8 or 10 Power Binoculars for Hunting

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Gun Barrel Ecologist
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Re: 8 or 10 Power Binoculars for Hunting

Post by Gun Barrel Ecologist »

8x42 & 12x50

One for forest and general use, the other for Alpine, stags in the rut, and when there's money on the line.

9.3x64
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Re: 8 or 10 Power Binoculars for Hunting

Post by 9.3x64 »

secondtry wrote:I have the 8x42 HTs. I have used 8x42 and 10x42 FLs.

I prefer the 8x. The larger exit pupil makes them easier and more comfortable to use, and from sunset on they will be much better than 10x. After dark 10x42 is pretty useless. 8x has a noticeably wider field of view,which IME also helps to make it quicker and easier to pick up the target animal.

BUT - In NZ, I have been caught short with my 8x when compared to others using 10x (all 42mm obj). In these alpine conditions, the 10x gave just a whisker better definition at long range, and most importantly, glassing could almost always be carried out seated, resting on our knees, or prone; letting the user hold steady enough to use the extra 2x.

If I did a lot of this sort of hunting, I would opt for 10x - if I could afford it, as a second pair.

8x is more versatile and more user friendly.
Gee their is some good information in that post.
Thankyou
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Re: 8 or 10 Power Binoculars for Hunting

Post by stokesrj »

Somehow I missed this post but really good information has been shared. I can only reinforce what has already been said. For big open country, I like 10X but for woods I prefer 8X or even 7X.
What I actually use in open country is 15X56 Swarovskis mounted on a tripod, with 10X32 ELs around my neck for stalking and quick looks and a 30X spotting scope for judging age or trophy quality.
For woods hunting I actually use 7X35 Swarovskis in the US and 8.5X42 ELs for Europe low light.
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Re: 8 or 10 Power Binoculars for Hunting

Post by mchughcb »

I also use a zenray 8x42 monocular for driven hunts where weight is a concern.

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Re: 8 or 10 Power Binoculars for Hunting

Post by Ado »

I use Leica Geovid 10×42 HD-B but also have a Swaro ATS 85 25-50x W spotting scope if needed. I still have an 8x42 Steiner binos - have to say I was pleased to switch the Leica. The Leica is slightly heavier than the Swaro 8.5x42, but its rangefinder is better spec'd. I could not really discern any difference in glass when I purchased them, although that was while I was standing in a store looking into a dark office across the road....

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Re: 8 or 10 Power Binoculars for Hunting

Post by deerhunter338mag »

I’ve played around with 8 power, 10 power and 15 power. I think in thick timber country 8’s are very hard to beat. Once set for your eyes it’s just a quick look and that 32” Sambar stag turns into a stump. The 10’s come into their own in little bit more open country where you just don’t get the zoom out of the 8’s, to get a more clearer picture of what your looking at. Then the 15’s, if it’s big open country or looking into thick country from a distance the big 15’s are surperior. In any glass you get if you don’t buy in one off the major euro companies your just limiting yourself to nice sunny days with great light conditions. Just a tip, if you can save a bit more then go for the built in range finder. This will open up so many doors in your hunting opportunities. One thing a lot over look is that your binos are better than your scope. You need a scope that compliments your binos. If you can’t see it you can’t shoot it.
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Re: 8 or 10 Power Binoculars for Hunting

Post by Scotch_egg »

Deer hunter.338mag do you follow me on the stalking directory uk???

“If you can’t see it you can’t shoot it” is my tag line :D

I took my father out this evening in an attempt to bag a rutting fallow buck. Primarily my ground is thick neglected broadleaf wood. We access it via a couple of grass fields. Tonight we had to clamber over a couple of five bar gates into the first field. Out with the binoculars to glass the edge of the woodland, 200 meters away, according to my Leica 8x42 HD-B. Right in the edge of the wood I spot a fallow grazing. Dad gets a nudge in the right direction with his 10x32 Leica HD. At 5pm neither of us could determine if it was a pricket. Only when I had a glance through the 2.8-20x56 zeiss V8 were we certain she would be living another day.

From there we entered the wood and to be honest we both gave up at the same time. He spotted more does than me tonight, 60 year old eyes and 10x magnification, were no hinderence.

Although I had to tell him to rest the binos on the top of his sticks to stop the wobble. It’s dam tough to teach an old dog new tricks!!!

The outcome for me is, binoculars will spot the beast outline. If you need details have a spotter or a decent scope.

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Re: 8 or 10 Power Binoculars for Hunting

Post by stokesrj »

To me a spotter saves miles of unnecessary stalking just to determine you aren't going to shoot. I won't begin a stalk without using the spotting scope to first verify it is a legal, or desirable animal to hunt. Then the stalk begins, big glass is put away and light glass is in play. I still prefer my light glasses to be 10X if hunting the open expanses of the western US. There light is usually good, distances far, animals very hard to spot. This is why we use a tripod to mount the binoculars. At 2 miles stationary binoculars can detect the lift of a leg to the switch of a tail that are totally unseen with hand held binoculars. This is the hard part of the hunt in the west, just locating the animal. The stalk is much easier.
I have never used a rifle scope to evaluate an animal, my rifle scopes ate usually lower power than other optics at my disposal. I find 10 X perfectly acceptable for precise shot placement on big game animals out to 600 yards. If I'm hunting in terrain that allows 600 yard shots, I have 15X binoculars and 30X spotting scope and 10 or 12 X rifle scopes. That has worked wonderfully for me so far.
Robert J Stokes

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Re: 8 or 10 Power Binoculars for Hunting

Post by ebrownw2 »

I prefer 7-8x for a general purpose binocular. Field of view, brightness, steadiness. I have a pair of slc 7x42s that I keep in my truck and loan to my wife when she goes along. My primary hunting pair is the el range 8x42. But I also, like others have said, have higher power stuff I use if I’m trying a age an animal prior to shooting or glassing long range like the western USA for pronghorn or elk.

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Re: 8 or 10 Power Binoculars for Hunting

Post by deerhunter338mag »

Scotch_egg wrote:Deer hunter.338mag do you follow me on the stalking directory uk???

“If you can’t see it you can’t shoot it” is my tag line :D

I took my father out this evening in an attempt to bag a rutting fallow buck. Primarily my ground is thick neglected broadleaf wood. We access it via a couple of grass fields. Tonight we had to clamber over a couple of five bar gates into the first field. Out with the binoculars to glass the edge of the woodland, 200 meters away, according to my Leica 8x42 HD-B. Right in the edge of the wood I spot a fallow grazing. Dad gets a nudge in the right direction with his 10x32 Leica HD. At 5pm neither of us could determine if it was a pricket. Only when I had a glance through the 2.8-20x56 zeiss V8 were we certain she would be living another day.

From there we entered the wood and to be honest we both gave up at the same time. He spotted more does than me tonight, 60 year old eyes and 10x magnification, were no hinderence.

Although I had to tell him to rest the binos on the top of his sticks to stop the wobble. It’s dam tough to teach an old dog new tricks!!!

The outcome for me is, binoculars will spot the beast outline. If you need details have a spotter or a decent scope.
:lol: :lol: well its a great saying as it’s true.
Measure it, when it’s on the deck

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Re: 8 or 10 Power Binoculars for Hunting

Post by slugslinger »

I'm a little late on this one . . . . Leica Geovid 10x42 HD-B . . . if you can tolerate both the cost and the extra weight from the range-finding capability, they are quite excellent. I have mine in a (S4 Gear Lockdown Bino Harness) so the weight is absorbed, and they don't fly around.

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