I've been through the "Which Binoculars?" post below, which seemed to be soliciting opinions on the best binoculars if price was no object.

I'm going on my 2nd big game hunt this Fall, and it's been 8 years since my first. I may yet get hooked on going more often, but with 4 boys under 11 years old, it may be a while before I pick up the pace from where it is now.

I'm painfully aware that my current binocs aren't anywhere close to being adequate for my October elk hunt in BC, so I'm looking for some optics that are up to the task. While I probably could afford some "heirloom" binoculars, I'm not sure that I'd reap all the benefits of them, hunting as infrequently as I'm likely to.

Naturally, trying to sort-out my optics options has been freakin' maddening, on account of there are a stupid amount of choices & options. The info at this site, http://www.consumersearch.com/www/sports_and_leisure/binoculars/fullstory.html, however, seemed pretty coherent. Their basic premise is that it's much harder to discern the difference between $500 binocs & $1,000+ binocs, than it is to see a huge difference between $200 binocs and their $500 counterparts.

Would some <$500 Nikon Monarchs serve me adequately forthe hunting that I'm likely to do? Or, should I plan on spending 10% or more of the total cost of the hunt on a pair of binocs, given that I might not go again for 8-10 years?

How would you all approach this?

Thanks!