How much scope does one need to buy for hunting?

[DakotaElkSlayer]

I would love to hear everyone's opinion on how much scope one should buy for hunting...  I look around on this forum and it looks like many people like to use Leupold, Burris, Zeiss, etc; you know, rather high end stuff...and tell others how they are a "must have."  My question is a simple, why?  Any decent scope allows the eye to see better in low light than with just with the naked eye.  My old 3-9x40, $100 Trophy that I put on my first big game rifle allows one to easily shoot in the deer woods after legal hunting hours on an overcast day...how much more "brightness" do you need?  As for clearness, sharpness, and color of the scope's image, sure the high end stuff is incredible, but why would the hunter need "incredible"?  It isn't like you have to count the hairs on the elk, you just need to locate its shoulder. :grin:
  High end scopes...are they the so-called must-have optics, or are they more like a status symbol?  ...let the flames begin!

Jim

[Greybeard]

I admit to prefering higher quality scopes on most of my guns. You'll find Bushnell Elites or Leupold on most. BUT I have used and my guns wear scopes from all lines of the Bushnell brand and I find all to be perfectly satisfactory for use. But if I'm going far off from home with a good deal of money riding on the hunt it will usually be a top of the line scope on the guns.

[akpls]

..... But if I'm going far off from home with a good deal of money riding on the hunt it will usually be a top of the line scope on the guns.

This is the main reason I like to put better glass on my rifles.  I'm not willing to risk having a hunt ruined because I was too cheap to buy something that should be more reliable.  In September I'm heading to Namibia and will be taking 2 identical Leupold 1.75x6's in QD mounts along with a NECG receiver sight for my Ruger 77.  Since this may be the last time I can ever do a trip such as this I'm taking the most reliable gear I possibly can.

[Ramrod]

DakotaElkSlayer, better optics are only part of the reason to get a quality scope. RELIABILITY is just as important. I have used numerous cheapies over the years, and the same problems keep comming up, regardless of brand. Won't hold zero, recticle ruined from recoil, 1/4 minute click is sometimes nothing, sometimes 2 inches, looses nitrogen and fogs, you name it, most cheap scopes will get it sooner or later if they get much hard use. I don't see it happening with my Leupolds, and if there is ever a problem, I have that ironclad lifetime warranty.
As far as glass goes, I think crappy optics are why some guys think they need a variable with up to 12 power on a big game rifle. Decent glass will have better definition and let you see clearer, and further, at much lower power.
And no, it's not a status thing, I usually hunt alone, or with one of my sons. I'm not out to impress anyone, I just enjoy carrying good guns, with good scopes.

[Elwood]

I hunt with my binoculars and shoot with my scope. I spend hours looking through my binoculars and minutes looking through my scope. I choose to spring for better glass for binoculars than scopes.  Just one mans opinion.

Elwood P. Dowd

[DakotaElkSlayer]

I hunt with my binoculars and shoot with my scope. I spend hours looking through my binoculars and minutes looking through my scope. I choose to spring for better glass for binoculars than scopes.  Just one mans opinion.

Elwood P. Dowd

Amen!

Jim

[Dave in WV]

"I hunt with my binoculars and shoot with my scope." Well said, Elwood. Optics are like beer, it's a matter of personal taste. Some folks are happy with less expensive brands that get the job done. Others spend a bit more to get what they like. Are either groups wrong? No, not really. Some folks may buy expensive optics for "bragging rights" but most pobably buy them to get more performance. I belive there are those that just don't seem to understand some folks don't have extra money to buy an expensive scope to use hunting one week or less out of the year.

[Zachary]

If you look at the added cost of a higher end scope over the course of a few years, it's really not that much more.  I am one of those people that definately buys higher end scopes - Not necessarily the $1,000 scopes (although I have one) but for sure the $250 to $500 range.  Buying a $100 scope is okay, but a $250 scope is generally going to be well worth the money.  Perhaps you need not count the hairs on an elk, but many times when shooting through brush or timber during dusk or dawn, it sure does help to have good optics to see what you are shooting and not take a higher risk of missing or, worse, wounding the animal.

Zachary

[SLAVAGE]

i have 3 very good scopes, an the rest are any were from mid bushnells an nikons to low end tasco an nc star
but it all depends on what you need them for ,
on my 22 i have a cheap tasco an simmons for 30- 50
on my 357 i have a lit cross hair 2.5 ncstar i got for 30$ im not hunting all its my plinken gun
on my black hawk hunter  i have leupold an bushnell i used to have on it
on my contenders buris an leupold
so i say get your self a nice mid heigh end one for your most used hunting guns then go down the like with the rest
if neaded its 10 mins to change scopes at home if you want to take a hunt an use a different gun

[DakotaElkSlayer]

Slavage,
People are saying they spend the $$$ to get something reliable.  You should tell them what you've been putting your Trophy pistol scope through!!!

Jim

[NimrodRx]

IMHO, a Bushnell 3200 Elite is one dandy scope.  It wont' bust the bank, and the quality is certainly there.  A nice comprimise.  Beyond the 3200, I think you get to a point of diminishing returns.  The Rainguard feature continues to impress me.   The Firefly is nice too.  I first put the FireFly on my 12 ga A-Bolt.  Since then, I'm actually considering selling my (perfectyl good) 3200 that's on my ML just so I can put a FireFly on it.  

Try as I may, I just can't come up with a reason to put anything else on my irons.  

That being said, I'm starting to become a believer in the Mueller.  I don't own one, but a couple of hunting buddies have gotten on the band wagon.  I've been real impressed with their scopes.  My only gripe is that crazy HUGE knob that allows me to adjust my lit reticle to ELEVEN different settings.  Why? :?

[Redhawk1]

No flames form me. I buy Leupold scopes because I know I can depend on them and when I am 2000 miles from home, I know I have one of the best on top of my gun. I also carry a spare Leupold just in case during travel or a fall which would be no fault of the scope, that I have a guilty replacement.

I have over 25 scoped guns and 95% are Leupold.

As far as a status symbol, that may be your thinking. I could careless what you have on your gun, but I know what is going on mine.  

[Redhawk1]

I hunt with my binoculars and shoot with my scope. I spend hours looking through my binoculars and minutes looking through my scope. I choose to spring for better glass for binoculars than scopes.  Just one mans opinion.

Elwood P. Dowd

I have both. Quality binoculars and quality scopes.  
No use in seeing an animal with good binoculars, but can't see them well with a cheap scope. :-D

[Greybeard]

I belive there are those that just don't seem to understand some folks don't have extra money to buy an expensive scope to use hunting one week or less out of the year.

How very true those words are. Before I retired I was one of those who truly did not understand. I recall one of the guys who worked near me that came out to my range to sight in his shotgun before season. I think he used 3-4 shots and called it good and really it was. I asked why in the world didn't he get a better scope and gun since he loved to hunt deer so much. His reply was "I can't afford more". At the time it just made no sense to me.

If I wanted it heck I just bought it. If I didn't have the cash on hand and wanted it "rat now" I just put it on plastic and paid later. I was a mid level manager with a high income and that income climbed considerably each year so each year there was always more to spend than the year before. Not having money to do it really was a concept I didn't understand.

But since retiring and taking about a 50% pay cut and now being on what is basically a fixed income that really doesn't climb each year like it once did I've come to understand the concept. I still most often find a way but going out and buying what I want just isn't always possible. Having the best scope money can buy is no longer necessarily possible no matter how I might try to justify it by saying that spread out over a whole buncha years it's mere few dollars a year. If you ain't got the money to do it what it costs per year over the rest of your life really is meaningless.

That's why with the generosity of Bushnell I've tested and used their entire line of scopes. From the cheapest product line to their most expensive. I want to know from experience which can be depended on when someone says their budget is limited to some fixed number of dollars and there is no more to spend.

Most often they still get responses to just suck it up and go spend the money. Folks the money ain't always there to go out and spend. Truly I believe most posters here really still do not yet understand that concept.

[Ramrod]

I understand how some folks couldn't afford or justify an expensive scope just to hunt with. But don't forget, many of the posters here, maybe most, are more than one week a year hunters. Alot of us shoot all year, and some shoot but don't hunt. Just like any hobby, how much of your budget is allocated to it depends on how deep you are into it. There is always some other expense that can be cut out if you are addicted enough.

[GBO MGMT]

There is always some other expense that can be cut out if you are addicted enough.

That comment is proof positive you really do not understand the financial situation of some folks. Take the fellow I was referring to. There really was nothing to cut. He was barely keeping his family fed and under a roof. He drove a seriously old piece of crap truck because he couldn't afford more. They lived simple and cheap and the deer meat he got was a major part of the protein for his family.

Some people really can't cut other expenses to pay for expensive guns and scopes no matter how much they'd love to have them.

[DakotaElkSlayer]

GrayBeard,
Very well spoken, sir!  Do you have your Bushnell reviews posted someplace on here?

  My situation is rather simple...  I could work more and buy "the best," or keep at my current pace and look for good value while spending a ton of time in the field.  It is a no-brainer for me!    

Jim

[Redhawk1]

I thought the original post was closer to why do we have to have high end stuff.

 (I look around on this forum and it looks like many people like to use Leupold, Burris, Zeiss, etc; you know, rather high end stuff...and tell others how they are a "must have.")

I don't fault or put down anyone for having a less expensive scope. I understand financial hard ship. I was so broke before, I had to buy used scopes for hunting. Now that I am able to afford better equipment I get it. I hunt with some guys and I have given scopes to them because they could not afford one. Sure it was not a Leupold, but what did they care it was free.
 :grin:

[victorcharlie]

Same here....just about all the guys I hunt with think the Berretta 686 I hunt rabbits with is a high dollar gun.  To them it is.......Some of the guys I've hunted with in the past buy all their equpment at the pawn shop in late October or early November, and come end of season, it winds back up at the same pawn shop...........Gun, hunting coat, everything........they even sell their dogs.......I don't know how but they also get us on the best farms that hold plenty of game.........

We are all blessed to be here in the land of milk and honey.......Some of us are more blessed than others.....depending on how you look at it....but it's not about the price of our toys we have, its the relationships we build with each other along the way that matter.........

[WNY_Whitetailer]

Hunt with what makes you happy and works for you...There are scopes out there for all budgets.  The proof in this is the success of companies such as Leupold, Zeiss, Swarovski and the success of others like BSA, Simmons and others...

[Ramrod]

Some people really can't cut other expenses to pay for expensive guns and scopes no matter how much they'd love to have them.

I agree, some people can't. Thats what I said in my earlier post.
At one time I couldn't either, thats how I got experienced with cheap scopes. I wasn't refering to the really needy. Most posters here can afford a computer (obviously), and an internet connection, so I would think they could have a scope that costs more than $100. if they wanted one bad enough.
I think my meaning was miss-understood.
We all know a guy or two who always complains about being broke, but somehow finds enough money for booze, or smokes. :lol:

[Graybeard]

GrayBeard,
Very well spoken, sir! Do you have your Bushnell reviews posted someplace on here?

Yeah I think most all of my reviews are still available in one place or another. Trouble is not all at one place anymore. We've gone thru several versions of how to post them and Matt keeps changing it on me.

Look for the Product General Discussion Forum. I have a post up at the top as either an announcement or a sticky that has the URL of the old Product Review Page. I think you can access all of them from there except those I did on the Home Page when it was phpnuke. I honestly don't know how to access those until Matt gets them all linked from the current Home Page. He will eventually do that but I don't know when.

You'll need to look at both old and new Review Pages at that link to see them all as they are in two formats even there plus yet a third on the phpnuke.

Some of them never got posted and instead I just address them when questions like this come up. As I said I have taken an in depth look at two or more scopes in each price line of the entire Bushnell line of scopes. I found none of them I'd not use to take hunting on my own rifles. In fact some of my rifles have scopes on them now from each and every Bushnell product line and see use. Whatever your budget there is a Bushnell scope line to match it and in that price category you're getting a good bargain.

[SLAVAGE]

DakotaElkSlayer

the funny thing is i only got that scope because i ran out of money lol
about 3 years ago is when i firt got a revolver an shot one
so i got a super black hawk 44 mag an after that got a used car shells dies ammo holser an that was before the hunter so i got a um weaver no drill/ tap mount an dies for my gun
i had 180$ left
an it was about 9 days before opening day of rifle seasion here in pa
so i ordered it from midway that night an it showed up the day i was leaving for camp i had my heart set on the leupld
now after two years i got the super black hawk 41 hunter
an toped it off with the 4x28 leupold pistol scope
an i hate the damm thing lol its good for the bench an prob would work for a nice contender or encore barrel
but for my 41 its just to powerfull
got a nice deal on it back in november
new with out box was 230 shipped
every were at the time wanted 260 280 for them that i could find

[DakotaElkSlayer]

It is great "hearing" everyone's opinion on this topic.  What got me thinking about it is the NEF Handi-rifle board on here...  Many of the guys over there are taking their "cheap" rifles and real cheap scopes and shooting groups that ANY hunter would be pround of at any price.
 
Jim

[NimrodRx]

As mentioned earlier, I'm real partial to the 3200 Elite.  

Are there better scopes out there?  You bet there are.  If money was no object would I look to one of them.  Probably.  However, there comes a time where you get to a point of diminishing returns.  Just how much better are they?

That's the great thing about this lifestyle - hunting and shooting that is.  You can do it for as little or as much as you like.  And usually do it effectively at both ends of the spectrum.  More often than not, it comes down to the nut behind the bolt - if ya know what I mean :wink:

Don't get me wrong.  I LOVE a fine piece of iron.  My Citori's are my most prized possession.  Will a savage 330 kill just as many birds?  Probably.  Then again most any car will get us from point A to point B.  

In my experience, it's not the guy shooting the Kimber topped with a Leupold that looks down his nose at the guy shooting a Savage topped with a Simmons.  It's usually the other way around.  

Those who can't afford (or choose not to) such a rig, refuse to understand those that can or will.  Will their rig shoot just as well?  In most cases, yes.  But don't fault a guy who chooses to put his extra coin into a something that seems ridiculously over priced to you.  Fit and finish, as well as resale value, are very important to some.  

Not too long ago, I read an article called "The Prince and the Pauper."  It was a comparison of the H&R (can't remember the caliber) to the Dakota.  Throughout the article the author's bias toward the H&R was obvious.  And why not, the H&R performed just as well in terms of accuracy.  It was also clear that he didn't have $8,000 to spend on the Dakota.  The interesting point - to me - was the way the author closed the article.  He went on and on about how beautiful and graceful the Dakota was and how he would LOVE to have one for his own.  Now, why is that?  The H&R shot just as well.  

The fact is, most of us are in the same boat.  If we could afford it, we'd have it.  If we can't, it makes us feel better to point out that our rig "functions" just as well as the high end model.  

Fact is, irons are sentimental to a lot of us.  Often times it goes well beyond function.

Shoot what you choose to afford and be content.  It's taken me a long time to get to that point.

"Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's gun - or scope for that matter."  Mike.

[Ramrod]

Excellent post NimrodRx!

[DakotaElkSlayer]

Nimrod,
Ya, excellent post!  You explained it in a way I never fathomed...  I totally understand how function doesn't necessarily dictate why one purchases a firearm.  Oh ya, some guns speak to you..."take me home, take me home!"  And yes, fit and finish are a big deal to many, as well as the furniture the gun is sporting.  I guess I never got the warm and fuzzy feelings from a scope....no matter what name is slapped on it.  They all look pretty much the same to me...until tonight!
  Went to Gander Mountain checking out pistol scopes.  Compared the Weaver, Bushnell Trophy, and Burris.  For the hunter, the optics were definately plenty good for a hunter during legal shooting hours on all three.  I liked the reticle on the Burris a little bit better...  What really set them apart was that sweet nickel finish on the Burris.  That's when I heard it...really faint, but definately audible.  "Buy me...  Put me on that Super Blackhawk Hunter...  Those other two are cheap...you don't want them....  I love you..."  I quickly put down the Burris and ran out of the store in a cold sweat!

Jim

[Redhawk1]

Great post NimrodRx.  :agree:  :agree:  :toast:

[James B]

You can spend as much money as you want on a scope or a gun. Money alone won't kill a thing. There are some low priced scopes that will do the job every time out. Many of the cheaper fixed power scopes will hold up for many, many years. I won't buy cheap variables, to many things to go wrong. I do have some fixed power cheap Tasco scopes that have hunted hard for 20 years so far. Also the straight 6 power Simmons Pro Hunter will stand up to anything and the older ones cost about 60.00. I have hunted hard for 48 years so far and have never and will never pay more than 200 buck MAX for a scope. Don't have to. I know my scopes will do the job. Not once in those 48 years has one failed to do so. One other thing, It don't make a Darn to me how far I am going to travel or how much the hunt costs. I have hunted the world over and I owe it to the game I hunt to use the kind of equipment it takes to provide a good clean kill. When I go out I know what my equipment will do and I won't pay more.