I need help with compact, pocket binoculars

[Davyalabama]

First, this is for turkey hunting and squirrel hunting, period. I have 8x42 SLC for long range, too heavy and cumbersome for turkey and squirrel hunting.

Alright, I've gone to Grok, now it's you guys in the woods. I need help with my old eyes. I've even gone to wearing my glasses turkey hunting that I only use for driving. I can't see well enough with my naked eyes nor with glasses to tell beard lengths even at shotgun range, non TSS. I have an old pair of Bushnell instafocus 4x30, awful using glasses, have to put my glasses down to look through them. I need some quality binos in the under 18 oz., great glass for early, late, and foggy conditions, fit in a cargo pocket for carrying, and not cost over $500. $500 is my absolute top. Yeah, save a little, wait a few years, buy the Zeiss Victory or Swarovski Curio bins, nah, I'm going to need them for next year. I can't see spending that money, sorry. $500 is more than I want to spend, I prefer to stay under $200, but went a little above, see in a minute.
I've considered in no particular order
Pentax Papillio 6.5x21
Vortex Bantam 6.5x32
Zeiss Terra 8x25 $229 at Midway right now, ordered a pair and waiting for them to come.
Kowa YF II 6.5x30
Swarovski My Junior 7x28, I'm considering these, the problem is no diopter adjustment.
Swarovski Pocket, 8x20,
Bynolyt Seagull Ed 8x25 or DDoptics Lux Hr 8x25

This is really frustrating, I killed a small 6 1/4" beard, decent width, Jake 2 days ago thinking it was longer. This is my third of the year by the way. I've got no business shooting those things. The first day of the year, I had a turkey at the edge of gun range and couldn't tell his beard well, ended up being thin, but hey, sometimes you only get one small opportunity. I chalked it up as fog, well there wasn't fog the other day, just fairly thick woods. Now I'm not knocking anyone that would kill one of these, I've killed too many over the past 50+ years to fool with these, I'm not bragging, it's just a fact.

My eyes, due to unforeseen circumstances, can not be corrected further even with surgeries, been through this since the 80's. The eyes are just getting older now and dimmer.

Like I've said, I've done the Grok, I've done the internet birding forums, now I need real world experience from hunters.

Thanks, in advance.

 

[171farm]

I don’t have experience with them, but I believe Maven has some right around your budget. Not so sure on the size/weight of their 6 or 8x sets. But might be a place to look.

I have one of their RF.1 range finders, and I wouldn’t be afraid to run it up against the top tier brands. My buddy has a Lecia 3500.com and my eyes couldn’t tell the difference between to two visually. Yes the Lecia was a slight bit more precise and easier to range very far distances but at a 1/3rd the price you couldn’t convince me the Leica is that much better. I know there is a lot more to the Lecia tech wise but I think at least in my limited knowledge, Maven packs a punch higher than their price would expect.

 

[P Carter]

I was looking for the same thing last year and settled on the German precision optic passion ed 8x32.

For me, it was between this and the maven 8x30, but I was able to find the GPOs on sale, think I paid $380 or something, from cameraland.

I really like them: light and clear. I don’t have other high end optics, so I can’t do a true comparison, but im really happy with these.

 

[juju]

Beards are not a fool proof measure of adulthood. I've killed some short beard birds but never a jake. If a bird doesn't gobble or throw up a full fan, it walks. I guess you could go by wing patch if you're using binoculars. If it has a full wing patch then it is an adult.

We have had the Pentax and Kowa, and the original Leupold Yosemite that the Kowa matches, here. The Leupold and Kowa are what we use for squirrels. Lowlight wise they're about as good as Leupold VX3 glass. The Pentax is nice enough for broad daylight bird watching.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

The Maven 8X30 is sooooo good. I bought TWO binos. Gifted one to my wife for her car and travels. I recently posted that if I forgot my full size optics on a hunting trip and all I had with me were the 8X30....I would not be terribly hamstrung. They are that good.

 

[MallardSX2]

I have these.

SWAROVSKI OPTIK CL Pocket 8x25 Wild Nature Green Binoculars

The CL Pocket is a folding compact binocular with exceptional optical quality. It offers maximum viewing comfort, even for long periods, and

www.scheels.com

THEY ARE AWESOME.

To be honest, I rarely use any other binocular unless I am on a tripod.

 

[StupidLightweight]

The Maven 8X30 is sooooo good.

For the money, Maven 8x30s are unbeatable. They offer 95+ percent of the performance of Zeiss/Leica/Swaros for a fraction of the cost. They aren't true pocket binos, but they're small and light enough that shouldn't matter.

 

[KenLee]

8x30 Sightron Blue Sky II.
SALES run $100-120.
Spectacular for the cost. I have one in every vehicle just in case. Saw and sized up 3 deer that proceeded to die at least 40 minutes after sunset last 10 days of season last yr.
I love them for quick and simple. I can't be buying 8x42 NL Pures for 6 vehicles.

 

[earrow]

I don’t have experience with them, but I believe Maven has some right around your budget. Not so sure on the size/weight of their 6 or 8x sets. But might be a place to look.

I have one of their RF.1 range finders, and I wouldn’t be afraid to run it up against the top tier brands. My buddy has a Lecia 3500.com and my eyes couldn’t tell the difference between to two visually. Yes the Lecia was a slight bit more precise and easier to range very far distances but at a 1/3rd the price you couldn’t convince me the Leica is that much better. I know there is a lot more to the Lecia tech wise but I think at least in my limited knowledge, Maven packs a punch higher than their price would expect.

Don’t think you would be disappointed with the maven’s. I have the eight by 30s and the 10 by 30s they’re pretty good. Not sure on the weight either, but not heavy.

 

[Agross]

Maven B3’s. I have the 6 and 8, great binos

 

[PredatorSlayer]

Take a look at the kowa genesis 8x22s

 

[huntsman22]

still rocking the Gold ring pockets, after all these years....

 

[Davyalabama]

I have these.

SWAROVSKI OPTIK CL Pocket 8x25 Wild Nature Green Binoculars

The CL Pocket is a folding compact binocular with exceptional optical quality. It offers maximum viewing comfort, even for long periods, and

www.scheels.com

THEY ARE AWESOME.

To be honest, I rarely use any other binocular unless I am on a tripod.

Yeah, those aren't in the budget, but would be very nice, along with the Zeiss Victory pocket 8x25. Those just aren't where I'm at for turkey hunting, YET! I know buy once cry once.

 

[rarmitage915]

Another vote for the Maven 8x30s. They're fantastic. You can find them used for well within your budget. If you actually need a pocket set, they have a 7x28 that I would think would be a good option. No experience with that model though. Let us know what you think of those Terra's you ordered.

 

[tony]

I have a set of Kowa BD 2 6.5 x 32 I really like.
Not sure in the weight though.
The dudes at Cameraland are your guys.

 

[Davyalabama]

I ended up with the Zeiss Terra, 8x25. I'm trying them out from Midway, let's see how they work out. I'll run them through the paces at the lake this weekend against the Bantams and the 8x42 SLC Swaros. I don't need them to see as far as the SLC's, I need them to be light weight, which they are right at 11oz., be good early, late, and midday, easy to manipulate, help me see a beard before he's in gun range, help me see across a clearcut if they are in there before I step into it, etc. Now early and late for a turkey is a lot different than early and late for deer.

I did order a pair of the Vortex Bantam, those are nice little binocs for $69. I'm keeping those too. They will be in the house or Can Am, they are really nice even with glasses on. I'm impressed for $69 and my eyes. Those Bantams are light weight as well. The Bantams and the Terra's both fit in my cargo pockets of pants, not at the same time, just they will fit and not weight me down.