Ideal Range for Glassing w/ 15x Binos

[AntlerObsession]

Something Id like to know is what people might consider to be the ideal distance to be glassing, say with... high end 15x binos. For example, I was glassing a hill side that went from 600 yds to about 1.25 miles. At 600 yds, I could actually pick out deer shapes, moving or not. At 1 mile, I could only see deer if they moving.

 

What do you find to be the ideal range to glass from?

[Chef]

All of the above.

Find deer first.

Get a better look second.

 

If you can make out antlers from a long way off, it's a big buck.

Whether mule deer or coues. Remember, it's always wise to

let your eyes do the walking. So take advantage of your high spots and pick apart

every ridge, canyon, drainage, that you can.

[bobbyo]

My favorite distance is where the deer are at.

 

Time of day and type of light will be the the limiting factor. Morning hours with sun at back I think you can glass much farther than 600 yards. Then as the day goes on the heat wave distortion will start to limit effectiveness.Wind can be a limiting factor also. I like to glass side to side on one plane. Starting at the nearest plane then tilting the binocs up or down to see farther out when dissecting a hill. When I first got my 15s I started the farthest possible and stayed there. A big mistake. if you are in good country a deer is just as likely to be 300 yards as a mile and a half. Like you said it is easier to pick up bedded bucks at a closer distance.

[azslim]

However far I can see them at. The more you glass the better you will get at distances, sometimes you may see an ear flick or just the straight, symetrical line of the back or a leg or look through bushes to see something moving behind them. Glassing is a skill, the more you use it the better it will be.

[rcdinaz]

I tend to glass further with my 15's 300yds out to around a mile. The futher distances give you a much better field of view to look at so you can cover a lot of ground. The point made about watching the close stuff is a good one. I take breaks and lean back and watch the hill, draw, flat, etc nearest me for a while. Inside of 300 yards there is a good chance of catching animals with your bare eyes (assuming 20/20) since you have a very wide field of view you can watch a very large area. If I know I am in a spot where I expect to see game then I will use the bino's to really pick apart the closer terrain.

[couesdiehard]

This is one of the many reasons I love my Leica Duovids 10+15 x 50. When I first sit down get set up I will glass for quite a while on 10 power as close as I can see to about 600 yards with them. If I don't pick up anything of interest with the 10 power I will crank the Leicas up to 15 power and start glassing again from as close as I can see out to as much as 1.5 miles. Periodically, I will use my bare eyes and crank the Leicas back down to 10 power and go back over the areas closer to me again. More times than I can remember I've been glassing deer at over a mile that I did want to go after only to look right below me and see deer that were sneaking off or passing through.

I know guys who do the same thing with separate 10 and 15 power binos.

Lee

[200"mulie]

i just use my nikon's on tripod...12x. And find lots of deer from 100 yards up to 1 miles away then i have my nikon scope and zoom in on that baby and see if it's worth going after. I pick apart hillsides efore i move in archery hunt was helping a buddy and we found 7 bucks on 2 hills. and another 6 on the otherside of the ridge all within 1 square mile.