No you don' t need German glass to have success on big game out west...They only alleviate headaches for situations where extended glassing may tire your eyes. SHopping carefully there are binos out there that will do the job..I won' t get into it here because it would be a lengthy reply and someone would interpret it wrong anyway. Darn those hunters 50-100 years ago must have had extreme hardships getting their game..how the heck did they ever do it ? Some of the conversations I hear here and other places regarding equipment just make me more impressed with the power of modern marketing and its affect on people and their purchasing decisions. From Hunting shows on the Outdoor channel to idiot videos we watch to biased articles one reads in hunting publications...the Sportsman is under attack and it isn' t just from the anti-gun.. treehugging.. liberal buffoons out there.