jaywalker

Thanks everyone for the advice.

Chiefs

Optics are the most overlooked aspect of this sport. Much consideration is given to your weapon, your rangefinder, your boots, sleeping bag, vehicle, but bottom line is if you can't find the game you can't shoot it, Buy the very best you can, to upgrade later costs you money. To me with out a doubt the very best is Leica, period.

goatbrother

I just got a pair of these 8x42 Minox, the artic camo one for $149. For comparison I have a 5 year old Leopold Wind River 8x41 (Japanese) and 10x42 Leopold Acadia. I like all 3 but the Minox has a slight edge, a bit clearer, a bit brighter, wider field of view, easier to center on the eye and clearer around the edges, esier on the eyes too, just a little bit mind you, the Leopolds are both pretty good IMO.

genesis27:3

Swaroviski is a good glass, its about 1000$.

Big Uncle

I do not think that Swarovski just is good glass. Swarovski is GREAT glass! It is expensive but it is worth every penny.

PatriciaSTown

Niccon prostaff binoculars will range from $200-$500. I am having PROSTAFF 5 Custom XR. It is having three different magnifications to choose from and each one has a Nikoplex reticle, 4x zoom ratio, a quick focus eyepiece and Nikon’s Fully-Multicoated optical system.

MudderChuck

Something you may want to consider is trying to match your binoculars to your rifle scope. I'm one of those believers that even a moderately priced rifle is likely to be more accurate than the shooter is. Or in other words a moderately priced rifle is going to perform better with high end optics.

I do a lot of low light observation and shooting, hard to beat my 9X63 binoculars without using night vision electronics. My scope is a variable with a 52mm objective. I can see some things clearly with my binoculars I just can't quit make out with my rifle scope, it's frustrating. I've often thought a closer match between the two would be better overall. Both are high end, they are just a mismatch. Maybe I'm just being OCD, but it does bother me.

As far as target acquisition with the higher power scopes and binoculars, practice, practice, practice. One day it just kind of clicked for me and picking up running game at 12 X magnification at fairly close distances is no problem anymore. Field of view is IMO overrated and kind of a cop out for those who haven't practiced enough and have trouble transitioning from plain eyesight to magnified eyesight.

"Aim small, miss small".

A good pair of binoculars is at the top of my list of *necessary* items to take on a hunt, maybe third after rifle and ammo (or bow and arrows, whatever).