Glassing Help

[JohnIrish]

I recently picked up a pair of 12x bino’s... I hunt in eastern WA, Northern Idaho....sometimes in Colorado ... deer & elk. I also picked up a tripod for the bino’s. After all these years of hunting I am embarrassed to say that I have never really glassed. On ever hunting show, I see them glassing and that’s what got me wondering why I have never tried it before! I have stood there.. pulled out the bino for a quick look but never did any dedicated glassing before. Time to try it out! I had 10x and wanted to upgrade bino’s for glassing and picked 12x.

Does anyone have any tips or advice to get me started? Having the tripod sounds like a deal changer. I enjoyed the article by Justin Crossley on 12x bino’s.... in that article he gave a tip to hold the hat brim to stabilize the bino’s when quickly glassing. I am looking for other helpful tips like that. I tried it and it really works well.

I guess my biggest question is how to find a ridge or peak to glass from? Do you just search google earth... find a high spot and hike up there in the dark before first light? How long do you stay? Lots of the areas around here can be very wooded with only scattered openings. I am wondering if you also are able to scan the wooded areas. Just looking at clear cuts seems to be limiting.

 

[ZackP]

I mostly hunt desert Muley's down here in Idaho so I can't comment on your particular area or the terrain you hunt. Scouting before your hunt will be the most valuable thing you can do before any hunt. It doesn't always work out that way and I myself have moved to new areas during the season, but scouting pre season is HUGE. It'll give you an idea of your terrain, have pre meditated spots to glass/know the areas the animals are hanging out, and get you familiar with your access points. My biggest piece of advice is patients... Especially when glassing.

 

[USMC-40]

I was taught to ‘grid’ an area and observe from right to left - you read left to right and may overlook something.
Glass near you too - I’ve overlooked stuff so I could glass a drainage across a canyon and had animals 300 yards on the same side of the canyon as me...

 

[Researcher]

Im a little sad by your post. It means one more guy who is upping his game. Not to be rude but I chuckle at the hunters like you who glass for a few minutes and then leave. I have tons of stories where that happens and I have deer or elk spotted the whole time and people just move on.

To answer some of your questions yes you glass the openings and also the edges of the trees. I often find elk bedded on the edge of an opening in thick trees. The more open space the easier it is to glass but even thicker cover and burned out tree forest glassing can be fruitful. When you glass those thicker areas you have to know there are animals there to start then its a waiting game after that. Maybe you catch them making a quick trip through an opening maybe you miss them.

Some people cant sit there and glass and prefer to still hunt or cover ground. Thats fine but you should be proficient at all forms of finding animals. Adding glassing proficiency to your list of skills makes you a better hunter.

I will go to one of my spots and glass all day and cover the same ground over and over and over. If you get bored get up and move 100ish yards and re glass. Moving a little distance gives you different angles to glass and maybe you see something you didnt.

 

[Browninglover1]

The 4 Phase Glassing technique from David Long's Public Land Mulies book is a great place to start.

 

[ZackP]

This is a pretty accurate post by Researcher! I often times have had people glass for a few minutes and then bail not even realizing there was an animal a few hundred yards from them as they moved the opposite direction. This past season I actually glassed a good 3X3 a few hundred yards off the road as people crept by in vehicles not even realizing he was there. It just goes to show how important it is to glass. To add to his comment of glassing on the edges of trees I also find very good results this way.

Here’s a few bulls I glassed a ways out when they stood up from their beds along a thick patch of junipers. Yes #2 has a club!

Im a little sad by your post. It means one more guy who is upping his game. Not to be rude but I chuckle at the hunters like you who glass for a few minutes and then leave. I have tons of stories where that happens and I have deer or elk spotted the whole time and people just move on.

To answer some of your questions yes you glass the openings and also the edges of the trees. I often find elk bedded on the edge of an opening in thick trees. The more open space the easier it is to glass but even thicker cover and burned out tree forest glassing can be fruitful. When you glass those thicker areas you have to know there are animals there to start then its a waiting game after that. Maybe you catch them making a quick trip through an opening maybe you miss them.

Some people cant sit there and glass and prefer to still hunt or cover ground. Thats fine but you should be proficient at all forms of finding animals. Adding glassing proficiency to your list of skills makes you a better hunter.

I will go to one of my spots and glass all day and cover the same ground over and over and over. If you get bored get up and move 100ish yards and re glass. Moving a little distance gives you different angles to glass and maybe you see something you didnt.

 

[RussGS]

The first rule of observation they taught is in the military was to make yourself as comfortable as possible, given the circumstances. If you are cold, sitting on sharp rocks, or your neck is cramping, you will not stay in the glass.

SLOW DOWN, and then, take some more time to look things over. Robby Denning's book talks about glassing from one point for a while, and then moving a short distance to get a new vantage point. This can open up your view of the terrain.

Stability is your friend. You already have the tripod. Buy a quality bino adaptor, if you haven't yet.

Best of luck.