RE: Binoculars for elk hunting?
Couldn't disagree with bigbulls any more. I have a pair of 16x50 and love them, and they are cheap ones. Had a pair od B&L 10x40 that went out this year after less then two years service. They were fog proof and always fogged up, water proof and had water on the inside, and the clarity went to heck this year. I purchased a pair of Bushnell 16x50 hoping they would get me through this rifle season, and they did. Now I am looking to get even better 16x binos. I put the harness system on them and the weight is marginal. I get up high early and glass very large bowls, they are perfect for that. With the 16x I could see things that I couldn't see before. I was able to pick out elk I simply would not have seen with my 10x. I never used a tripod nor did I ever need to. Shaking and movement were never an issue. On a couple of occassions I was able to clearly see bulls and there size before tracking out after them. During bow season, I switch to a pair of 12x compacts as binos are not nearly as important to me then.