How far do you glass?

[Blue72]

@sons_of_the_sod on Instagram: "A visual representation of my family headed to @kmachos on May 14th. @huhart @kerstenhillary @chris.kersten.3"

13 likes, 1 comments - @sons_of_the_sod on Instagram: "A visual representation of my family headed to @kmachos on May 14th. @huhart @kerstenhillary @ch..."

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That’s 4.3 miles right there, through a 80mm spotter and iPhone.

I’ll glass as far as I can see, just to get the data points.

Very cool video, thanks for sharing

 

[JW@TRACT]

Your discretion. And your lungs and legs too. What are you willing to give for an opportunity at an animal.

 

[Blue72]

My optics allow me to glass at extreme distances. Like many things, just because you can does not mean you should.

If there’s sufficient access, whether roads or easy terrain, then I’ll glass farther. If there are no roads and/or gnarly terrain, then I am more than likely wasting my time.

What type of animal in what type of weather? If it’s hot, no access, large animal, and nasty terrain then it’s a pass. The meat and/or cape will likely go bad before you can pack it all out. It can even be a pass if it’s a small animal in the same conditions.

Am I hunting solo (often) or in a group? That can dictate what I do as well.

Am glad that so many things worked out extremely well for the other posters. But I’d wager that most stalks that originate with glassing an animal up at 5+ miles end up in abject failure. Too much has to go right for those types of extreme stalks to consistently prove successful. Depending on the hunt that is a huge commitment in time and energy with a very low chance of success.

agreed, I believe even some of the long range glassers here even admit. That anything 3 miles or more is probably best to save for tomorrow

 

[BugleMeTimber]

Was watching elk last year at about 2 miles away but when we put the binos/spotter down we realized there was a bull standing 200 yards below us feeding. Always have a tendency to look at the farthest ridges first when the critters are right at our feet.

 

[Brian Fahs]

Im sure im the oddball on here but I glass a lot for spring gobbler hunts in the mountains of a few northeast states. I routinely turn up turkeys at several miles distance from high points in broken farm mountain country. I used to run swaro 15x but switched to 12x els recently. On a tripod they find game like no other.
I always get curious looks and questions when guys see me. 99 % have no clue what I'm doing.

Usually I relocate by truck to hunt them or get a game plan for next day. My success rate went through the roof once I started using this tactic.

Most easterners know nothing of tripod mounted alpha glass.

 

[Jimss]

I use a spotting scope plus bino combo. A lot depends upon the species, country, and conditions. More times than not I spot game with binos or spotter and dial in to field judge them. As mentioned above it's easy to spot a dall ram in green grass but it may be tougher spotting the same ram on a glacier. I still have decent legs and lungs and generally hunt fairly open terrain. Generally speaking I glass all the country in front of me. Sometimes it can be difficult spotting very far with trees but it's often possible to glass from one side of a draw into trees on the opposite side. There are so many different scenarios but it usually pays to sit and glass rather than aimlessly hike through country and spook animals.

 

[Outwest]

It's a tradeoff game... Spend more time glassing farther with lower efficacy or less time glassing closer with higher efficacy, likely with similar results if not skewed toward closer.

I have found I tend to be more successful if I stay within the confines of my glass. In my experience (species dependent), it is usually around .75 to 1.5 mi with 10x and 2.5-4.5 mi with 30x.

I don't usually think about what I can hunt that day when I'm glassing, my primary focus is finding as many animals as possible, wherever they happen to be.

 

[Geewhiz]

I glass as far as I possibly can from each location. A couple weeks ago I spotted some elk a good ways off and measured it on google earth later at 8.6 miles. If I was hunting I absolutely would have gone after them.

Sometimes you see stuff close, sometimes you don't, so why not let the glass walk if it doesn't take much extra effort?

 

[Slicktreedog]

I can only do 200-300 yards, depending on the humidity, before my Tasco makes me go cross-eyed.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Depends on your glass and visability and terrain and the type of animal you are looking for. 15x Binos out to about 1.5-2mi, 30x BTX beyond that.

^^^This^^^ Gone 6 miles with the BTX/95mm.

 

[mtnkid85]

This summer, about 600 yards.

 

[Blue72]

I’m surprised of those who glass over 5 miles. At that point the image is crazy small and atmospheric conditions by me are not friendly at all