Short range optic for heavy woods whitetail

[Choupique]

I painted the front post on all my rifles with some shitty craft store glow paint. Gotta redo it every season, but it helps a lot. Holds just the right amount of brightness late in the evening. In the morning, you have to hit it with your flashlight and be quick about it, because if you leave it on it turns the sight into a glow plug and you can't see shit

 

[Wolfshead]

We hunted Thursday afternoon with snow in the forecast.
The property we were at is very close woods with “long distance” being 50 yards. The plan was to still hunt around a point into the swamp and meet my Brother In-law and Father In-law at end of shooting light.
I chose my Model 94 with a Williams peep sight and a .125 apreature on it. With all the snow in the forecast, and what we actually hunted in had I brought my scoped rifle I would have spent a majority of time cleaning out my lenses to be able to see.
My Father in-law shot a Doe around four-ish, and with him being 84 we decided to forgo our last few minutes to go help him with his deer.
We located the deer and my Brother In-law went back to the truck to get the four wheeler to get the deer and my Father In-law out of the woods. I decided to wait it out on the trail the Doe came in on in hopes that maybe a Buck might be following her from where she came.
With about ten minutes of legal shooting time left I see movement from the trail and see another Doe coming along. Without a Doe tag I just watch her, but knowing that it is really low light I wanted to see about my sight picture and to see what it looked like in under the circumstances.
I was able to see well enough with the .125 aperture and the low light conditions that I could have taken a shot had it been a Buck.

 

[Macintosh]

^^For sure. With all of this I highly doubt there is any “correct answer”. Everything is a compromise to at least a degree, just have to make the most educated choice and try it, and adjust as needed for the conditions that are normal for you…eyesight, light, vegetation, range, familiarity, etc. And outright preference.

 

[jbwright]

I'm the same. If it was always good light, the NX8 1-8 would be a good fit, but the 1.5-6x42 are noticeably better in low light to me. I really like the S&B 1.5-6x42, reliable, good glass, and light.

@JCMCUBIC are you running your S&B on a long or short action? Just picked up the zenith 1.5-6x42 fd7 and it seems like it'd fit on my LA (30-06) but wondering if you have input here.

 

[mtfallon]

What do you think of the zenith 1.5-6? Is the reticle bold enough without the red dot and how bright is the dot? Debating that scope for for my whitetail rig as well!

 

[Archerichards]

Double click on Leupold 1 to 5X. Just put it on 2x and leave it.

And 308 plus 6.5PRC allows you to cover the full range of requirements. Smart.

And I know it's not responsive to your question, but for short range shooting I would opt for a short barrel-suppressed rifle over a conventional barrel length.

 

[jbwright]

What do you think of the zenith 1.5-6? Is the reticle bold enough without the red dot and how bright is the dot? Debating that scope for for my whitetail rig as well!

Haven’t mounted but initial impression is it’s awesome. Love the 1.5x. It has 11 brightness settings and in daylight you can’t really pick up the dot til about 7. The firedot makes up for the lighter reticle on lower power, but again, just from first impressions

 

[gatorfish]

For hunting hogs and deer in the Florida swamps with my 308, I was looking for something similar. I wanted a good 1x with some zoom and a simple fast illuminated reticle. I settled on the Leupold VX6HD 1-6x24 with the duplex firedot. It's been great. the simple uncluttered reticle is perfect for fast shots. I like the ZL turrets, although capped would be fine, I can quickly check they are zeroed, after pushing thru palmettos etc. I know the rep Leupold has here but mine have all been good.

 

[StupidLightweight]

Iron sights < red dot < magnified scope

While there’s no right answers, there are wrong ones.

Iron sights will reduce your success. That’s a fact. This is why some states are irons-only for muzzleloader seasons.

Red dots are better due to a few reasons, but they don’t make the target easier to see in low light. Strike two.

A magnified scope is the only choice. The question is size, weight, and magnification.

I hate the weight and size of most LPVOs when a fixed 2X or 1.5-4.5X or 2-7X is half the weight. For me, Leupy’s 2.5x20 would be hard to beat for 100 yards or closer.

 

[juju]

1.5x is more than you need FOV-wise. 2x is low enough to swing through a short range runner. That works out to about 50' FOV. The thing about woods hunting is it gets dark quick. You can mount a 50mm objective at medium height. Something like a 2-10x50 with a #4 reticle, illuminated, with as good of glass as you can afford is about right.

If you've got S&B budget, europtic will sell you a Polar T96 at a decent price. If you have younger eyes you don't need to spend that much.

 

[Thinkingman]

I would want at least a 40mm objective for light gathering.
Otherwise, lots of good responses for low power optics.

 

[Macintosh]

Iron sights < red dot < magnified scope

While there’s no right answers, there are wrong ones.

Iron sights will reduce your success. That’s a fact. This is why some states are irons-only for muzzleloader seasons.

Red dots are better due to a few reasons, but they don’t make the target easier to see in low light. Strike two.

A magnified scope is the only choice. The question is size, weight, and magnification.

I hate the weight and size of most LPVOs when a fixed 2X or 1.5-4.5X or 2-7X is half the weight. For me, Leupy’s 2.5x20 would be hard to beat for 100 yards or closer.

I have a hard time making categorical statements like that given the variability in where and how people hunt, their eyes, etc. i know a couple people who have tried all three and felt either the red dot or irons was the best solution for them. Im in my 50’s and over the past decadenor so I personally really like the additional magnification of a 6-10x on the upper end so I can spin up magnification to pick a hole thru the beech whips—I got rid of a 4.5x low-power variable because it didnt have enough magnification for this (for me). And I know lots of people that prefer the scope or the dot, EXCEPT when its snowy—which happens to be EXACTLY when folks in my area most want to be out and save vacation days for—in which case they go with a peep. Lots of guys around here run two identical 7600 carbines, one with a lpvo or a dot, and one with a peep for when its really snowy or wet. Not to mention simply what folks are familiar with. Based on all that I have a hard time saying any of those choices is “wrong” for someone else.

 

[StupidLightweight]

I have a hard time making categorical statements like that given the variability in where and how people hunt, their eyes, etc. i know a couple people who have tried all three and felt either the red dot or irons was the best solution for them. Im in my 50’s and over the past decadenor so I personally really like the additional magnification of a 6-10x on the upper end so I can spin up magnification to pick a hole thru the beech whips—I got rid of a 4.5x low-power variable because it didnt have enough magnification for this (for me). And I know lots of people that prefer the scope or the dot, EXCEPT when its snowy—which happens to be EXACTLY when folks in my area most want to be out and save vacation days for—in which case they go with a peep. Lots of guys around here run two identical 7600 carbines, one with a lpvo or a dot, and one with a peep for when its really snowy or wet. Not to mention simply what folks are familiar with. Based on all that I have a hard time saying any of those choices is “wrong” for someone else.

If that's the case, one rifle with a fixed 2X, 1.5-4.5X, 2-7X, or 3-9X on quick-detach mounts and a backup irons with a ghost ring rear sounds like the ideal one-gun solution. I've never used irons on a snowy or rainy day afield, but I do concede a time savings of using irons versus removing scope cover or caps.

I love irons and red dots, so don't think I'm hating on them, but I am a realist when it comes to sighting solutions. People should use what they want. However, if you were a deer, would you prefer to be stalked by a hunter using irons, red dot, or a scope? Hunter ability being equal, from first light until last, a magnified optic is the obvious winner.

 

[mi650]

Thanks for all the input everyone. I currently have a Trijicon Credo 2.5-15x42 on my 6.5 PRC. I shot a deer with it this year from a tree saddle in the open at about 175 yard around 10 minutes after sunset. While it worked fine I wouldn't want less light gathering than what I experienced during that shot. If I was in thick cover it would have been a challenging sight picture. This is not a typical shot for me by any means. I set up in the single tree left in a large area that had been logged this year and it worked out great. But it's the only time I've had a set-up where a shot like that was even possible.

I like the idea of a LVPO but it seems like 24mm objectives are the norm. I like the S&B 1.5-6x42. anyone have any experience with it?

No experience with that S&B, but I wouldn't turn my nose up at it. I'd seriously consider a Z6i 1.7-10 too.

Another thought, if you're otherwise happy with that Credo, maybe get the 56mm version?

 

[Macintosh]

If I were a deer? Pretty sure Id most fear the guy who’s done it enough to have a experience-based personal preference, regardless of what that is!

 

[Kurts86]

Iron sights are objectively worse than optics but the shooting demands of the hunt are likely low enough that optimizing the sighting system has little to no effect on success rates.

 

[MNbucknutz]

I have a 3x9 on my slug gun i use for similar applications and would agree that going to a 1x6 would be so much better

 

[JCMCUBIC]

@JCMCUBIC are you running your S&B on a long or short action? Just picked up the zenith 1.5-6x42 fd7 and it seems like it'd fit on my LA (30-06) but wondering if you have input here.

Sorry, just seeing this.

One is on a Howa mini. Another is on a Tikka t3X. I'm using the Klassic and it has a very short tube. The UM rings make it no issue on the Tikka. I haven't handled the Zenith so I'm not sure how the tube length on it compares. Depending on the mounts, the Klassic would have trouble on some long actions.

 

[jbwright]

Sorry, just seeing this.

One is on a Howa mini. Another is on a Tikka t3X. I'm using the Klassic and it has a very short tube. The UM rings make it no issue on the Tikka. I haven't handled the Zenith so I'm not sure how the tube length on it compares. Depending on the mounts, the Klassic would have trouble on some long actions.

Thanks. My bad. I thought you'd mentioned having the 1.5-6x42. But all good.
My next stop is trying to figure out which rings to run on mine - installing on a Model 70 winchester LA

 

[fshaw]

I like a plain duplex style reticle and bought a Trijicon Accupoint 1-4 green dot for hunting the swamps and forests of the Adirondacks. Nice scope.