Thoughts on binoculars

[NMSbowhunter]

I just bought a pair of Meopta 8x25 binoculars to go along with my 10x42 Vortex. I really like the optical quality of the little 8x25's and they will do pretty much what the larger 10x42's will do. I glassed out to 800 yards the other day with them. I wanted a smaller set to carry in my pack. There aren't many opportunities for glassing deer where I hunt. Actually, I bought the 10x42's several years ago for turkey hunting. On that old lease we always had a large group of birds that would congregate at the far end of a cotton field, and I wanted to see if any were gobblers before going after them.

So, what if any binoculars do you have and what do you use them for primarily?

 

[Sbrammer]

I have my farther-in-law old Tasco 8x25. When I say old I mean the WWII style where it feels like there is a lot of metal, but not terribly heavy.

I used to carry them for scouting and sitting in the stand to scan, but here lately I find myself using my rangefinder instead. The stuff I hunt you are lucky if you get a 60yd lane, and I haven't had a lot of success with glassing. So basically I don't do it very often whether I'm scouting or hunting.

Maybe I need to do it more often and I would gain more intel.

 

[Bowtie747]

My thoughts on binoculars are I can’t decide what I think of them. For 100 yards and in you could definitely use a rangefinder. I have for a while. If I do carry a pair of binoculars I carry something like an 8x25. You want a wider field of view I feel like for closer glassing in the woods. Makes it faster to pick something up. Some hunts I don’t take them as I’m trying to limit what I take in and out.

 

[MNFarmHunter]

My thoughts on binoculars are I can’t decide what I think of them. For 100 yards and in you could definitely use a rangefinder. I have for a while. If I do carry a pair of binoculars I carry something like an 8x25. You want a wider field of view I feel like for closer glassing in the woods. Makes it faster to pick something up. Some hunts I don’t take them as I’m trying to limit what I take in and out.

Same. I have a very nice pair of Vortex that I carried exactly once. Being in tight woods at archery distances, my 4x rangefinder is all I really need.


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[OspreyZB]

I've bought and sold a pile of binoculars over the last few years trying to figure out what works best for me in different situations. Everything from 8x20 to 18x56... $100 Leupold's to $2000 Leica's. Here's what's in the stable at the moment:

Leica Ultravid 8x20. These things are teeny tiny. They fit in the palm of your hand and weigh less than 9 oz, a true "pocket binocular". Build quality is second to none. They are truly a masterpiece of German design and no-nonsense engineering. Performance is 100% Leica. Tack sharp and bright with beautifully saturated colors and excellent contrast. Eye placement can be a bit finicky, as to be expected from a pocket binocular with a 2.5 mm exit pupil. The view is not "easy" but it is worth the effort. These are my EDC binos. They would not be my first choice for any kind of hunting (except maybe shed hunting?) due to there small exit pupil.

Leica Ultravid HD 7x42. A flawless binocular... You can't do any better than these for bowhunting whitetails in timber. Like their 8x20 little brother, the build quality is top notch, they have an industrial feel to them. 7x magnification gives you a wider, brighter image with better depth of field and less hand shake than 10x or 8x. Eye placement is as easy as it gets thanks to the large exit pupil and long eye relief. Low light performance and glare suppression are excellent. Contrast and color saturation is just legendary, and in certain lighting I can only describe the view as magical. These get the nod on nearly every hunt from September-January.

Cabela's Euro HD 12x50 (Meopta Meostar b1.1).
These are my "big eyes" for long range summer glassing. I've tried 15x56 and even 18x56, but prefer these 12x50 and a spotting scope. I'm considering letting these go and looking for a nice used Swarovski SLC 10x56 to replace them.

Optics are just like saddle gear, in that you can buy and try stuff (used), see what works best for you, and sell what doesn't for little to no loss. You just have to know what your looking at, and know a good deal when you see one. Rokslide, birdforum, and cloudynights forums are my go-to's, and there are some good deals to be had on eBay too.

If you're just hunting any deer, I could see how binos might be unnecessary. I want to know if the buck slipping out of the swamp with 3 minutes of shooting light left is a 120" or a 140". Good luck doing that with a rangefinder.

 

[TreeCreep]

Interesting take.
Osprey has some good tactic posts on here btw.
Sounds like Osprey hunts THP style - in NJ , an area where this approach is often dismissed due to smaller size of plots, widespread baiting, less big deer and relatively mixed terrain (until the northernmost counties)
Anyway- I’m checking out those pocket binos.
I have a pair of Vortex that I’m happy with for the money, they are decent but I carry when I am scouting or headed to public without a destination now that I live in NH and haven’t had as much luck with finding deer in the fringes with optics.

I’ve had better luck setting up to ambush deer on “flow areas” or trails than scouting to sign.
In NJ I found Bedding more predictable and often leave my binos behind up here.
(Bino and CCW weigh as much as some climbing methods, so they are part of my ground bag more than my saddle bag)
Good reminder for me to get more aggressive with finding deer on foot as I am thinking about two new spots I haven’t put cameras in.

 

[Wolverinebuckman]

I finally bought myself a pair of real binoculars this spring. I've always wanted a pair. Just got one of the lower end 10x42 vortex. Had a good time glassing up some different birds in the yard when I first got them, and lately I have been using them to glass some of the bean fields in the area. I love them! I keep them in my glove box ready to go. Last 3 years I've been passing deer in these fields and can see that there are big bucks out there but can't tell any detail... finally got to look at a really nice buck the other night through the binos, wow what a difference! Can't wait to have them on me during the season, with all of these ridges and hollows.

 

[Weldabeast]

I'm like some of u and can't decide if I like binos or not while hunting....a member on here turned me on to Hutact...they aren't expensive at all..60 bucks if I remember correctly. I ended up buying a couple pairs....I keep a set in my truck, 1 at home, and I donated a pair to my friends boat. They on par with my dads expensive Nikon....

I think I have taken them hunting twice. I have used a monocular but 99% of the time my rangefinder works just fine for "glassing"
I use the bino mainly for bird watching in day to day life

I have geared up this off season to use a "tactic" that the binos will be used...on certain wma around here there are vast palmetto flats. On the ground the palmettos are chest to over head high so u are limited to only seeing up or down the road/trail. Climbing 20ft opens up the ground a little and u may be able to pick out some game trails thru the palmettos but still pretty limited view. I planning on getting way up there in some bull pines 50-70 foot up and taking the binos. Florida version of "find the high points and glass".....obviously I leaving the bow on the ground for those and I didn't draw a gun hunt this year so it exclusively just observation sits...we allowed in the wma 24hr prior to ur hunt so the day before and 1st morning/day I may burn a sit or 2. Binos are gonna be really important for that "tactic" and it may be a totally stupid idea but I won't know until I try.

 

[TK161BOONER]

I had several pairs of Swarovski Els 8x32 and they were great binoculars but I never used them where I hunt so I sold them, and last year I started gun hunting the Midwest so I needed another pair of binoculars, so I bought vortex razor UHD 8x42 and 10x42 and I keep the 10s… but the glass is up there with Els in my opinion.

 

[BackSpasm]

Feel naked without my 10x42s in my chest. Use them constantly on the walk in/out and while hunting. Honestly they are like a 3rd hand. I have a budget and top-notch pair and find myself using the budget ones for scouting, trips with the family etc and expensive ones when I have a long hunt or I am targeting a specific deer I need to identify at range. Either way, a powerful tool in my opinion and not even worth comparing to a rangefinder

 

[Nutterbuster]

I can't see far enough where I hunt to justify carrying them. If anything they're a handicap because tunnel vision is the last thing I need in palmetto and yaupon thickets.

But, I kinda want a little pair for mushroom foraging to save me from walking all the way over there to find out if the yellow is chanterelles or leaves.

 

[woodsdog2]

Trust what @OspreyZB has to say about optics, he helped me find a great deal on a great spotting scope this summer and took the time to really explain what he looks for and gave me some excellent ideas. There is a great used market out there for quality optics and I pretty much have carried binoculars on every bowhunt I’ve ever had. From my Aunt May’s opera glasses I used to use when I just started out bowhunting and would still hunt a lot to my Steiner and Bruntons I’ve used over the last 15 years, I find them an important piece of kit. I’ve used them to search for my arrow after a shot, in blood trailing and so many other applications. They also allow you to find trails and other travel ways and details you may not see with the naked eye especially in a new area you may be setting up in. I have been hearing and reading a lot of good things about the Athlon Cronus binoculars with reviews on Rockslide and Backwoods Pursuit if you’re looking for decent to high quality optics that are sub $1000 but have the optical quality of binocs normally in that price range.

 

[1simplemann]

I would like a high quality MONOcular. I have the Vortex but I always end up taking my Swaro 10 x 42's. I dislike the weight but I can really see w/ them.

 

[Slipnslide]

If you're on a budget I highly recommend Mavens C series. Not as good as their Bs or Vortex Razors but it's a fraction of the cost and Maven tend to run sales on C's

 

[MNFarmHunter]

I would like a high quality MONOcular.

This is why I just use my rangefinder. I'm in a tree, in the woods with a weapon that has a max range (my limit) of 30y. My rangefinder is 4x and all that I really need. If I was doing a long range stalk or glassing mountain sides, quality bino's would be a must but not for how I and suspect most bow hunters operate.

 

[BackSpasm]

I think a lot of guys think when bowhunting they don't have increased odds of a kill with binoculars because game needs to be close anyway. I would argue they help you observe and monitor what is going on during your hunt and before and after to help you collect data on future hunts and puzzle out what the deer are doing 100, 200, and 300 yards away when see them through a gap in the trees, across the field, or on your walk in. Do they help me kill deer while I am in the tree on that hunt? Usually not. Do they help me understand how deer and other critters move and interact, and judge them from a distance to decide if that buck on the treeline is worth going after? Certainly. Have they led to me killing deer on the very next sit because of what I observed? Absolutely yes.

 

[woodsdog2]

One of several stories and kills where binocs made the difference was a seven pointer I shot with my bow enroute to my stand location. It had snowed the night before and morning in early November several years ago and I was heading in for an all day rut sit. I was walking a brushy fence line and I noticed a flicker in a small brushy draw uphill of me that paralleled the fence line about 250-300 yards away. I dismissed it at first thinking it was just a chickadee but then my inner voice said “check that!” I pulled up my binoculars and behold a knarly 7 point buck was bedded right next to the doe. He had her pushed up against the brushy bank of the draw. I studied his rack and decided I was going to try to get within bow range. I would walk slowly but steadily using the brushy fence line as cover. I had on a snow camo top and I just had a feeling I could really make this stalk a reality. The wind was from the southwest so quartering into the right side of my face. So kind of a quartering crosswind between me and the bedded buck and doe. Anyway, I was able to get to about 20 yards and find a narrow opening in the fence row and I glassed him one more time to make sure there were no small branches that could deflect my arrow. I’m thinking….” I’ve always wanted to slip an arrow into a bedded buck and here’s my chance.” So I release and the arrow sails on its way and just as it gets to the buck it drops and just nicks the bottom of his folded back leg. The buck was more like 30 yards away. He and the doe explode out of their beds. The doe goes up the hill and the buck trots right to me not even six yards away and looks back toward his bed. I slowly and as quietly as possible pull another arrow from my quiver, and draw, sending another broadhead at point blank range dumping it square in his boiler room. He runs 25 yards straight into the brushy draw and collapses!! One of my most memorable hunts. Without binocs that stalk would have never happened.

 

[bigmike23]

8.5 x 42s
I love them to death, but I don't bring them with me very often. Extra weight I don't need. I hunt nothing anymore but dense awful mountain Laurel and saplings. So by the time I see the deer they're often in range already.
As far as the quality they're of course spectacular, but I could have never bought them at full price.
I got them for a comical low price of 600$ basically brand new. Coworker bought them for a big hunt out west, then he found his wife slipped onto a banana other than his own. Divorce was ugly and needed all the money he could get. I told him all I could spare was 600 and he caved lol. They were still in the box untouched

 

[raisins]

I only carry binoculars for eastern whitetail if hunting from the ground. Even then, I usually use a Vortex monocular instead. For elevated hunts, I just use my rangefinder.

My "nice" binoculars are some Pentax roof prisms, which are great for the money.

 

[Shed84]

For me binos are in the category of things that if I don't bring them I wish I had them and when I have them I don't need them. They have helped me enough that about 2 years ago I decided to always have them. 10x42 leica or vortex 12x50. I'll use binos while still hunting/ in season scouting as well.