I finally got a decent set of bino's

[Hoss50]

Well my dad decided he wanted to get me a set of bino's for Christmas. I had been planning to get them for myself before my javelina hunt in February but I picked up a set of 8x42 Vortex Diamondback's.

 

I compared the 10x42's and also the Nikon monarch 5's in the same sizes and the 8x42's just felt better and gave me a better field of view. I know they are not great glass but they are a serious upgrade from my little $30 Bushnell 10x25's I normally sport during hunting season.

 

I am pretty excited about getting out and getting to sit and try these things out!!!

 

Harley

[DUG]

Nice! Use them for a couple years then upgrade again.

[lancetkenyon]

Nice Harley. You will be amazed at how much better they are than a $30 set of glass.

[Hoss50]

Ya, once my almost 3 year old is old enough to use them I will probably upgrade to something better but this is one piece of better equipment I needed off my list. Next is a 600 yard range finder and then a nicer piece of glass for my 257 weatherby. Then I can pass my Redfield off to either the 243 or 6.5x55 that will likely be my son's first rifle and also a backup rifle for me.

 

There are to many cheap Bushnell and Tasco scopes in my safe that my dad passed on to me.

 

Harley

[Big Tub]

A good tripod and patience will GREATLY improve your glassing ability.

[Eagle mountain ranch]

A good tripod and patience will GREATLY improve your glassing ability.

^^^ this is spot on ^^

[Hoss50]

I won't be able to get the tripod for awhile, but I am working on the patience thing. The older I get the better I get with it. I am not sure if patience with my older age is due to laziness or wisdom. When I was younger I would rather bust nasty brush trying to spook something rather then glass, but that is changing as I get older.

[ylclaret]

You will see so many more deer if you just sit down and glass than you ever will busting brush. My dad and grandpa always liked to bust brush when I was younger and I would get so frustrated because we never saw any deer and when we did they were already half way to the next county! I eventually went hunting with my cousin and some of his buddies, who sat and glassed, and I could not believe how many deer we saw! I would really recommend getting yourself a tripod and trying it out. Keep an eye out on here and check out garage sales too. Even a bad tripod is better than no tripod and I've come across quite a few camera tripods at yard sales for $5-$10.

[naturegirl]

It makes all the difference in the world to have good glass. I hunted for years with starter binos, but once I upgraded I will NEVER go back. I now see all kinds of stuff I couldn't see before especially in shadows, darker light, etc.

[Whitesheep]

Good decision Hoss50 and good advice here. I once couldn't see the value in top of the line optics, but I underwent a conversion several years back and now have binos and a spotter worth more than some of my rifles. Same for scopes. Some of my hunting buddies get this, but most don't. "You can't hunt what you can't see."

[Guest akaspecials]

That vortex glass will do you fine. I wear vortex diamondback 10x42 around my neck and then have a much nicer set of 15s in my backpack. You will see a lot more game with those vortex 8x42s then you did with your 30 dollar glass.

 

Find a tripod ASAP though. Even a cheap one will help you to see double or triple the amount of game you would without a tripod.

[Hoss50]

I finally got to use them today on a hunt for the first time. They didn't help with the success but that was mostly due to lack of scouting and lack of preparation. I did get to the top of a big hill and glassed for about an hour. I my old bino's out to compare and holy crap the difference was amazing. Some day I will upgrade to even better glass on my rifle and bino's but these are a huge step up for me for sure. The wild was blowing 10-30mph so I didn't see much in my glassing session but I saw much more than I would have with my old bino's.

 

Harley

[Havasuhunter]

My 15x56 Minox BLs are so bright they make my other binos look super dark. I then went and looked through 12x50 Swarovisions and they make everything I've ever looked through seem bad.

It's never ending, but I look back and think of all the hunts that would have been way better if I would have upgraded earlier.

[tjhunt2]

Hoss50, all this is good advise and I'm happy to see you upgraded but you are cheating yourself of taking it a step farther by not using a tripod. Like ylclaret said, "even a bad tripod is better than no tripod".

 

I have a couple tripods I would be willing to let go for free if you are interested. They're not high class but better than nothing.

 

This Vivitar VPT-3600 extends to 67". It's very light and comes with a soft carry case. One leg clamp has a small plasic piece missing but not a big deal. It still holds up.

 

This VT-4000 extends to 60" but is missing the plate on the head. I'm sure you can pick one up cheap.

 

Either one of these are yours free if you like. I'm located in Mesa if that works for you. I won't ship.

 

TJ

[HuntHarder]

Nice offer TJ. Hoss, you need to take him up on this, a tripod will really make a huge difference. You will find more game with the vortex diamondbacks on a tripod than you will with a pair of Swarovski's hand holding.