{"id":1791,"date":"2021-12-27T11:35:27","date_gmt":"2021-12-27T16:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/?p=1791"},"modified":"2021-12-27T11:35:29","modified_gmt":"2021-12-27T16:35:29","slug":"optics-power-and-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/optics-power-and-light\/","title":{"rendered":"OPTICS: POWER AND LIGHT!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Craig Boddington<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The December afternoon was unseasonably warm. Deer would come out late, so I wasn\u2019t surprised that sunset came and went on an empty clearing. Five minutes later the first doe stepped out. No problem, plenty of time\u2026and light. Ten more minutes, flash of antler in the trees. I was hoping for a \u201cmanagement\u201d buck; this buck was a tall seven-pointer, reasonable mass, missing a tine on one side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Larger,
Larger, more powerful scopes have nothing to do with a rifle\u2019s accuracy\u2026but make shooting good groups a lot easier. This is the new Leica<\/a> 2.5-15x50mm Amplus, a great scope with capability and versatility. Boddington put it on his old .264 Winchester Magnum<\/a> to try out some new handloads\u2026with awesome results.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

First impression: Probably what the doctor ordered. I got the rifle rested, but I wanted to see the check his age, make sure he wasn\u2019t a precocious youngster. He was slow coming out, but there was still plenty of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This clearing looks west; the sun had dropped behind trees, so the deer were in black shadow and the light was going fast. Another buck trailed the first, almost identical antlers, maybe a bit smaller\u2026or a year younger? I checked my watch, five minutes shooting time remaining, but as they fed along, I could no longer tell them apart. I was done!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\":
Boddington\u2019s \u201921 Georgia buck was taken with a buddy\u2019s rifle topped with a big 2.515x50mm Swarovski<\/a> scope. During the close encounter with this buck, he inadvertently turned the scope power up too much, saw nothing but hair, and had to quickly turn it back down.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Half-hour past sundown defines legal shooting hours in much of North America. Depending on cover and clouds, usually we can see fairly well that late. But not always. First and last light are magic times when clear, bright optics are essential. On that evening, with two days of Kansas rifle season left, I was under-scoped!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was carrying Uberti<\/a>\u2019s \u201cCourteney.\u201d Single-shot on John Browning\u2019s 1885 action, configured like a British stalking rifle, chambered in .303 British<\/a>, and named after Frederick Courteney Selous, who loved single-shots. So do I! Plenty of gun in our woods, where most shots are close. The Courteney has exceptional open sights, plus a non-traditional integral Weaver base, simplifying scope mounting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Boddington
Boddington put a very small 1.5-4x20mm scope on the Courteney single shot. His choice was largely because it \u201clooked good on the rifle,\u201d but for whitetails he could have used more magnification and needed more brightness. It got the job done, but not before last-light opportunities were passed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In our thick timber, the light comes late and leaves early anyway, but these days I lose the light sooner than in years gone by. I have certain stands I\u2019ll hunt with iron sights, but it\u2019s risky. Best mount a scope! So, in keeping with the rifle\u2019s trim profile, I went minimalist, mounting a little Leupold Mark AR 1.5-4x20mm<\/a>. Looked great on the rifle!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"three
These three one-inch scopes differ widely in capabilities\u2026and also in size and bulk. Top, 1.4-4x20mm; center, 3-9x40mm<\/a>; bottom, 3-15x44mm<\/a>. All are useful, but it depends on how far you need to shoot\u2026and the likelihood of a tough shot in poor light.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For most purposes, I\u2019m not crazy about the big, heavy scopes so much in vogue today. In most situations I don\u2019t need high magnification or the brightness of a big, clunky objective. Especially with whitetails, we mustn\u2019t underestimate the importance of those first and last minutes of shooting light\u2026but that\u2019s exactly what I\u2019d done. Those deer were in the open, max 125 yards, but I had neither enough power, nor enough light, to make either positive ID or take the shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4X was plenty of magnification for that shot (and much farther). When I started hunting (mid-Sixties), variable-power scopes weren\u2019t perfected. Fixed 4X was the most common hunting scope, and many hunters did fine with fixed 2.5X scopes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Europeans
Europeans don\u2019t observe \u201cshooting hours\u201d as we know them. It was pretty dark when I shot this roebuck in Hungary. The rifle is an Austrian single-shot in 7mm STW, topped with a big Swarovski scope with 56mm objective lens, pretty standard for serious European hunters.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I hunted happily with fixed 4X scopes<\/a> through the late Seventies and didn\u2019t know I needed more magnification. By then, reliable variables were taking over. The huge target image of my first 3-9X<\/a> was amazing. I liked it! Since then, I\u2019ve done most of my hunting with \u201cmedium-power\u201d variables in the 2-7X, 3-9X, and 3.5-10X class. I shoot left-handed and am strongly left-eye dominant; I have no problem keeping both eyes open. At these magnification levels, most of my shots at game, even fairly close, have been with my scopes turned up to maximum power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Greg
Like whitetails, hogs\u2014especially big boars\u2014are often taken in poor light. Greg Tinsley shot this fine California boar at daylight, still so dark they had to wait. His Lazzeroni rifle was topped with a big, bright scope, so he was ready to shoot the minute it got light enough. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As I was trying to age those bucks in poor light, I could have used more magnification\u2026and more light! My 10×42 binocular gave me both but required too much movement!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1.5-4x20mm<\/a> scope I used, one-inch tube with straight-tube 20mm objective, is one of the smallest and lightest of all scopes. Today\u2019s typical \u201cdangerous game\u201d scope, maybe 1-6x24mm on 30mm tube, is also compact. Small and light scopes are seductive! The 30mm tube admits more light than a one-inch tube so, if quality is similar, will the brighter. However, a scope with a straight objective cannot be as bright as a scope of similar quality with a larger objective lens. In other words, in that 1.5-4x20mm scope<\/a>, I was using about the \u201cleast bright\u201d scope possible!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Larger,
Larger, more powerful scopes have nothing to do with a rifle\u2019s accuracy\u2026but make shooting good groups a lot easier. This is the new Leica<\/a> 2.5-15x50mm Amplus, a great scope with capability and versatility. Boddington put it on his old .264 Winchester Magnum<\/a> to try out some new handloads\u2026with awesome results.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

More magnification might make shots simpler, but in our area we have no stands that a 4X scope can\u2019t handle. Being an optimist, and not looking for a big buck, I hadn\u2019t anticipated a last-light shot, where I\u2019d wish for just two more minutes of good visibility!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no \u201cindustry standard\u201d for what constitutes an image size at 4X, 10X, or any other \u201cX.\u201d Brands vary, as do fields of view as magnification goes up and down. Brightness and optical clarity also vary, but these are more quality and pricing issues. With my first 3-9X scope, \u201cthree-times-zoom\u201d was standard\u2026and the limit of technology. Four-times-zoom isn\u2019t new but today we have scopes with five, six, and even eight-times zoom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Larger,
Larger, more powerful scopes have nothing to do with a rifle\u2019s accuracy\u2026but make shooting good groups a lot easier. This is the new Leica<\/a> 2.5-15x50mm Amplus, a great scope with capability and versatility. Boddington put it on his old .264 Winchester Magnum to try out some new handloads\u2026with awesome results.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is good, because today\u2019s bigger variable can still have a low setting that will keep you out of trouble if you follow a wounded animal into thick stuff. Depending on your ability to use a riflescope with both eyes open, the low setting on a hunting scope should probably be 2X or 3X, maximum 4X. With five, six, or eight times zoom, this puts the upper setting into the stratosphere, magnification once reserved for varmint and long-range target scopes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I enjoying ringing steel at long range, but I\u2019m not especially interested in the extreme-range shooting popular today, and I\u2019m not going to shoot at game at a half-mile. If extreme range fascinates you, then you might need magnification into the high 20s and beyond. Thing is: With magnification, it\u2019s not true that \u201cif a little is good, a lot is better.\u201d As magnification goes up, field of view goes down; at the highest magnification, there\u2019s increasing difficulty finding a distant target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Boddington
Boddington put a very small 1.5-4x20mm scope on the Courteney single shot. His choice was largely because it \u201clooked good on the rifle,\u201d but for whitetails he could have used more magnification and needed more brightness. It got the job done, but not before last-light opportunities were passed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If a scope is turned up too high, at close range you run the risk of seeing a blur of hair through the scope. I\u2019ve never gotten in trouble with scopes up to 10X or so\u2014but I try to remember to keep them turned down until I need more magnification. Just this year in Georgia, I was using my buddy\u2019s rifle with a Swarovski Z6 2.5-15x50mm<\/a> scope. Walking to my stand, I got caught flat-footed by a good buck chasing a doe. I dropped my pack and lay behind it, turning up the scope as I got into position. Guess I cranked it too far; when I got behind the rifle all I could see was brown. I cranked it back down and made the shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1978
Boddington took this fine mule deer in Nevada in 1978, using a Ruger M77 .30-06<\/a> topped with the first variable scope he ever owned, a Redfield <\/a>3-9X. After years of hunting with fixed 4X scopes the 9X magnification literally opened his eyes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For my purposes, a variable with maximum power somewhere in the teens is all I need, even for shooting prairie dogs. The most powerful scope I own is an older 6-24X. I use it for varmints, awesome, but at higher settings the field of view is too narrow for big game. For open-country hunting, in recent years I\u2019ve used 2-12X, 3-15X, 4-16X, and currently have VX6 3-18X on multiple flat-shooting rifles. All of these have (at least) all the magnification I want. Because of mirage and heat waves, there are many situations where magnification much above about 12X isn\u2019t practical and, on big game, a 12X image is big enough at any distance I\u2019m likely to shoot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"European
European hunters rarely use artificial lights but, with big scopes, they use moonlight and, when possible, snow background to hunt far into the night. This Austrian stag was taken late the night before and recovered at daylight.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As with magnification, current taste in objectives is also getting bigger. Other than weight, bulk, and cost, there\u2019s no disadvantage to bigger objectives, and we usually accept what the manufacturer offers in the scope we want. I have scopes with big objectives, visibly bright. However, I prefer the trimmer profile of a 40mm, 42mm, or 44mm objective. Remember, as an American hunter, I\u2019m generally held to \u201chalf-hour before sunrise to half-hour after sunset.\u201d Some feral hog and varmint hunting is legal at night, but I don\u2019t do much of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Donna
Donna Boddington and Zack Aultman with a nice Georgia buck, taken 20 minutes after sunset the night before. She used her .270<\/a> with 3-9x40mm scope<\/a>. Such a scope is neither powerful nor especially bright, but powerful and bright enough for most North American hunting. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Europeans have a different situation. They rarely use artificial lights, but \u201cshooting hours\u201d are generally unknown. Over there, I\u2019ve hunted deer and boar when, well, it was black dark and needed all the light a scope can possibly gather! Most of the places I hunt, I\u2019m gonna quit 30 minutes after sunset. I don\u2019t need the brightest\u2014or most powerful\u2014scope I can buy\u2026but I sure needed more than I had!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next night, about the same time, but in an east-facing meadow, much brighter at quitting time, I shot a tall 3.5-year-old forky with no eyeguards, perfect buck for me. I like the Courteney single shot and intend to do more hunting with it. So, as soon as I got home I replaced that 1.5-4x20mm scope with a Trijicon<\/a> 3-9x40mm scope<\/a>. Doesn\u2019t look quite as perfect on the rifle, but I don\u2019t want to run short of power and light again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Craig Boddington The December afternoon was unseasonably warm. Deer would come out late, so I wasn\u2019t surprised that sunset came and went on an empty clearing. Five minutes later the first doe stepped out. No problem, plenty of time\u2026and light. Ten more minutes, flash of antler in the trees. I was hoping for a … Continue reading “OPTICS: POWER AND LIGHT!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[101,24],"tags":[127,19,236,60,39,230],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/1978-Nevada-mule-deer-Medium.jpg?fit=1152%2C768&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1791"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1791"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1809,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1791\/revisions\/1809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}