Short range optic for heavy woods whitetail

[KenLee]

Ok. So you saw the part that says: “Quick target acquisition is very important to me and the ability to have 1x magnification would be very helpful”?

Then OP proceeded to make low light use a priority. If someone practices a little, target acquisition at 2.5x is easy with a great eyebox.

 

[plebe]

Then OP proceeded to make low light use a priority. If someone practices a little, target acquisition at 2.5x is easy with a great eyebox.

Fair enough. TR22 is a great scope.

But in the same scope line, the Accupoint 1-6 meets the 1x criteria, offers opportunity for far more field of view, is lighter, mounts lower, has fixed eye relief. 6x is more than ample magnification for 100yd use. It’s just imo a better fit for the usage case.

It’d be interesting to “measure” the difference in low light performance between the 1-6x and 2.5-10x. Personally, I’ve used 1-4x scopes in similar situations/environments as OP and low light has never been an issue even at the legal fringes at 100yds or less.

I’ve also made shots at running game with 2-7x scopes and while 2x can be fast, 1x is better when the game is close, in my experience. Sub 50yds seems to be very much in OPs wheelhouse, much more so than 100+. A recommendation for 50-400 kind of emphasizes only half of OPs intended usage. Not that the TR22 won’t be ok for sub 50yds, but it’s not optimal either.

 

[_S_R_]

A 1x optic is often overrated in woods, except for hunting fast-moving game such as during driven wild boar hunts in Europe. When bumping deer in the woods or a hunter typically has 5–20 seconds to take a shot. In my experience, a 2–10x scope is preferable, as it makes target identification much easier. For example on my last woodland buck taken at 50 yards I used a 3–15x scope. The additional magnification allowed me to clearly see the deer, assess the surroundings, and identifying what was in the bullet’s path.

 

[plebe]

A 1x optic is often overrated in woods, except for hunting fast-moving game such as during driven wild boar hunts in Europe. When bumping deer in the woods or a hunter typically has 5–20 seconds to take a shot. In my experience, a 2–10x scope is preferable, as it makes target identification much easier. For example on my last woodland buck taken at 50 yards I used a 3–15x scope. The additional magnification allowed me to clearly see the deer, assess the surroundings, and identifying what was in the bullet’s path.

What magnification was your scope set to?

 

[KenLee]

Fair enough. TR22 is a great scope.

But in the same scope line, the Accupoint 1-6 meets the 1x criteria, offers opportunity for far more field of view, is lighter, mounts lower, has fixed eye relief. 6x is more than ample magnification for 100yd use. It’s just imo a better fit for the usage case.

It’d be interesting to “measure” the difference in low light performance between the 1-6x and 2.5-10x. Personally, I’ve used 1-4x scopes in similar situations/environments as OP and low light has never been an issue even at the legal fringes at 100yds or less.

I’ve also made shots at running game with 2-7x scopes and while 2x can be fast, 1x is better when the game is close, in my experience. Sub 50yds seems to be very much in OPs wheelhouse, much more so than 100+. A recommendation for 50-400 kind of emphasizes only half of OPs intended usage. Not that the TR22 won’t be ok for sub 50yds, but it’s not optimal either.

The 1-6x24 wouldn't work for me, but no 24mm objective that I've tried did.
Caveat: I live in South Carolina and legal hunting is an hour before sunrise to an hour after sunset.

 

[TaperPin]

I have a 1x Sightron muzzle loader scope for super close use and so far it’s as close to ideal as could be hoped for. It’s as bright in low light as naked vision - if you can see it, the scope can hit it. New these were $200ish (now discontinued) and used have been $50 to $100 on eBay. I’ll start buying every one that comes up at $50.

If anyone has a big boomer, this scope has extra long eye relief of 5-3/4”.

I bet most folks could shoot 2 MOA with it if the target is large enough to see.

I’m used to scopes, so it’s faster than a red dot, or at least feels more natural.

 

[plebe]

The 1-6x24 wouldn't work for me, but no 24mm objective that I've tried did.
Caveat: I live in South Carolina and legal hunting is an hour before sunrise to an hour after sunset.

OP hunts in MN and WI. Both less than 30min before/after.

 

[_S_R_]

What magnification was your scope set to?

5 but I crank to 10 to verify rack

 

[plebe]

5

That’s far less than 10x or 15x. There’s tons of scope magnifications that encompass 5x, and offer 1x or near 1x on the low end to boot.

Not saying a 2-10 or 3-15 aren’t usable, or preferential even. That would depend on the individual and circumstances.

 

[Old-Cat]

The 1-6x24 wouldn't work for me, but no 24mm objective that I've tried did.
Caveat: I live in South Carolina and legal hunting is an hour before sunrise to an hour after sunset.

I do too. I run an Accupoint 1-6 x a German #4 on a 38”, 6.5lbs, 308; I thought long and hard about the entire the set up, I couldn’t be more pleased. It’s about as good as one could possibly find for use the mountains of South Carolina, IMO.

I may or may not talk to it when hunting, you know sweet-nothings while admiring its balance and over all function.


Back to the scope, I’ve never needed more light in the couple of years I’ve been using it. You can’t have everything, but it’s pretty darn close in my book.

 

[KenLee]

I do too. I run an Accupoint 1-6 x a German #4 on a 38”, 6.5lbs, 308; I thought long and hard about the entire the set up, I couldn’t be more pleased. It’s about as good as one could possibly find for use the mountains of South Carolina, IMO.

I may or may not talk to it when hunting, you know sweet-nothings while admiring its balance and over all function.


Back to the scope, I’ve never needed more light in the couple of years I’ve been using it. You can’t have everything, but it’s pretty darn close in my book.

So you're saying you can see with a 24mm objective in the wooded mountains an hour after sunset on a moonless evening???

 

[Kenny Hart]

I actually am heavily considering the 56mm objective Credo. The more I think about it I would like the excellent light gathering of a large objective vs the ability to shoot at 1x magnification.

If you haven't yet bought your scope, you don't need a 56mm objective to see in legal light here in the US.

A 1X is also unnecessary, and generally comes with a 24mm objective, which is pretty useless shortly after sunset. I don't care whose glass quality you have, the only time I brought a 1-6x24 hunting with me, it was a Vortex Razor Gen 2 that I literally could not see a doe at 10 mins until legal shooting ended under ideal conditions, but I could clearly make her out in my kids' $150 8x32 diamondback HDs. I did a lot of low light comparisons against far less expensive optics at lower powers, and eventually ended up selling the scope.

You definitely don't want a red dot and magnifier for low light, as that's worst case scenario with a blown out image AND crappy glass.

If you want a great low-light scope for 100 yards and closer, it seriously doesn't get better than a 6x42mm fixed scope. The lack of additional glass has an immediately noticeable improvement over variable power scopes of the same line. The FOV is wide enough to shoot a moving animal right in front of you, and the magnification is good enough to easily shoot an animal hundreds of yards away.

 

[Long Cut]

2.5-10x56 with a thick reticle. S&B Klassic, Polar… Trijicon Credo/Accupoint

Most States have antler requirements now, number of points or spread etc.. so I’m in no rush to be pulling the trigger. A 2.5-3x on the low end hasn’t hindered me in the least bit getting on target.
Locating a buck moving at last light on cloudy days or under a closed canopy forest on the other hand has.

YMMV. That’s my .02

 

[sdupontjr]

If you haven't yet bought your scope, you don't need a 56mm objective to see in legal light here in the US.

A 1X is also unnecessary, and generally comes with a 24mm objective, which is pretty useless shortly after sunset. I don't care whose glass quality you have, the only time I brought a 1-6x24 hunting with me, it was a Vortex Razor Gen 2 that I literally could not see a doe at 10 mins until legal shooting ended under ideal conditions, but I could clearly make her out in my kids' $150 8x32 diamondback HDs. I did a lot of low light comparisons against far less expensive optics at lower powers, and eventually ended up selling the scope.

You definitely don't want a red dot and magnifier for low light, as that's worst case scenario with a blown out image AND crappy glass.

If you want a great low-light scope for 100 yards and closer, it seriously doesn't get better than a 6x42mm fixed scope. The lack of additional glass has an immediately noticeable improvement over variable power scopes of the same line. The FOV is wide enough to shoot a moving animal right in front of you, and the magnification is good enough to easily shoot an animal hundreds of yards away.

You want to make a bet? In south louisiana hard woods it will get dark before sunset. 30 min after you better have high end optics or just get off you stand. Some of the better optics barely made it to sunset much less that 30 min after. Thus me buying a Polar. But I wasn't buying that Chit for the kids so they got the trijicon accupoint 2.5-10x56. Plus with it that dark with a wooded background, you can forget seeing the cross hairs without illumination. Just saying.

 

[Kenny Hart]

You want to make a bet? In south louisiana hard woods it will get dark before sunset. 30 min after you better have high end optics or just get off you stand. Some of the better optics barely made it to sunset much less that 30 min after. Thus me buying a Polar. But I wasn't buying that Chit for the kids so they got the trijicon accupoint 2.5-10x56. Plus with it that dark with a wooded background, you can forget seeing the cross hairs without illumination. Just saying.

While, admittedly, I've never hunted LA, I have grown up here in the SE hunting either side of you, up to KY, and have never had a problem being able to place a shot at an animal up to the end of legal shooting hours with a 42mm objective (other than the single instance above) and standard (but well-designed) reticle.

But if you claim that daylight works differently in LA, I won't doubt you, and wanna rock a S&B Polar to hunt whitetails, all power to you.

If you're talking about discerning between shoot/don't shoot animals right at the transition, then better glass has certainly been nice a couple times. But it's far less expensive to get into alpha binos that will always be better than alpha scope glass, with the added benefit of eliminating eye fatigue while hunting, so that's where my funds are directed.

I have found illuminated reticles on multiple scopes to be useless at dark because of their propensity to wash out detail and dilate your eyes, therefore darkening the perceived image.
I think the Trij scopes have the best solution for that with the tritium that doesn't require a light source inside the scope, and I hear S&B illumination is also done well.