Westerners; what magnification for deer and elk?
11-14-2007, 12:07 PM
#11
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Texas - BUT NOW in Madison County, NY
Posts: 6,270
RE: Westerners; what magnification for deer and elk?
The long shots are rare. The closest I ever got to a mountain goat was 800 yards, so NO SHOT was taken! I did once shoot a caribou at 420 yards (.308 Norma Magnum). That was way before rangefiders, but because there was a 200-yard wide lake between us and the 'bou, and it was on the topo map, we were able to figure out how far up the far hill he'd been, and likewise how far we were from the lake on the downhill side.
My last elk was shot a 40 yards. I use fixed-power 6X scopes on my mountain rifles except for the ones I can take home at night following a day's hunt. Fixed-power scopes have less to go wrong than variables, so when I use a variable, I want to be able to swap it off at night if I broke it that day! The Leupold 2X-7X and 2.5X-8X are both small and light enough to use on rifles you may have to climb up (or down!!) a mountain with! My 6X's are 6-42's.
My last elk was shot a 40 yards. I use fixed-power 6X scopes on my mountain rifles except for the ones I can take home at night following a day's hunt. Fixed-power scopes have less to go wrong than variables, so when I use a variable, I want to be able to swap it off at night if I broke it that day! The Leupold 2X-7X and 2.5X-8X are both small and light enough to use on rifles you may have to climb up (or down!!) a mountain with! My 6X's are 6-42's.
11-14-2007, 12:25 PM
#12
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: WC FL
Posts: 26,323
RE: Westerners; what magnification for deer and elk?
[quote]ORIGINAL: Techy
I am thinking a 3-10 power scope. What do you all think isyour favoritepower to go with on a 40mm scope.
[quote]
I prefer the the 42mm, but your choice is also good!
I am thinking a 3-10 power scope. What do you all think isyour favoritepower to go with on a 40mm scope.
[quote]
I prefer the the 42mm, but your choice is also good!
11-14-2007, 12:59 PM
#13
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Missouri
Posts: 1,429
RE: Westerners; what magnification for deer and elk?
ORIGINAL: eldeguello
I use fixed-power 6X scopes on my mountain rifles except for the ones I can take home at night following a day's hunt. Fixed-power scopes have less to go wrong than variables, so when I use a variable, I want to be able to swap it off at night if I broke it that day!
I use fixed-power 6X scopes on my mountain rifles except for the ones I can take home at night following a day's hunt. Fixed-power scopes have less to go wrong than variables, so when I use a variable, I want to be able to swap it off at night if I broke it that day!
Knock, Knock
Who's there?
Hello, I'm reality and its the 21st century!
I use variable exclusively and have yet to experience a failure. I took a pretty nastly tumble down a shale slide in B.C. and my Leupold 2.5-8 vari x 3 scope took the brunt of the fall. POI didn't shift one milimeter.
If you purchase high quality optics you don't have to worry about them being any less reliable than a fixed power.
OBTW most of us don't have the $ to take an extra scope in detachable rings so that we can swap scopes at the cabin at night.
11-14-2007, 02:03 PM
#14
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location:
Posts: 1,345
RE: Westerners; what magnification for deer and elk?
I think eldequello and Shatodavis both make valid points. Yes variables are very very dependable. But there's still EVEN LESS to go wrong with a fixed power. (that's just a matter of counting up the parts!) I don't put my gear through real rough stuff. But I've never had a variable let me down, and the most abused and most used is also the cheapest. Some tasco my grandpa put on the 10/22 he gave me when I was 12.
Most can't afford two scopes and detach rings if they're worried about equipment failure...but you can buy "a lot more scope" in a fixed power model than you can a variable model for the same price. This topic kinda balances itself out. If you're real worried, buy one fixed scope for $XXX or two variables for $XXX. Whichever school or thought you have more trust, it's just a personal preferance thing.
I don't know that I've ever NEEDED more than 3x, but the longest shots I've taken on game have usually been around 200yards. And 9x or 12X on my scope sure come in handy. For what its worth, and if you want to be humbled, the general rule of thumb for military snipers is that you need 1x mag for every 100 yards. So that 10x ought to get you out to a 1,000!!!!! For average joe-shmoes I think a 10 or 12x model should easily get you out to 500. If it doesn't, the conditions aren't good enough to be taking a shot that long with ANY scope!!!!
Most can't afford two scopes and detach rings if they're worried about equipment failure...but you can buy "a lot more scope" in a fixed power model than you can a variable model for the same price. This topic kinda balances itself out. If you're real worried, buy one fixed scope for $XXX or two variables for $XXX. Whichever school or thought you have more trust, it's just a personal preferance thing.
I don't know that I've ever NEEDED more than 3x, but the longest shots I've taken on game have usually been around 200yards. And 9x or 12X on my scope sure come in handy. For what its worth, and if you want to be humbled, the general rule of thumb for military snipers is that you need 1x mag for every 100 yards. So that 10x ought to get you out to a 1,000!!!!! For average joe-shmoes I think a 10 or 12x model should easily get you out to 500. If it doesn't, the conditions aren't good enough to be taking a shot that long with ANY scope!!!!
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