Ok...

First let me say that I have been hunting since my dad let me carry a 20 gauge while squirrel hunting at age 9 so I am not an actual "fawn" in the hunting world. In my 26 years in the field I have no clue what Parallex is when discussing optics. I am looking for a scope for Muledeer and Elk hunting and am thinking of purchasing a Nikon Buckmasters 4 x 14. It says it has side adjustments to compensate for Parallex adjustments. What does this mean?

Parallax is an apparent displacement or difference of orientation of an object viewed along two different lines of sight. A simple example is as follows: Extend your arm and point at a distant object looking through one eye only. Now imagine that the object is a deer and your finger is the crosshair of your riflescope. Move you head right then left and observe how the point of aim shifts.

Parallax in a riflescope happens when your eye moves away from dead center of the field of view and the point of impact (aiming point) shifts. This occurs when the reticle is not in the exact same focal plane of the object being viewed.



This is from Wikipedia:

If an optical instrument — e.g., a telescope, microscope, or theodolite — is imprecisely focused, its cross-hairs will appear to move with respect to the object focused on if one moves one's head horizontally in front of the eyepiece. This is why it is important, especially when performing measurements, to focus carefully in order to eliminate the parallax, and to check by moving one's head.

Most 3-9 scopes that I am familiar with have parallax set at 100 yards. "Shotgun" type scopes are frequently set to be parralex-free at 50 or 75 yards. Riflescopes of greater magnification 6-18 for example, cover a greater range of magnification (12 in 6-18 vs 6 in a typical 3-9) sotheymust have a focus adjustment in order to get the reticle and focal point in the same plane in order to eliminate parallax.

Make sense?

Thanks a lot mouthcaller. Am I correct in assuming that the yardage markers on the side adjustment should be set to the yardage your target is at? I basically makes sure that your crosshairs stay put on your target when you shift body position. At long range I can see where you could get off target pretty easily.

Rut n strut

You are correct. I generally leave mine adjustable objective set at around 100 yards and dial up for further distances if necessary. Try to shoulder the gun the same, get your head down on the stockand keep your eye centered within the field of view. You will see that more distant objects will appear out of focus and after adjusting the dial to bring them into better focus you should be relatively parallax free for that distance.

Good luck

Mouthcaller

Also, keep in mind the marked yardages on A.O. scopes may or may not be accurate. I'll venture a guess that they usually are somewhat off.