Short range optic for heavy woods whitetail

[Old-Cat]

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

No sir. ?

However, I am saying I can see just fine.


Edit. Under those circumstances, you couldn’t see with your naked eyes. Why in the world would you wanna shoot something you can’t see with a naked eye? Maybe I’m missing something?

 

[Macintosh]

A good low light optic you’ll see more thru the optic than you can with your naked eyes. Scopes like the S&B mentioned above are designed specifically for night hunting in parts of europe where that is legal. In the US, if you are sitting waiting for a deer to come by, it can add a valuable couple minutes when you are most likely to see game moving. So yes, there is a legit use case for it.
That said, I agree that for 30min before/after, even in dark woods I have not had a problem with my 28mm objective—in part because its not seeing the deer thats the bottleneck for me, its seeing the brush in between me and the deer. Hunting past the time when you can see with a naked eye is fine in the open or very open woods, its quite another thing and ime not really as viable as it sounds if its really thick. Just gotta pick your priorities based on how and where you hunt. For me that last 3 minutes that my 42mm S&B gives me over my 1-6 is really 99% on paper only, its just not as important as other qualities given where and how I hunt. Diff story for other folks obviously.

 

[KenLee]

No sir. ?

However, I am saying I can see just fine.


Edit. Under those circumstances, you couldn’t see with your naked eyes. Why in the world would you wanna shoot something you can’t see with a naked eye? Maybe I’m missing something?

Because it's legal and I can see em with my 8x42 NL and Leica Magnus I.
I've been killing deer that I couldn't see with my naked eyes since 1979 with a 3-9x32 Armsport scope.

 

[KenLee]

A good low light optic you’ll see more thru the optic than you can with your naked eyes. Scopes like the S&B mentioned above are designed specifically for night hunting in parts of europe where that is legal. In the US, if you are sitting waiting for a deer to come by, it can add a valuable couple minutes when you are most likely to see game moving. So yes, there is a legit use case for it.
That said, I agree that for 30min before/after, even in dark woods I have not had a problem with my 28mm objective—in part because its not seeing the deer thats the bottleneck for me, its seeing the brush in between me and the deer. Hunting past the time when you can see with a naked eye is fine in the open or very open woods, its quite another thing and ime not really as viable as it sounds if its really thick. Just gotta pick your priorities based on how and where you hunt. For me that last 3 minutes that my 42mm S&B gives me over my 1-6 is really 99% on paper only, its just not as important as other qualities given where and how I hunt. Diff story for other folks obviously.

"Couple minutes"?
I kill deer 30-40 minutes after hunting buddies are back at the skinning shed empty handed.

 

[KenLee]

This seems a tough topic to align on, as there are multiple hunters with experience with short-range woods hunting that are providing conflicting recommendations. Theres a few posts in this thread that I strongly disagree with for example, but my guess is they are still correct for that person and where/how they hunt. In other words, two different things can both be right at the same time, and also not all “close range woods hunting” is the same, ie I get the sense there’s both stand (or sit) hunters and foot hunters posting in the same thread, without specifying how theyre hunting. No shocker there I guess, as we’re talking about +\- half of the entire continent, it would be weird if we all had the same experiences and needs.

Those are the guys back at camp 40 minutes before I kill a good buck.

 

[KenLee]

It’s fascinatingly obtuse. We’re talking fast acquisition, about 100yds or less, -/+30min sunrise & sunset. And OP is now “heavily considering” a 56mm objective scope. God bless America.

I see you have never actually hunted to 30 minutes past sunset on a rainy and/or moonless night in dense woods.

 

[KenLee]

A good low light optic you’ll see more thru the optic than you can with your naked eyes. Scopes like the S&B mentioned above are designed specifically for night hunting in parts of europe where that is legal. In the US, if you are sitting waiting for a deer to come by, it can add a valuable couple minutes when you are most likely to see game moving. So yes, there is a legit use case for it.
That said, I agree that for 30min before/after, even in dark woods I have not had a problem with my 28mm objective—in part because its not seeing the deer thats the bottleneck for me, its seeing the brush in between me and the deer. Hunting past the time when you can see with a naked eye is fine in the open or very open woods, its quite another thing and ime not really as viable as it sounds if its really thick. Just gotta pick your priorities based on how and where you hunt. For me that last 3 minutes that my 42mm S&B gives me over my 1-6 is really 99% on paper only, its just not as important as other qualities given where and how I hunt. Diff story for other folks obviously.

Delusional that you get 30 minutes past sunset in dense woods on a rainy/moonless night with a 28mm scope.

 

[Macintosh]

Delusional that you get 30 minutes past sunset in dense woods on a rainy/moonless night with a 28mm scope.

@KenLee “delusional”? Since you obviously know where and how I hunt, know my eyes better than I do, and know what I should be seeing, maybe PM me a few onx pins of where I hunt? Having another set of eyes on things can shed new light, ya know?

Your hunting hours are not my hunting hours. Your eyes are not my eyes. Your terrain is not my terrain. Your style of hunting is not mine. Your priorities are not mine. Have you considered that perhaps no single persons experiences are universal?

For me that last 3 minutes that my 42mm S&B gives me over my 1-6 is really 99% on paper only, its just not as important as other qualities given where and how I hunt. Diff story for other folks obviously

If you are the “other folks”, thats fine. The most extreme situation of low light is not
my priority. Im fine on this scope having 30min past legal in dark woods most of the time, as opposed to under the darkest conditions I see maybe once or twice a season—because in this use other priorities are more important to me. Again, if your priorities are different, you do you. But yes, more often than not my 28mm scope sees me to the end of legal light in the woods.