Are they really that good??

He said HAWK, not HAWKE
Swarovski

All these European Optics around $1500 or less... including Swaro and Zeiss... quite frankly some are dogshait. I really don't think any are that great and you pay at times $500 more for nothing that is really going to make any difference whatsoever. Low Light scopes don't do a whole lot I can kill a deer legally with an old yellowed out Tasco from the 80's at most distances we see here in Alabama. Binos are where you want to spend your money.

Just grabbing a scope and looking through it comparing to another, in a store, looking out the back door, etc.... sometimes it's obvious and sometimes it isn't. If you want to really understand who makes the best scope you need to be looking at bullet holes in the black ring at 500+ yards. Try to find those with sub-par optics. NOW you can really tell who's got the biggest pecker.

Pro Tip: If someone's got one with Schmidt & Bender written on the side of it - my advice is this...don't even think about whipping yours out. It ain't gonna measure.

But…..the “E” is silent

I've owned a ton of mid to high end scopes including Swaro and Zeiss. The suggestion to spend your money on binoculars is great advice. The perfect scope that gets me the most performance for my money is the Trijicon Accupoint. It's priced near the Leupold VX3 line with way better clarity , light transmission and reliable tracking. I bought a pair of Steiner Ranger Extreme binoculars that I can see detail with way past dark . All that said I'm using an older Swaro 8x56 Hiabicht on one rifle and a Weaver Extreme illuminated on another (punches way above its price point) and either will take me way past legal light with my binoculars. I've spent tons of money trying to find scopes that would allow me to hunt up until the last second in the woods but finally came to the realization that most $300 to $500 scopes were plenty if I had the right binoculars but even a $3k scope isn't enough with the wrong binoculars.

You Rang???.... I done a guy in Louse at a 1000yds....Aint you heard?... Its the only thing I was ever good at.... Thats for you Leroy... ...

😂
Yep. 2 different things I believe.

I use Swarovski binoculars for one reason.

Schmidt-Bender doesn't make binoculars.

And while I love hunting Alabama, I try to hunt other places also, and I do not want to be hindered on a 3-500 yard shot on a Texas sendero or across a canyon in Utah.

Also, I will take a shot at a distance on a hog or coyote that I wouldn't think of on a whitetail or mule deer. Hogs and coyotes are a nuisance, and I'm not worried about losing or wounding one. Some of the Texas ranches that I hunt get mad if you don't shoot pigs in the gut to run off and die in the brush.

Had a conversation once with an OLD rancher. Told him I really wanted to kill a big hog. He said "Son, if you ever want to hunt this ranch again, you'll shoot every pig you see." He was absolutely tickled when he picked me up and I had a pile of young pigs, some still had stripes. Biggest may have been 20 lbs. I was within hearing range of his porch. He picked me up instead of his guide. His comment was "Hell, boy, I thought you were under attack!" I apologized for running out of ammo, and promised to do better next time.

I was invited back every year until the old man passed and his city kid sold the place. I miss him, and I miss that ranch. We used to ride around between hunts, and he would say things like "You reckon you could hit that quail?" Best shot on a quail was about 250 yards, and have gut shot hogs way further. He always told me that was better, cause it didn't stink up his trash pit. He would also hang old hubcaps and brake drums for me to shoot at while we rode and talked. Wish I could ride with him again!

Something tells me you never owned a 74hunnerd ‘Ought-Six with see thru scope mounts and a 3-9x Widefield…. A fella could shoot a gnat off a tick dick at 1250yds in gale force winds with that setup and some 150gr CoreLokts

Thanks. You beat me to it.

BH2 is having fun


🎣

Meopta Meostar line of optics are pretty damn fine.

I've never really looked through any expensive binos but I needed a pair and was reading threads on here about it and got curious. I went to a store about 15 mins before dark and asked if I could look through premium and mid-range binos to see if my eye could really tell the difference.

I've really always just thought that the premium optics marginal difference in quality wasn't enough to justify the price difference, but I'm a believer now.

It may just be my eyes, but we were looking at a pine tree behind a tree line about 200 yards away as a target. The $600 Vortex optics I thought were decent, but when I switched over to Leupold and another pair that was $1.7K I could see way more detail than I could on the cheaper optics. We stayed out there until dark and I was really surprised at how noticeable the difference was, seeing as id never really done a side by side comparison in the field before.

I get why people really like those premium tier optics now. I ended up getting some Leupold BX-4 PRO GUIDES IN 12x50 and really like them. I didn't have the money for the Swaros.

Had that same set up except I had a a Tasco World Class scope on mine. If a tick farted anywhere around that rifle it got knocked off zero because of those see through mounts. Finally ditched them and went to Leupold mounts. I used to shoot the 150gr Remington Bronze Tips out of mine. Think it shot just under 3” MOA at 100 yards. 😆

I got the same exact setup! Be careful, I hurried a shot a couple of years back and now there's a dickless tick running around the woods. Felt bad about it.

Some time back in the 70s I read an article in Guns and Ammo about hunting Fox at night in Austria without the aid of a spotlight. The scope they used was a 56mm Kahles. A few years later I got one with a heavy duplex reticle. I also have an old steel tube Swarvo 8x56 with the same reticle. They have served me well .
.

So mounting an Iphone to the back of the scope will be the way to hunt in a year or two... sounds interesting.

I got a hawke on my crossbow. it's probably the worst clarity and brightness you could imagine, but after about 5 red dots and scopes it's the only one that could handle the recoil.