Advice wanted on best scope for deer stalking

MOC1972

I have been looking at scopes and I want to get some opinions on the best scopes in the €800-€1000 price range. Also I have seen a scope manufactured by a US company called TRIJICON. They have a fiber optic lumination and seem to be in the price range I am looking at. Anyone had any experience with them?

jwshooter

MOC1972 wrote: »

I have been looking at scopes and I want to get some opinions on the best scopes in the €800-€1000 price range. Also I have seen a scope manufactured by a US company called TRIJICON. They have a fiber optic lumination and seem to be in the price range I am looking at. Anyone had any experience with them?

i would not bother with illumination in a stalking scope or in any scope .

R.Macleod has a 3-10x42 as new swarovski AV for 675 pounds .

kerryman12

i have a leupold vxiii 4.5-14x50 no real complaints cost around €600 at the time.

tfox

I have a Zeiss 1.5-10x50 I think. Very sharp clear image, excellent at low light. Is illuminated which I do use sometimes when its getting dark but not that often.

Not cheap though

ejg

Trijicon are fairly good scopes, glass wise maybe not quite at European levels but good.
The illumination is a funny thing, read about it first. One component in some of the scopes is a bit of a dodgy substance if I remember right. So dodgy that shipping can be troublesome. The after a few years the illumination goes down or looses some of it's power.

edi

Tackleberrywho

ejg wrote: »

Trijicon are fairly good scopes, glass wise maybe not quite at European levels but good.
The illumination is a funny thing, read about it first. One component in some of the scopes is a bit of a dodgy substance if I remember right. So dodgy that shipping can be troublesome. The after a few years the illumination goes down or looses some of it's power.

edi

NF uses a led, good for 50-70,000 hours!

Tackleberrywho

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

NF uses a led, good for 50-70,000 hours!

light life of course not battery life:p:D

Deise Musashi

Pick a decent make, Bushnell on up to Zeiss, Swarovski, Schmidt&Bender, Doktor Optik, Kahles, you know the names.

Check them out in person if possible, as it's getting dark outside if possible. All scopes look good in bright daylight. There are charts you can print up and stick on a wall across the road for checking binoculars and scopes performance.

Save the bells and whistles. Unless you actually need a bullet drop compensator, illumination, mil-dots, parallax adjustment, laser range finder, put that money into the glass and coatings.

I personally don't like huge objective ends on scopes, 42 is about my limit. If the end of your scope is huge, you need high mounts to fit it and a high head position to see through it. I like to mount scopes as close as possible to the bore, within reason. That brings me on to magnification.

Do you need a 4-40x68 scope? I shot a lot of bunnies with a 4x32 scope years ago. A scope helps you see better, not shoot better. More moving parts drives up the cost of a good scope and gives a poor scope more areas to fail/leak.

The exit pupil of the human eye is 7. This means a 4x40 scope has an exit pupil of 10 (4 into 40). The extra light transmitted is wasted, so on variable power scopes I like to set them to give me roughly seven when magnification is divided into lens size.

Really ideally I prefer a 6x42 scope, there is always the temptation to fanny about with the mag ring when a shot presents itself if that is an option.

I've missed more shots because I wanted the most, or best, magnification on my scope. Twisting up for longer shots and down for woodland means missed chances. A fixed scope is mechanically simpler (KISS) and that time can be put into taking the shot right away, less choices under stress are better than more choices (OODA Loop).

For hunting the scope is a tool, a cheap Tasco 4x40 scope does the same job as a Swarovski 4x40, just not as well at dawn and dusk.

For the same money, €100 or €1000, the simpler scope will be more reliable than the fancier scope all else being equal.

My advice would be find a decent brand, neatest scope you can fit to your gun, decent magnification suited to the type of hunting you do, fixed power and the best glass and coatings you can get. €800 spent on quality is better than €800 split between gadgets and glass, in my opinion. Sorry for rambling on!

R.Macleod has a 3-10x42 as new swarovski AV for 675 pounds

I'd have a look at that one anyway.

Tackleberrywho

Deise Musashi wrote: »

Pick a decent make, Bushnell on up to Zeiss, Swarovski, Schmidt&Bender, Doktor Optik, Kahles, you know the names.

Check them out in person if possible, as it's getting dark outside if possible. All scopes look good in bright daylight. There are charts you can print up and stick on a wall across the road for checking binoculars and scopes performance.

Save the bells and whistles. Unless you actually need a bullet drop compensator, illumination, mil-dots, parallax adjustment, laser range finder, put that money into the glass and coatings.

I personally don't like huge objective ends on scopes, 42 is about my limit. If the end of your scope is huge, you need high mounts to fit it and a high head position to see through it. I like to mount scopes as close as possible to the bore, within reason. That brings me on to magnification.

Do you need a 4-40x68 scope? I shot a lot of bunnies with a 4x32 scope years ago. A scope helps you see better, not shoot better. More moving parts drives up the cost of a good scope and gives a poor scope more areas to fail/leak.

The exit pupil of the human eye is 7. This means a 4x40 scope has an exit pupil of 10 (4 into 40). The extra light transmitted is wasted, so on variable power scopes I like to set them to give me roughly seven when magnification is divided into lens size.

Really ideally I prefer a 6x42 scope, there is always the temptation to fanny about with the mag ring when a shot presents itself if that is an option.

I've missed more shots because I wanted the most, or best, magnification on my scope. Twisting up for longer shots and down for woodland means missed chances. A fixed scope is mechanically simpler (KISS) and that time can be put into taking the shot right away, less choices under stress are better than more choices (OODA Loop).

For hunting the scope is a tool, a cheap Tasco 4x40 scope does the same job as a Swarovski 4x40, just not as well at dawn and dusk.

For the same money, €100 or €1000, the simpler scope will be more reliable than the fancier scope all else being equal.

My advice would be find a decent brand, neatest scope you can fit to your gun, decent magnification suited to the type of hunting you do, fixed power and the best glass and coatings you can get. €800 spent on quality is better than €800 split between gadgets and glass, in my opinion. Sorry for rambling on!



I'd have a look at that one anyway.

There must be a bit of Yank in ya Deise, They all love small scopes with low mag.

All depends on eye sight, my eye sight is not great so I like high mag, and parral on the side so quick focus.

Nikon and NF have parralax on side, parralax on the front to me is a very old design.

MOC1972

thanks for the advice guys

dwighet

stick with something like 12x to 16x.... thats more than enough you`ll need..
Also dont be shy when you have to open your purse.... unfortunatly in this game the more you spend the better you get... theres no short cuts unless you find a bargain 2nd hand scope....and there is nowt wrong buying 2nd hand scopes...I think all mine are and they are bang on..

murtdono

can't go wrong with swaro,zeiss,schmidt+ bender, expensive though !!

Tackleberrywho

murtdono wrote: »

can't go wrong with swaro,zeiss,schmidt+ bender, expensive though !!

Or Nightforce Pecar Kahles Or High end Nikon!!

buckshotbrolan

Go for Swarovski, scopes for life! Was planning on buying one next month and had to kiss good bye to it, the Mrs has just let me know how much her wedding dress is costing me! More than the scope I want and she will only wear it once! It has been my saving goal since september:mad:. Women and hunting just don't mix....... Only settle for the best, and that goes for women as well!!!!!

jwshooter

buckshotbrolan wrote: »

Go for Swarovski, scopes for life! Was planning on buying one next month and had to kiss good bye to it, the Mrs has just let me know how much her wedding dress is costing me! More than the scope I want and she will only wear it once! It has been my saving goal since september:mad:. Women and hunting just don't mix....... Only settle for the best, and that goes for women as well!!!!!

I think there is a Forum on boards for that sorta thing .

buckshotbrolan

jwshooter wrote: »

I think there is a Forum on boards for that sorta thing .

Oops sorry miss

diveshark

am in the market myself at the same monies as original post,
what about the zeiss duralyte???
heard some good things about them, specially in low light.

All the information is great lads, Thanks.