redline410

Coues79, I have spent a countless hours behind both glass and currently own the Kaibab's. Price wasn't the main consideration for the purchase but weighing price vs. glass quality was. To me, the clarity difference wasn't so great that I could justify the additional cost. The Kaibabs are a quality binocular and you certainly won't be disappointed in the their performance. That being said, owning the Kiababs for awhile I will let you in on the subtle differences: 1) the eye pieces are more comfortable to me on the Kaibabs. The shape fits under my neanderthal brow much more comfortably. That being said, the eye cups have a tendancy slip their position in transport so, if a quick look at something is necessary you need to be aware of that. makes it a bit tricky when one cup is collapsed and the other is fully extended. 2) the center focus and right diopter knobs are soft and again have a tendancy to slip during transport. Those two quirks could certainly annoy someone who is use to assuming the postion, jamming the binocular in their eye and getting their glass on. Its become a routine to me when setting up the legs so the annoying issue has gone away. 3) extreme low light at long distance- swarovski's swaro-brite coating gives it the advantage. Can't say for certain that there is a huge difference in the clarity, but certainly brightness which helps. 4) Finally the warranty- I've heard mixed reviews on the swarovski warranty. some folks have had nothing but the best customer service, while others have had to fight a little to get the issues fixed. and although I haven't had to use it, I have heard nothing but rave reviews from people who have needed to deal with the Vortex folks. That could change in time as their popularity grows but for now it seems they are superior in that department. You really can't go wrong- if money is no issue buy the Swaro's, they aren't one of the top dogs because they make a crappy product. Vortex is coming though and I can see them fighting for one of the top three or four spots soon enough and that price difference will close drastically when it does...... Hope all that jibberish helps- Stay loose, Dave

Thanks Jim- I appreciate the time you took to respond. Dave

Hey Jim, thanks for the insight. Curious what direction the G&F leans on the subject- I realize the odds of rolling up on a Hybrid are rare and most of us won't have to worry about seeing one, let alone killing one in our life time. With that said, your statement on not shooting a buck that looks "funny", and a prior statement in this thread about a WM would have taken it had it been a whitetail hunt caught me off guard. Can animal identification and a subsequent game law infraction really come down to DNA and gland location when general characteristics show differently? There certainly are funny looking critters running around out there, all shapes and sizes, but the very trademark that gave the whitetail its name cant be overlooked can it? I've seen some big eared, mule headed, fork antlered whitetail and some dainty, basket racked, ninja skilled mule deer but I'm pretty sure I've never seen a mule deer "flag". Reminds me of the Polar/grizzly bear hybrid a few years ago- that dude jumped through way too many hoops for something that seemed obvious on a common sense level. Mother nature does what she does and much as we'd like to think we can control her, we can't. things happen...Look at the platypus . Any unit with a sustainable population of both species has the potential to pitch a hybrid and some day one lucky hunter's dream buck has the potential of becoming a nightmare because its metatarsal gland is too big, small, high or low. Dave

Couple of beautiful bucks bra, congrats...... Great pictures and a write up as well, thanks for posting'em up..... "I laid on my belly in the prone position for a few hours waiting" BTW- Way easier on your belly in the prone position than standing in the prone position. You made an excellent choice....

Funny what 3 feet can do for a view window. Thanks to a hard rock, a boney posterior and a bad knee I had to change my glassing position from sitting to standing in order to work some of the kinks outta the ol' body That little change in vertical distance got me just high enough to see over a chunk of sage on the next ridge. The setting sun lit up top of the tines enough to give away the location of this treasure....... Pretty cool I thought- Usually I just stumble up on things. Rarely glass them up.....

107 1/8 October 23, 2009

Good looking buck for sure.....Nicely done fellas, nicely done.

Wow, what an amazing deer and outstanding story- Congratulations!!

Outstanding kiddo- what a great read and fantastic pics! congratulations.......

Shrinkage or not- A tale like that doesn't need the tape. Getting the chance to put him on the ground after a few misses weeks earlier is pretty freakin' cool.......Nicely done.....

If there is some kind of book of unwritten rules with the trail cams that I'm not privy too and the following breaks some ethics codes, I'll apologize now. Came across a trail cam during the October hunt at the head of the first grassy draw west of the Nonesuch rocks (sorry for the vague description, if its yours you'll know where it is). The actual "deer stand here" area looked like it had been there awhile even though the camera seemed fairly recent as far as I could tell with out getting too close. To the point- The buck I was lucky enough to harvest this year was first seen near that area in August with his band of deliquint brothers. Since then they had found a much more inaccessible area to terrorize but I was hoping their smiling mugs were captured on film with fuzzy horns prior to their departure. If you have his picture and wouldn't mind parting with a copy, PM me.......I'd appreciate it. He kinda looks like this only without the smiling goof ball attached to his antlers......And much more lively I'd assume...

Awesome- That's double tough right there. Congrats......

I know- never satisfied....But the only other picture I have of him is this one and well, its missing a little something....

Good read Amanda, nice buck, and great shot! with the 270 to boot. Well done....His buddies were probably tired of Quazimoto draggin' that foot around anyway-

Cummins, Hope I don't sound like a Vortex commercial but I used this thread also when making my purchase so I hope my input adds a little value to what has already been written. The only true low light comparison I made was during this seasons October hunt- My hunting partner and I were glassing the same hillside when I located a couple of deer well before legal shooting light. My partner was unable to find them so I took over his tripod and locked his swarovski's onto the deers location. It took a moment but his eyes adjusted and he was able to see them. between the two, I saw no discernable difference between the brightness nor the clarity when I snuggled back up behind my vortex. Would I tell someone that kaibab's are as good or better than the swarovski's or leica's? nope. Would I tell them that my eyes couldn't tell a difference between them? all day long.... but that's coming from a guy who's family wraps his christmas presents in lead backed paper so I can't see what's inside.

Beautiful buck, great story- Congratulations!

Here are the two bucks my pops and I were lucky enough to put down last week. We had located a handful of bucks early in the year and kept pretty good tabs on them until the weekend before the opener. Not wanting to do anything stupid, like run them off, we gave them a break for a week and only found one of them during the hunt. truth be told, I had no idea which one it was when the cross hairs stopped shaking but I knew he was better than any buck I had taken up to this point. Touched off the 7mm and spent the next hour and half combing the draw looking for him. The circumstances for the shot left me with a spotter who had not yet found the buck in the glass, a fairly long distance and a deer who had about all the fun he could stand and was on his way out the back door. fortunatley the 7mm did its job and was able to recover one of the coolest bucks I have ever taken. not much for tines and his teeth were considerably worn so I am making the assumption he was on his downward stroke. Great mass, nearly 16" wide, two bladed brows and a jack knife kicker- oh happy day. here is the draw the little bugger was hiding in. There may be better ones, but this one is mine- The old man getting in on the cheese fest- A few days later, just prior to mother nature unleashing her fury on our little area, we toook the easy route one evening to let our pride heal. rather than hike into the canyon after a buck we hadn't seen in 10 days we opted to glass from a nearby ridge which would allow us a much more manageable walk out in the dark. Just as the shadows from the setting sun engulfed the area I heard a shakey whisper saying "I got him bud, the big boy". The second I looked at him I knew he wasn't the big boy but a dang nice buck. There is a whole conversation that went on that probably isn't appropriate for a public forum but long story short, the old man had the worst case of buck fever I had ever seen him have. He had one helluva time getting this buck in the scope- at one point I put the rifle on the buck and held it so he could see. Like an 11 year old girl- ha, funny though. Anyway, after a missed shot and a clean follow up the old man took his best buck to date. one of the prettiest deer I have seen....He had a little kicker tine too, didn't show up very well in pictures though- something about the genetics in that area. My dads 09 Coues And incase anyone wanted to see him- here is the one that got away. Nothing displays the beauty of an animal like a crappy, low light, digi-scope photo...

Nicely done boys, nicely done...... Dave

CouesAZ, Your friend and I are of the same opinion- the focus is soft and to me the eyecups are too easily collapsed during transport. That being said though, I haven't had the need to do a quick look with them so getting the focus and eyecups set are just part of the tripod out and the glasses on the post ritual. As far as the glass goes- they are as quality as it comes. I have zero regrets in my purchase....

Well done boys. What an incredible bull.......

Like I said before brother, that buck looks great! Not sure how much weight those antlers carry but I don't think he tricked you too bad- the camera always adds a few LB's anyway....... Stay loose Smooth- Late Dave

looks great JE- 11 years though bro?! dang.....

More foggy mornings.....

Sometimes it's easy to find bedded bucks- when they are not that smart and come snuggle up beside you This little fella bedded at 67 yards and seemed pretty annoyed that we were disturbing his nap I'll catch up with him in a few years.....

Whoa- Fantastic buck Jim....Congrats!