The 1 Thing You Learned- Glassing Smarter

[Oregon Hunter]

I think this is related. I am looking to get a decent tripod and my question is do I need one that goes up to standing height (65" ?) or can I get by with one that goes high enough to sit behind (42")? I want one tripod that does it all..........

I'm biased, but these Spartan tripods have a huge range of adjustment, are light, can be used for shooting rest, trekking poles, tent... They should do everything you need and more

 

[sahunter06]

Focus on being patient and methodical while glassing for horizontal lines made a big difference. Looking in coulies, drainages or edges of timber. Helped tremendously out west.

 

[TheGDog]

Tripod for sure.....but you have to enjoy glassing. I glass with the belief that I'm going to find something. So much so that I'm surprised when I don't. I glass up/down in a left/right pattern. If there are spots that looks overly gamey I will frequently check those spots when doing my grid pattern. I don't wait to finish the entire grid area then recheck spots with a higher probability for holding game.

I'm always surprised how many people don't spend the time dialing in their diopter. I really obsess over this. Check if every year or twice a year. Your eyes will change over time. When you're buying glass do the same. You can't evaluate glass w/o first optimizing the glass by adjusting the diopter to your eyes.

This gentleman has mentioned something important! He mentioned the "belief".

Go into it with the thought that "If something is there, I'm damn sure gonna find it!" Then... while you're glassing... glass soo thoroughly that you for sure feel confident that if something was there, that there is no freaking way you didn't see it yet.

Also.. if you move to another glassing point, make sure to also look back at that prior area a little bit, now that you're looking at it from a different angle. That just might help you see something you couldn't before, due to the angle and something which may have been blocking the animal from your FOV.

Ya gotta figure if you're gonna go thru the trouble to do this... then you damn well better do it right and thorough so that you buying that good glass and tripod was not just some stupid waste of your time and money. The only way it's not gonna be a waste of your time is if you methodically and robotically use it to "leave no stone unturned", so to speak.

Like I said... as you begin to glass... tell yourself if something is there... you are damn sure gonna find it! Believe in the methodical thoroughness of how you're attacking gridding/sweeping the area and know in your heart that if you commit to being thorough... that it stands to reason IF something was there, chances are much higher that you'll find it thru your dogged relentlessness!

 

[Elkkhunter]

Better quality glass the better experience. looking thru family’s cheap binos and you cannot tell a stump from a bedded elk or deer at long ranges, but with high quality glas, usually over the $1000 or $2000 makes a world of difference. I am a Geovid fan but lots of others out there, just get the best quality you can afford.

 

[hunterjmj]

Patience, good glass and a good tripod. I have my glassing points that I set out for at first light and commit myself self for a good amount of time. The amount of coulees, folds, ridges, etc. can hide animals so sitting and just glassing will eventually reveal what's in your field of view. Sometimes it's just to dam cold to sit for extended periods so then I just still hunt/glass. Most of the animals I've killed have been from being patient and glassing.

 

[mi650]

Not sure if I've posted this before...

For times when you don't have a tripod, or can't use 1, hold your binos with your index fingers on your temples. This helps quite a bit.

 

[Str8shooter]

Keep your eyes tuned to any heterogeneity in the landscape. Staying mentally alert for any perceived shifts in color, texture, shape, pattern or degree of brightness takes sustained effort. I think of this as maintaning attention for an even more abstract and sensitive version of "finding parts of an animal". When you spot an animal, really study the image including how it appears when focusing just off the animal. This calibrates your eye to the particularities of the image for the light conditions/distances you are glassing and the efficiency of finding other animals really increases after this.