Is your scope as good as your binoculars?

[Green Chile]

Short answer is yes. I use Swaro Z6i and Z8i scopes as well as Swaro or Zeiss binos. As stated, they are very expensive but make all the difference to the way I hunt. I sold good guns to pay for these optics and the trust is, I don't miss the guns or even think about them. The quality of my hunt experiences went up tremendously after making a commitment to excellent optics. No regrets. Once you understand the value of excellent optics, you will find a way to pay for them. Almost certainly, you have more gear and guns than you need right now. Sell a gun or two...sell that boat you don't use or ATV...you can get there.

 

[UpNorthMI]

Short answer is yes. I use Swaro Z6i and Z8i scopes as well as Swaro or Zeiss binos. As stated, they are very expensive but make all the difference to the way I hunt. I sold good guns to pay for these optics and the trust is, I don't miss the guns or even think about them. The quality of my hunt experiences went up tremendously after making a commitment to excellent optics. No regrets.

I could not have stated this any better than Green Chile did, I learned this at an early age as I became more serious about hunting.

 

[Altitude sickness]

I can’t fathom searching for game for hours and days on end through a rifle scope.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

My father used to be the same. I gave him an old pair of 10x56 Zeiss I have. We adjusted them to fit him on individual eyes. He is far sighted, but has a lot of vision issues.

He now knows what he has been missing.

I have 20-450 vision in both eyes. Once I found a pair of binoculars with 22mm of eye relief, the vignetting that most near sighted people complain about with binoculars is mostly gone.

You can buy your way out of this problem if it interest you.

The problem with my left eye is many problems. Due to the silicone buckle around the eyeball and, presumably, damaged muscles to surgically work on that eye, its line of sight is up and to the right respective of right eye. A prism lens in my glasses helps correct some of it but I still get double vision sometimes, especially when fatigued. Then there's all the scar tissue in the center of the retina around the macula which scrambles what I'm seeing to my brain. Peripheral in that eye is reduced about 30% on left side and there's also a "valley" running from lower left to upper right. Curiously, that wrinkle has led to distortion in right eye vision. Now if I close the left eye, everything I see with right eye is bowed to the left. Apparently this is my brain correcting binocular vision for the wrinkle in what left eye sees. Of course, the buckle to squeeze the eyeball to reattach the retina left it significantly near sighted. Most of that was corrected with lens transplant. The right eye is almost 20/20 uncorrected for distance. Strangely enough vision in that eye has been generally  improving as I get older.

I don't think I can buy my way out of the problem ... or rather problems. Double vision through binoculars is the main issue. I have tried expensive stuff in the stores and they don't help. Nothing Bushnell sells will come close. The worst of all. I did buy a pair of Steiner 8x32 that aren't bad but certainly no better than my 3-9x scope for identifying game. I found a pair of cheap 10x40 "Nikon knockoff" binoculars new at a pawnshop that for whatever reason seem to work best for my eyes. But even they usually require a lot of fiddling to get on target. It's less frustrating to simply use the scope. However, when hunting with a PH and tracker I don't think it's right to be whipping around my gun muzzle even if they are okay with it (they get paid to not object ). So I use binoculars and usually just close the left eye.

 

[Warbeast]

My 10x56 bga Zeiss are by far some very nice optics.
On the rifle are a few Zeiss victorys and a Schmidt and Bender PMII.
Shooting is easy, spotting not.

Edit: many hunts here are low light hours or even night hunting

 

[Muskox]

The problem with my left eye is many problems. Due to the silicone buckle around the eyeball and, presumably, damaged muscles to surgically work on that eye, its line of sight is up and to the right respective of right eye. A prism lens in my glasses helps correct some of it but I still get double vision sometimes, especially when fatigued. Then there's all the scar tissue in the center of the retina around the macula which scrambles what I'm seeing to my brain. Peripheral in that eye is reduced about 30% on left side and there's also a "valley" running from lower left to upper right. Curiously, that wrinkle has led to distortion in right eye vision. Now if I close the left eye, everything I see with right eye is bowed to the left. Apparently this is my brain correcting binocular vision for the wrinkle in what left eye sees. Of course, the buckle to squeeze the eyeball to reattach the retina left it significantly near sighted. Most of that was corrected with lens transplant. The right eye is almost 20/20 uncorrected for distance. Strangely enough vision in that eye has been generally  improving as I get older.

I don't think I can buy my way out of the problem ... or rather problems. Double vision through binoculars is the main issue. I have tried expensive stuff in the stores and they don't help. Nothing Bushnell sells will come close. The worst of all. I did buy a pair of Steiner 8x32 that aren't bad but certainly no better than my 3-9x scope for identifying game. I found a pair of cheap 10x40 "Nikon knockoff" binoculars new at a pawnshop that for whatever reason seem to work best for my eyes. But even they usually require a lot of fiddling to get on target. It's less frustrating to simply use the scope. However, when hunting with a PH and tracker I don't think it's right to be whipping around my gun muzzle even if they are okay with it (they get paid to not object ). So I use binoculars and usually just close the left eye.

That is a challenge!

 

[Green Chile]

My 10x56 bga Zeiss are by far some very nice optics.
On the rifle are a few Zeiss victorys and a Schmidt and Bender PMII.
Shooting is easy, spotting not.

Edit: many hunts here are low light hours or even night hunting

When I saw the pattern of many hunts having trophy animals in low light, last light of day, etc, I converted to lighted reticle scopes. That alone greatly increased my success rate on difficult trophies. It's still hunting with no guarantees but I have pulled many wins out of the last minutes of the day or hunt.

 

[Warbeast]

Until a few years ago, nightvision scopes or attachments werent alowed.

So you needed a bit of moonlight and a good scope and were able to hunt during the night.
One of the reasons so many german hunters rely on top level glas.

 

[Green Chile]

Yes, that is why German glass is so good. They have a market that demands excellent optics in low light for high stand hunting, varmint hunters, etc.

 

[Rifleman97]

Of course one could have the opposite problem--a Swarovski scope and a not up to speed bino.

That’s always been my issue lol. I love having great glass on guns but I have not yet been able to convince myself to buy any binos more expensive than my Leupold BX 2 10x42’s. I haven’t found something I can’t see well enough to know accurately whether or not to shoot yet, while also being in range to shoot it. Seeing something really high resolution really far away is more of a spotting scope thing than a bino thing for the style of hunting I do. I don’t own a swarovski spotting scope yet but I do plan on getting one down the road once I can justify it financially (too many other things in the pipeline right now, new house repairs/remodels, custom gun being built, need a new car soon, etc)

 

[Buckums]

Short answer is yes. I use Swaro Z6i and Z8i scopes as well as Swaro or Zeiss binos. As stated, they are very expensive but make all the difference to the way I hunt. I sold good guns to pay for these optics and the trust is, I don't miss the guns or even think about them. The quality of my hunt experiences went up tremendously after making a commitment to excellent optics. No regrets. Once you understand the value of excellent optics, you will find a way to pay for them. Almost certainly, you have more gear and guns than you need right now. Sell a gun or two...sell that boat you don't use or ATV...you can get there.

This logic makes perfect sense to me. For some reason I have always been able to justify the cost of a quality scope when i get a new rifle, but never stepped up to good binos... Now that my vision less than it was, I really find myself relying on my binos more and more. I gave my Vortex Diamondback binos to my tracker when I left partly to give myself a reason to step it up on the binos.

 

[Green Chile]

This logic makes perfect sense to me. For some reason I have always been able to justify the cost of a quality scope when i get a new rifle, but never stepped up to good binos... Now that my vision less than it was, I really find myself relying on my binos more and more. I gave my Vortex Diamondback binos to my tracker when I left partly to give myself a reason to step it up on the binos.

I'm telling you that it's a game changer. Think about it...you hunt primarily with your eyes and your feet. Good footwear is logical. Why not stack the deck with technology that improves your ability to see and experience the hunt. You probably have something in your gun safe that you don't use or really need...not Grandpa's deer rifle but some extra stuff. How many Glocks does someone really need? You will never miss them by selling them to upgrade your entire hunting game.

 

[steve white]

That is a challenge!

Yep, he's so messed up, we may have to put him down....(lol) Nah, I guess we'll keep him around.

 

[steve white]

When I saw the pattern of many hunts having trophy animals in low light, last light of day, etc, I converted to lighted reticle scopes. That alone greatly increased my success rate on difficult trophies. It's still hunting with no guarantees but I have pulled many wins out of the last minutes of the day or hunt.

I'm presuming that with the better quality scopes, there is no red light "bleed" from the illuminated reticle that it affects your night vision?

 

[Green Chile]

That is correct but it's because on the higher end scopes, you can adjust the illumination levels AND you can switch from red to green on some of them. Some of them have like 10 levels of illumination, which is pretty helpful to get it dialed in just right.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

I have a Zeiss V8 1.4-14 or something like that and a Swarovski EL Range TA 8x42.

My binoculars are ok. The LRF Unit in them sucks. I also carry a Leupold 1600 that I paid $150 on a military deal for that is 10 times the LRF the Swarovski has.

They are the NL Glass but EL body, about 2 years old. This is what Swarovski told me. When I got them they were the most expensive LRF binoculars you could buy.

I owned the EL 10x50 Swarovski. For my eyes, these are as good as things have ever been. I have also owned the Victory version of the Zeiss 8x54. Both of these are way better than my current 8x42 EL Range TAs.

I don't know that you could do better than the Zeiss V8, the Swarovski Z8 is a similar product.

But really any decent 8x56 will out class any rifle scope.

Unless Swarovski changed something recently the EL Range TA’s don’t have the NL glass or coatings.

The original EL Range Binos were SLC glass with a cheap LRF in an EL chassis with an EL name and EL Glass Price + LRF Price. When Swaro launched the TA’s they added the swarovision/field flatening lens coating (biggest difference between EL glass and SLC) and the TA feature. The NL Pure’s however have entirely different glass and coatings than what’s in the EL line and in the TA’s (I believe it’s still slightly different than the rest of the EL line). The TA’s are an improvement glass wise from the original EL Range but isn’t NL glass.



To answer the OP’s question, my Binos and Spotters are all Swarovski. My scope’s start price wise (excluding vintage/period correct) with Leupold VX5/VX6 and go up from there to include high end older Bushnell’s, Swaro Z5/Z6 (sold 1 Z8 about to add another), Nightforce, Zeiss, Kahles, & Schmidt & Bender. I believe in investing in premium optics and ammunition on a hunt. I’ve got Savage rifles that have scopes on them that are 5x their cost. I use my Binos the most so those were my first high end optics investment, then started upgrading the rifle scopes.

 

[Green Chile]

Bill, which bino models are you using now?

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

Bill, which bino models are you using now?

I mainly use SLC 8x30’s in Africa and SLC 10x42’s in North America paired with a Swaro Spotter when mountain hunting. I also have a set of SLC 15x56’s that I use out west if I don’t want to pack the Spotting Scope.

I had a pair of EL 10x42’s that got stolen a few years ago. I replaced them with a used set of SLC 10x42’s because I was one of the few who got a rolling ball effect when panning side to side. This happened right before the NL’s launched and I knew someone upgrading to EL’s and got a good deal on the used pair. If the NL’s had been out, I might’ve bought them over the used pair. I’ve found myself shopping the NL’s more than once and might pull the trigger if I draw a really good tag out west or before my sheep hunt in 2028.

 

[steve white]

Unless Swarovski changed something recently the EL Range TA’s don’t have the NL glass or coatings.

The original EL Range Binos were SLC glass with a cheap LRF in an EL chassis with an EL name and EL Glass Price + LRF Price. When Swaro launched the TA’s they added the swarovision/field flatening lens coating (biggest difference between EL glass and SLC) and the TA feature. The NL Pure’s however have entirely different glass and coatings than what’s in the EL line and in the TA’s (I believe it’s still slightly different than the rest of the EL line). The TA’s are an improvement glass wise from the original EL Range but isn’t NL glass.



To answer the OP’s question, my Binos and Spotters are all Swarovski. My scope’s start price wise (excluding vintage/period correct) with Leupold VX5/VX6 and go up from there to include high end older Bushnell’s, Swaro Z5/Z6 (sold 1 Z8 about to add another), Nightforce, Zeiss, Kahles, & Schmidt & Bender. I believe in investing in premium optics and ammunition on a hunt. I’ve got Savage rifles that have scopes on them that are 5x their cost. I use my Binos the most so those were my first high end optics investment, then started upgrading the rifle scopes.

What are the higher end Bushnell models?

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

What are the higher end Bushnell models?

The older Bushnell Elite Tactical XRS and XRS2’s. These were $2-3k optics (during the Obama and early Trump years). They used to be popular in the Long Range/PRS crowd 5-10+ years ago. Bushnell also had a very high end LVPO option for AR’s that was popular in certain circles before LVPO’s became the “in thing” on AR’s. I think I still have 1 original LVPO in a box somewhere, and know I have an XRSII on an old PRS Rifle build from 2016ish.

Bushnell has a new XRS3 line ($2499). I haven’t personally played with them so I can’t comment on how they compare to their older models or the current competition. I would imagine with inflation and being a decade plus later with similar cost, the older models would be built better/have better glass, and would compare better vs the other scopes on the market.

There are also some older Bushnell branded Bausch & Lomb scopes that compared well to the older Leopolds of the same time period.