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Author Topic: Which scope for Maine Black Bear hunting?  (Read 906 times)

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Offline BillBraithwaite

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Which scope for Maine Black Bear hunting?
« on: March 20, 2005, 02:42:50 AM »
I've booked a hunt in N.W Maine for 9/05 and while reading web sites an outfitter mentioned using an illuminated reticle or red dot scope due to low light conditions and when bear come to the bait. None of my guns are scoped with the above. Am I going to have a problem?
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Offline TheOpticZone

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Which scope for Maine Black Bear hunting?
« Reply #1 on: March 20, 2005, 09:45:53 AM »
A lot depends on which type of reticle you have the existing scopes.  A standard duplex or fine crosshair may cause a problem when you have a black bear under very low light situations.  The reticle may disappear on you. The illuminated type reticle will help out on those black bears in low light situation.
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Offline Mueller Optics

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Which scope for Maine Black Bear hunting?
« Reply #2 on: March 20, 2005, 10:24:38 AM »
Jon's right, I get allot of feedback from Bear hunters and their biggest complaint is having their cross hair blend in on the Bear no matter how bright the optics are.

From my experience most Bear hunters shoot at fairly close distances (over bait and from tree stands), with this being the case I would use a lower power variable such as a 1.5-5 or 2-7 with an illuminated glass etched reticle.

Hey we just happened to have one of those  :)

http://www.muelleroptics.com/multi-shot.htm

MO
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Offline Redhawk1

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Which scope for Maine Black Bear hunting?
« Reply #3 on: March 20, 2005, 11:32:11 AM »
I am going to Maine also this year for bear, I will be using my 500 MAG pistol with a red-dot sight on it. Great for low light conditions. I will have either my Ruger #1 in 45-70 with my Leupold 1.5X5X20mm or my Encore 444 Marlin with a Leupold 1X4X20mm scope, the rifles will be my back up gun to my 500 MAG. Low powder is great for the lower light conditions.  :D
I know most people do it the other way, where the pistol is there back up.  :-D
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Offline Daveinthebush

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Agreed
« Reply #4 on: March 20, 2005, 11:36:50 AM »
I agree with the others concerning a low powered scope.  A 1-5 or a 2-7 will be plenty.   Since most bears are shot in the evening a good scope with light-gathering capabilities is going to be a benifit for sure.

Bear season is 46 days away hee in AK.
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Offline NimrodRx

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Which scope for Maine Black Bear hunting?
« Reply #5 on: March 21, 2005, 01:10:35 PM »
I have a Bushnell 3200 Elite with FireFly 1.5 X 4.5  on my 12 ga A-Bolt.  It's big medicine on bear inside 100 yards.  The glowing reticle is awesome.  Just shine a minimag light into the reticle for 1 minute or so and the reticle glows green for about two hours.  Can't decide if I like that feature best or the Rainguard... :)
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Offline BillBraithwaite

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Best scope for Maine Black Bear Hunting
« Reply #6 on: March 21, 2005, 01:45:00 PM »
Thanks to all who have replied. It sounds like I'm going to have to purchase a new illuminated scope for my T/C Encore 7mm Rem Mag. I originally outfitted it with the T/C Hawken 3-9 40mm and it's a shooter. I'm concerned that in very low light conditions that I will lose the black reticles on the black fur of the bear, no matter how good the light gathering optics are. Is my thinking correct?
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Offline Redhawk1

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Which scope for Maine Black Bear hunting?
« Reply #7 on: March 21, 2005, 06:47:35 PM »
You are on the right track.  :D
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Offline NimrodRx

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Which scope for Maine Black Bear hunting?
« Reply #8 on: March 21, 2005, 07:41:59 PM »
For sure.  

IMHO, go with the 3200 Elite FireFly or the Mueller MultiSport.  I'm partial to the 3200 - no batteries, and more streamlined.  The MultiSport with the 1-11 power setting for the dot is just too much.  Not to mention, only Bushnell has RainGuard (man, I'm starting to sound like a factory guy, I HATE that :-D )  Seriously though, the |RainGuard feature is Awesome....   To each his own though.  See which one you like.
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Offline Zachary

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Which scope for Maine Black Bear hunting?
« Reply #9 on: March 22, 2005, 11:26:56 AM »
I have an Elite 3200 1.5x-4.5x Firefly on my .375H&H Mag and even though it costs under $200, it has help up perfectly.

The only thing that I don't like about the Firefly - at least on my particular scope, is that, although the crosshairs illuminate just great and are of a nice thickness during the evening, during the day the cross hairs are just too thick for my personal taste.

Zachary
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