ORIGINAL: Alsatian
ORIGINAL: stubblejumper
Some of us do hunt where the legal hours are from one hour before sunrise,until one hour after sunset.A brighter scope is an asset during that first and last half hour of legal hunting.I personally turned down two shots while hunting with a VXIII,that I very well may have taken with a brighter scope.
stubblejumper: I would say one other thing. For me, 30 minutes after sunset I can no longer see well enough to discriminate a target with my naked eye. My practice is to first become alerted to a target and then identify the target with my naked eye before training the scope on this target. What I have experienced is that, even at this 30 minute offset I can place crosshairs on object and see where the crosshairs locate. Even if the legal shooting hours extended further, I wouldn't be able to hunt because I couldn't see and identify targets with my naked eye.
How do you identify targets with your naked eye in such dark conditions? This same analysis pertains to the points raised by Pawildman. If the sky is cloudy to such an extent that you can't see the crosshairs on a target through a VariX III, how do you identify your target with your naked eye?
I will grant that hunting some game allows you to hunt outside the time range I mentioned. But I still suppose you will not want to hunt when you can't identify your target with your nake eye. Maybe you are using binoculars with good light gathering characteristics. I'm neither trying to disparage or attack you or to sell Leupold scopes. They work for me and I'm content with them. I'm sure that other scopes provide good service for others.
I can't even imagine having to depend on my naked eye to identify animals! I'd be absolutely lost without a good pair of bino's, cause if your depending on your naked eye, your missing out on a lot of good shootin!
I still have the first pair of high end bino's i ever bought, they have been a investment that will easily last the rest of my life... That means they are one heck of a good deal when you consider all the years of pleasure they have gave me and will continue to give me.
DM