An eye opener...that "Ah Ha" moment.....

[Beendare]

I think we have all been on hunts when we had that "Ah Ha" moment....where we realize the right optics can make or break you.

Well after 30+ years of hunting....I thought I was past that. Last week I had the pleasure of helping spot for a guide buddy in Arizona for some rifle hunters and had one of those "Ah Ha" moments....floored me actually.

A little background....I don't want to mention hunt locations here...namely just talking optics. So we are spotting from a hillside at first light and you know the feeling....you are trying to "Out spot" your buddy...in this case my buddy who spends 320 days a year in the field. In fact, I know a lot of guides and hunters...and he is far and way the best I've ever seen.

So we are on this Mtn and I've covered it pretty good when my buddy says, "I got 3 bulls".....Part of me says "Cool"...but another part of me says, "Damn that guy!" So then we go though the description of exactly where the bulls are....we've all done it right- trying to get on them....they are a blur- nuthin. He says come here and sure enough....though his glass....there they are.

Fior the record, I'm using my 15x60 Zeiss binos...and a 20x45 60mm Nikon HD scope....darn good glass. They just don't hold a candle to his Swaro BTX's on a 95mm scope. ....those things are a game changer!

We pull up where the bulls are on the GPS....they are 6.8 miles away- Holy smokes! {this happened more than once through the week- not a one off]

Thats a difference maker....and it shows in his results as many guys hunting those late seasons in so so units never see an elk...and he is 100%.

What was your "Ah Ha" moment like that?

 

[Blue72]

I didn’t understand the craze on astronomy and birding forums about Nikon 9.3 FOV 7x35 binoculars. Especially since only Nikon offers them on lower end binoculars and the outer edges are soft. But I saw them on sale at a local sporting good store, I figured why not!

I get home and I look down the beach to look at a seagull and I was amazed not at just seeing the seagull and his buddies, but the deer walking down the beach and the boat that is in the water.

Since then FOV played an important role in all my optics

 

[weekender7]

When I read this and looked up the PRICE of the Swaro BTX's on a 95mm scope, it was my AhHa moment. No doubt if you can afford those, you can see things I never saw, and likely never will. I admire those that can afford quality tools for the job at hand.

 

[Antarctica]

^^^^^

Thank you for saving me the effort of even looking ;-)

 

[Beendare]

When I read this and looked up the PRICE of the Swaro BTX's on a 95mm scope, it was my AhHa moment. No doubt if you can afford those, you can see things I never saw, and likely never will. I admire those that can afford quality tools for the job at hand.

So I take it you have never had that moment with good optics then?

He makes his living with his optics....and he is darn good at it........the guy wouldn't be caught dead with Burris's around his neck.

Yep, the BTX/95mm is $4900 +/- a chunk ....did you also notice they are sold out at many outfits?

Heres a hint....if you hire an outfitter for your $7500+ elk hunt and he shows up with Tasco's....ask for a refund.

 

[weekender7]

So I take it you have never had that moment with good optics then?


You are correct Beendare, I haven't had that pleasure. No doubt I would love to though. At best I only get about two weeks a year in glassing country and just don't have that much extra coin to spend on just a spotter. Not doubt it would be great to use and increase the odds of success.

 

[Brian Fahs]

My ah ha moment was putting my binos on a quality tripod and head.

For the record I run newest version swaro 10x 42 els and 15x56 slc hds.

The 15s are just stupid good game finders........

For those who care for years the optics I carried in my truck were worth more than my truck.....

Now I have a newer model tundra so that is no longer the case. Every binocular and spotter I own is worth more than my hunting bow or rifle or shotgun I own. Optics are the best money I have spent for hunting.

 

[TNKnoxville]

My first elk hunt in CO this year. Had an old pair of Pentax/Cabelas binoculars. Thought they we okay. Great for TN. Could see elk but just not super clear at distance and could not see horns that the guide was seeing. Looked thru his Steiners and another guys Zeiss and I'm now a believer in what good glass can do. Would not have believed it unless I used them!!!!!

 

[WRO]

I've ran swaro for a long time, I had a client with a Razor spotter set up next to my STX 85mm. I was up to 22 elk picking them piece by piece out of the mohaganies looking for one bull that was with them. My client got all excited saying he'd found it, I went over to his scope and looked, it was a cow that I'd been lookng at for a while. The trying to show him the rest in his spotter was tough, the detail absolutely was not there.

My initial ah ha moment was 20 years ago when I was camp bitch and we were watching 6 elk we could kinda tell were bulls through the gold ring spotter. The client with the swaro could tell points and what each bull was, the guide called bullshit, then looked and low and behold we could. He had a swaro by second season.

 

[cooperjd]

When I called Doug at cameralandny and discussed my "buy once, cry once" binocular purchase. A few days later when my leica ultravid hd 10x42's showed up and i took them outside, at night, and could read car license plates that were parked nearby, when i could barely see the car with my naked eyes. Going from $300 binos to those was night and day.

#2 was last year when i put those leica's on a tripod for the first time glassing a hillside.

 

[JollyRoger]

An eye opener...that "Ah Ha" moment.....

My moment really just happened about a week ago. I’d been using 10x42 Diamondbacks for years. Adding a tripod helped quite a bit... but it was still tough to find animals at certain times, or in darker areas on the mountains. Lots of work for my eyes to pick things out in tough spots. Areas where I knew held game cause I watched them walk in.

Enter my 10x42 SLCs that just came in the mail. I took them out on a camp/wolf hunt trip with my 6 year old. The difference is real... side by side it’s pretty amazing in all conditions, but especially those tougher times/areas.

Imagine watching tv with sunglasses on and then taking them off. Obviously exaggerated but that was my thoughts between the DB and SLCs in the field.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ramont]

I work at a gun store and I started shooting long range many years ago. When I started working long range I found out about the difference between quality optics - it's a real thing and it cost money to produce quality glass. At the gun store I always try to explain that there is a huge difference between a Vortex Crossfire or Diamondback and the Vipers/Razors. You pay more for reason. But most often I get the "know it all" smile and the guy tells me that he doesn't pay for marketing gimmicks.

 

[Blockcaver]

Back in 2002 or there-about my buddy Guy and I were scouting goats in Colorado....he had the license and I had already drawn tags and arrowed a couple billies over the years. We were in a small range of peaks well off the continental divide. Guy had spotted a big billy on the divide the day before and had put the location in his GPS. We were sitting down glassing the mountains proximate to us when my he says, "hey, that billy from yesterday is out up there on the divide". I studied where he pointed with my then 20 years old Zeiss 10x40B binoculars (the ones Chuck Adams had around his neck in what seemed like 100 articles about his bowhunting success). I finally thought I could see a white spot. Guy says yup, that is him, he is facing west, etc. After a bit I asked if I could look at the goat in his Swarovski 10x42 EL's. He said sure, have a look....dang I could see the goat, his legs, his neck, head, etc! Guy checked his GPS and we were over 6 miles from the billy.

Within a week of that ah-ha moment I'd ordered a set of the Swaros, which we still have and use almost daily at the house. I bought a new set of Swarovision 10x42 ELs for me when they first came out to keep my wife happy, as she always was giving me crap when I'd take the old ELs out of the kitchen for a hunt. Solved our problems.

 

[5MilesBack]

My ah-ha moment came a couple weeks ago after selling my Meopta 15x56's because I only used them for 3D. I went to the range with my 10x42's and they're about butt-useless after using those Meopta 15's for the last few years.

 

[AkMtnRunner]

My Ah Ha moment came this Fall looking at a bull moose from 450 yards away. I could tell he wasn't legal with my Nikon Monarch 7 8x42 but I took out my Redfield Rampage 20-60x spotter for fun. Well, I'll just say that I could make out more detail from the $400 8x binos.

 

[bmanb940]

Nikon's MONARCH 7 bino's whille not thought of in the same class as bino's costing $2K and up are dang nice. I used them and the MONARCH 7 8x30's for years until buying the MONARCH HG bino's with the filedflattener. Dang impressive and great in low light. I will be using them for the next 8 days rifle hunting in OK. Not all budgets are created equal so buy what you think will work best for your longterm needs.

 

[rayporter]

no doubt going to a big match where 30 spotters are set up gives you a lot to compare to.

every now and then one will be a WOW!