those binos will do just fine! I thought you were using a pair of those Tascos that cost $25 a pair and are hanging on the sales rack next to the gums and mints next to the checkout line!lmao
 
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Diablo54

Senior Member
7,082
126
Outside
It's not like I'm hunting in Colorado. I'm lucky to see 200 yards around here. I have a $150 pair of Bushnell 10x40 and they are more than adequate. I'd understand the necessity for quality optics in a western environment where you make your living behind your glass. But I'm not hunting in places where I need to rely on my optics. I honestly don't believe my cheap binos are costing me deer sightings...


There not around my neck only to see 200 yards away, They are there for various reasons. One of the major ones would be right before daylight and right before dark when you can only see 20 yards infront of you with the naked eye. You can't tell me you havent been in the stand while it was fairly dark and wondered what that object was at 100 yards. Pull up your binocs and you will be able to tell.

Lets say you are still hunting on the top of a shelf. With your naked eye sometimes you need to be very close to the deer to see it esp. in brushy areas. With your bino's you will be able to glass 150 yards of more and pick apart the brush and see the deer before they see you.

All the time I have deer one hundred yards away that I can't tell buck doe big buck small buck? The binos help.

I never said you needed to lay down a big chunk of money on a set of binos but a fairly nice pair is a nessecity IMO.

Your original post was confusing. The way you worded it made it seem as if you didn't see the use in any binos. Your second post has cleared things up.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
I guess they were 10x42 Excursion EX's and not 10x40...

I use the term "cheap" loosely, but I didn't view $150 as a bad deal on what is a pretty solid set of binos. When you see $1-2K Swarovski and Nikons, they are cheap binos...
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Your original post was confusing. The way you worded it made it seem as if you didn't see the use in any binos. Your second post has cleared things up.

I have my binos on hand at all times when I'm hunting deer, turkey, yotes, and even waterfowl. I get plenty of use out of them and consider them a Top 5 "Must Have" in my pack. But I don't think you need $500+ binos to use them effectively. A decent pair of Bushnell/Nikon will fill most peoples needs in this area of the country...
 

Diablo54

Senior Member
7,082
126
Outside
I have my binos on hand at all times when I'm hunting deer, turkey, yotes, and even waterfowl. I get plenty of use out of them and consider them a Top 5 "Must Have" in my pack. But I don't think you need $500+ binos to use them effectively. A decent pair of Bushnell/Nikon will fill most peoples needs in this area of the country...

Ditto:smiley_coolpeace:
 
I have a pair of Brunton Eterna 7x42. I don't know what they retail for now. My buddy and his wife did a lot of elk hunting in Colorado. He bought them for her and a pair for himself. After her first trip to Colorado with them she felt like they were too heavy for her. He sold them to me for $150. At that time they retailed for around $500. I bought a leupold harness for them and I never even know they are there. They are very clear and have great eye relief. And I can easily watch deer moving out to 300-400 yards if I need too.
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
24,834
247
I use cheap binos, and I use them constantly. I still hunt a lot, and would be lost without them. When I do hunt stands, I can see for miles in places. Without binos, I'd be bored to death.

Having admitted to using cheap binos, I agree with Jesse in that really good ones aren't needed for the type of work we do around here. However, while shooting the IBO years ago, I got to compare some of my cheap 8x with a pair of swarovski 8x. There was no comparrison. Good binos show definition, like being able to see the 11 ring clearly vs. guessing where it is.
 

Lundy

Member
1,307
127
I hunt a lot of open country. I would love to own a pair of the really good binoculars but I just can't bring myself to drop the cash.

Because I am primarily a gun hunter nowadays and I'm almost always hunting from a blind of some kind weight isn't a big issue anymore. Low light ability is my number one priority. I have been using Nikon Action extremes in 10x50 and 12x50 for many years and they work great for what I want. I went to Cabelas many years ago and tried a bunch of different brands and models out in their parking lot. I just couldn't justify $2,000 versus $200 from what I saw. I personally would never go less than a 50mm lens if I want low light capability, but I certainly would not want to carry them around all day or have them be my bowhunting glass.

I'm sure that the more expensive glass can gather as much light with a smaller objective lens as the less expensive glass at 50mm
 
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