The 1 Thing You Learned- Scopes for Hunting

[Oregon Hunter]

Turrets for long range varmint hunting and BDC or subtensions in optics for big game hunting.

I would agree, and add that turns that lock for big game are acceptable.

 

[Oregon Hunter]

A little electrical tape on the windage turret will give you peace of mind. I have never had issues with the elevation turrets.

I've taped both of mine on my big game rifle and just use the subtensions because it's a first focal plane scope

 

[Oregon Hunter]

That's 3 rounds at just under 1200 yards from a x9. Point of aim was the weeds above my tab. Angle is deceiving as its a steep rock face and the low shot came in about 5" low of the group.

I've taken the same shot with a 6x and did very well.

View attachment 382628

Dang that's super impressive!

 

[Oregon Hunter]

Does anyone know if there are any other hunting scopes with adjustable turrets (besides Leupold and Vortex LHT)?

 

[260madman]

Depends on what the definition of “hunting scope” is.

 

[Steve O]

Depends on what the definition of “hunting scope” is.

How about 22 oz. and under?

 

[Oregon Hunter]

How about 22 oz. and under?

That sounds right

 

[EdP]

I shoot BDC reticles and don't dial. Can't read the dial at my age w/o my reading glasses and swapping them on and off doesn't work. I zero for 200 yds, practice at the range, and know my holds for 300, 400, 500, and 600 yds. I also take a dope card as back-up. I can consistently make shots off the bench at the ranges noted above. I also practiced position shooting in preparation for a MD hunt last fall at 200 yds on my personal range at home and felt totally prepared. Then when the time came to make a 400 yd shot, with both me and my guide a bit excited, I did exactly what I had practiced AT HOME. The crosshairs were right behind the front shoulder when the shot broke, and of course the bullet went about 20" low. Not a new lesson, just the same old lesson in a new scenario. You will do what you have practiced when pressured. I could have avoided this by doing my position practice at the range and at varying distances. Luckily I made good when I had a chance at redemption later in the hunt.

 

[Oregon Hunter]

I shoot BDC reticles and don't dial. Can't read the dial at my age w/o my reading glasses and swapping them on and off doesn't work. I zero for 200 yds, practice at the range, and know my holds for 300, 400, 500, and 600 yds. I also take a dope card as back-up. I can consistently make shots off the bench at the ranges noted above. I also practiced position shooting in preparation for a MD hunt last fall at 200 yds on my personal range at home and felt totally prepared. Then when the time came to make a 400 yd shot, with both me and my guide a bit excited, I did exactly what I had practiced AT HOME. The crosshairs were right behind the front shoulder when the shot broke, and of course the bullet went about 20" low. Not a new lesson, just the same old lesson in a new scenario. You will do what you have practiced when pressured. I could have avoided this by doing my position practice at the range and at varying distances. Luckily I made good when I had a chance at redemption later in the hunt.

It's amazing how pressure makes us forget what we prepared for

 

[JLane330]

A lot of good advice and comments in here of the not so obvious.

I just learned that eye relief is super important, duh! Took my old 7RM with it's trusty 3-9x40 VX-IIc (no dials, no BDC, 200yd zero) on a hunt and found out that between the new butt pad I put on last year and the Mystery Ranch shoulder strap, I couldn't get the rifle in position to get a clear sight picture...not enough eye relief. Can't move the scope back but maybe 1/4" in the mounts, and not going to do that on a hunt of course. Why didn't I notice this when checking zero just days before? Well, shooting off the bench with bags meant a different hold on the rifle, and of course I wasn't wearing a jacket and pack.

Moral of story, check your rifle/scope in hunting situations with real gear on! Don't be afraid to make changes if you see an issue, it might make a difference when in the field.

 

[Oregon Hunter]

I just created a new thread at this link about The 1 Thing You Learned- Varmint Hunting. Thought it might be relevant to you guys, so check it out

 

[NorCal 707]

Don't fall in love with magnification power. Last year my nephew was Pronghorn hunting with me and his Dad and said the day before he'd shot over the back of a buck. I said how far? He replied 390. I asked him where he held on it and he said I used my 400 yd BDC line in his Vortex scope. I said hmmm did the shot feel good and he said yes, I don't get it. Way over its back! I looked at his scope and it was Vortex 4-24x50 scope with turrets and looked quite tactical. I looked through the scope and adjusted the power up and down. Second focal plane. I said did you shoot on 24x and he said no I shot on 12 power. Boom! That's why you shot over it's back. BDC lines only work on the highest magnification I told him. He said no way! I quickly found a bowling ball rock at 400 yds and said shoot that rock on the same BDC line on 24x. Smack! he nails it and looks at me in total disbelief. He said I never use 24x because the eye-box is so small, it's dark and it is way too shaky. I let him know for SFP scopes this is the only way the BDC lines work correctly, you were holding for 800 yds yesterday at 12x essentially. So he was really disappointed he bought such a high power scope. I said that why all my hunting scopes are 14 to 15 power max. If you want a 24x scope it better be super high quality glass and if you want to use range lines at any power it better be FFP (first focal plane). His reply to me... That's the best information I have ever learned! I said to him at least it wasn't a 200 inch muley. We worked up a dope card for his turrets that night out 500 yds. The next day he killed his antelope at 406 yds no issues. 12x but used his new dope card and turret dial. Salesmen don't tell people this stuff, so while it seems simple to some of us, to a newbie or a 18 yr old kid buying his first scope it is great information.

 

[Mike Islander]

Single model 6X fixed on everything from my .22 squirrel gun to my big game rifles builds confidence with the scope. Dialing for elevation works a peach with quality scopes. 6X is more than enough out to 500 yards or more. Way easier than imagined. I use acetone instead of alcohol, but as was said already, all screws and rings get completely cleaned before assembly with Loktite.

 

[Balderdash]

Things I've learned about big game hunting scopes:

Use less X. I tried high X SFP scopes that had to be cranked up to use the reticles for awhile. Big mistake. For some time I've been using the lowest X practical for shots big game. Gives you more FOV to spot hits, misses, and see game reaction after the shot; less mirage; makes it much quicker to settle in and steady up for the shot without all the annoying movements being amplified by too much X. As has been stated in this thread and elsewhere, you can consistently hit really far off targets with a 6x scope. Based on most of the hunter centric scopes and reticles available these days, I think too many hunters just assume they need more X for further out shots without even trying to see what they can do with less X. Use an aiming point you can see a long way off and have at it. You might be surprised at how precise you can be with lower X.

Along with using less X is the use of FFP reticles. With an FFP I can use whatever X I care to for the shot and not have to give a second thought to the subtensions. Just makes everything that much easier. I still regularly use some SFP's, but they top out at 10x. SFP scopes that go over 12-15x can be a big liability on big game for anything under 5-600 yds. Darn hard to spot hits and see game reaction on 15-18x unless the animal is way, way far out there. On shots over 400 or so, wind hold is the biggest factor to manage at the shot, and I don't care to be constrained to be at max X just to use the windage marks on the reticle.

Use a measuring reticle, not an arbitrary BDC. BDC reticles and dials work to a certain extent, but you're constrained to one load, one set of atmospheres, and whatever distance your lines go up to. Worse yet is that most BDC's seem to come in SFP's, so you also have to be at max X for the subtensions to be what they're supposed to be. A measuring reticle can be applied to any of the drop and atmosheric variables that might adversely affect your bullet hitting where you want it to. Further, you can't easily measure anything, such as by how far you missed, with a BDC. I know the BDC's sound like they're supposed to make your life easier, but, over time, I didn't find that to be the case at all. Once learned, measuring reticles make hitting far off targets easier.

Use a high quality, rugged scope. I suffered through inconsistent tracking and problems with rtz for too long before having enough and finally getting into better quality scopes. Sad thing is that I was having problems with some expensive scopes, but I found out the hard way that they were ill suited to dialing, which made hitting at longer ranges seem harder than it really is. Don't confuse expensive with high quality and rugged. The SWFA 6x is $300, and I found that they will consistently do what scopes costing several times more will not when it comes to accurate dialing.

In summation, the "1 thing I've learned" would be to get a reliable dialing scope with a good measuring FFP and practice. This will make hitting far off targets seem much simpler than some make it out to be. I know first hand; I tried my best to over complicate it through the years.

 

[260madman]

Here’s one you’ll see on every site out there.

-I need to upgrade my scope because my eyes are terrible. I’ve always had bad eyes and I need more magnification and better glass. My budget is $2500-$3000.

Guys wil answer with TT, ZCO, S&B, just spend the extra money. Nobody ever says get LASIK done if it’s possible for your age. God forbid if you spent the money on something that will make everyday life easier. LASIK is $3000 in my area. Seems like a no brainer but not so much I guess?

One other thing, adjust your diopter. Many people don’t touch them out of the box. I know people like this. Do your friends a favor and help them with this. Sometimes you’re lucky and it’s set for you out of the box but not always.

 

[Oregon Hunter]

Don't fall in love with magnification power. Last year my nephew was Pronghorn hunting with me and his Dad and said the day before he'd shot over the back of a buck. I said how far? He replied 390. I asked him where he held on it and he said I used my 400 yd BDC line in his Vortex scope. I said hmmm did the shot feel good and he said yes, I don't get it. Way over its back! I looked at his scope and it was Vortex 4-24x50 scope with turrets and looked quite tactical. I looked through the scope and adjusted the power up and down. Second focal plane. I said did you shoot on 24x and he said no I shot on 12 power. Boom! That's why you shot over it's back. BDC lines only work on the highest magnification I told him. He said no way! I quickly found a bowling ball rock at 400 yds and said shoot that rock on the same BDC line on 24x. Smack! he nails it and looks at me in total disbelief. He said I never use 24x because the eye-box is so small, it's dark and it is way too shaky. I let him know for SFP scopes this is the only way the BDC lines work correctly, you were holding for 800 yds yesterday at 12x essentially. So he was really disappointed he bought such a high power scope. I said that why all my hunting scopes are 14 to 15 power max. If you want a 24x scope it better be super high quality glass and if you want to use range lines at any power it better be FFP (first focal plane). His reply to me... That's the best information I have ever learned! I said to him at least it wasn't a 200 inch muley. We worked up a dope card for his turrets that night out 500 yds. The next day he killed his antelope at 406 yds no issues. 12x but used his new dope card and turret dial. Salesmen don't tell people this stuff, so while it seems simple to some of us, to a newbie or a 18 yr old kid buying his first scope it is great information.

So true! Complex and super high power scopes are fine for target or varmint shooting. You will thank yourself though for choosing a simple scope for big game hunting

 

[Oregon Hunter]

Things I've learned about big game hunting scopes:

Use less X. I tried high X SFP scopes that had to be cranked up to use the reticles for awhile. Big mistake. For some time I've been using the lowest X practical for shots big game. Gives you more FOV to spot hits, misses, and see game reaction after the shot; less mirage; makes it much quicker to settle in and steady up for the shot without all the annoying movements being amplified by too much X. As has been stated in this thread and elsewhere, you can consistently hit really far off targets with a 6x scope. Based on most of the hunter centric scopes and reticles available these days, I think too many hunters just assume they need more X for further out shots without even trying to see what they can do with less X. Use an aiming point you can see a long way off and have at it. You might be surprised at how precise you can be with lower X.

Along with using less X is the use of FFP reticles. With an FFP I can use whatever X I care to for the shot and not have to give a second thought to the subtensions. Just makes everything that much easier. I still regularly use some SFP's, but they top out at 10x. SFP scopes that go over 12-15x can be a big liability on big game for anything under 5-600 yds. Darn hard to spot hits and see game reaction on 15-18x unless the animal is way, way far out there. On shots over 400 or so, wind hold is the biggest factor to manage at the shot, and I don't care to be constrained to be at max X just to use the windage marks on the reticle.

Use a measuring reticle, not an arbitrary BDC. BDC reticles and dials work to a certain extent, but you're constrained to one load, one set of atmospheres, and whatever distance your lines go up to. Worse yet is that most BDC's seem to come in SFP's, so you also have to be at max X for the subtensions to be what they're supposed to be. A measuring reticle can be applied to any of the drop and atmosheric variables that might adversely affect your bullet hitting where you want it to. Further, you can't easily measure anything, such as by how far you missed, with a BDC. I know the BDC's sound like they're supposed to make your life easier, but, over time, I didn't find that to be the case at all. Once learned, measuring reticles make hitting far off targets easier.

Use a high quality, rugged scope. I suffered through inconsistent tracking and problems with rtz for too long before having enough and finally getting into better quality scopes. Sad thing is that I was having problems with some expensive scopes, but I found out the hard way that they were ill suited to dialing, which made hitting at longer ranges seem harder than it really is. Don't confuse expensive with high quality and rugged. The SWFA 6x is $300, and I found that they will consistently do what scopes costing several times more will not when it comes to accurate dialing.

In summation, the "1 thing I've learned" would be to get a reliable dialing scope with a good measuring FFP and practice. This will make hitting far off targets seem much simpler than some make it out to be. I know first hand; I tried my best to over complicate it through the years.

Also know that fine hash marks on FFP scopes can be hard to see, especially during the stress of making a quick shot. After purchasing an expensive scope with the previous option, I'm now gravitating towards lower power scopes that have the ability to dial and also lock the turrets

 

[7LRM]

love my Leupold VX6 4 24x50 on mi hunting rifle. that is the best me.

 

[Oregon Hunter]

love my Leupold VX6 4 24x50 on mi hunting rifle. that is the best me.

I've heard great things about those two, and it would probably be my first pick for a long range hunting rifle

 

[PRC_GUY]

Love the Leupold VX6 4 24x50, that is all I need for elk hunting.