what is the best scope for deer hunting?

Question

what is the best scope for deer hunting?

Answer 1

Jared, you just asked the 64 dollar question. You'll get several answers on this one and referals to different manufactures. A couple of ideas for you when purchasing a scope. 1- price, you'll have an idea of what you want to spend, keep that in mind when you start shopping around. 2- availability, don't buy from the first place you walk into. Shop around, look at different models and features. Ask about discounts from the manufacture and if display models are marked down. 3- application, what are you going to do with it. A scope for deer hunting out to 300 yards can be a simple fixed 6 power. If your hunting in low light times, have a large amount of cover or back ground picture you may have to look at a 50mm apature. 4, weather, this is one of the "little" things that alot of people over look when purchasing a scope. Make sure you have a quality scope if your going to expose it to tempature extremes. Hunting in Alaska or Africa can be an extreme, but taking a scope from a heated lodge or truck cab into 28 degree weather is an extreme as well.

As a final thought, my background has dealt with scoped firearms used by some of the best marksmen in the world. I will argue that if you put a $100 scope on a $700 rifle you have a $100 setup. The rifle may group well out of the box but its only as good as the optics used on it. Hope this gives you a few things to consider when you purchase your new hunting 'tool'.

Answer 2

This may sound like heresy these days, but the popular 3-9x scopes are over-powered for deer hunting in your situation. You'll want to balance the cost of the scope with that of the rifle. It's a bit silly to suggest putting a really fine $1500 scope on a $300 rifle, so we'll leave that off. I'd suggest something along the lines of the Leupold VariX III in 1.75-6x, or if that's a bit too pricey (and it is for most of my rifles) then their VariX II in 2-7x. Left on the low end of the power range, it'll be ready for those quick jump shots, even faster than iron sights, and you can crank it up for that occasional long shot, or if you have time on the shorter ones.

Answer 3

Nikon Pro Staff 3x9 with bdc. Can picki one up for around 150 bucks and they are jsut as clear as any scope I have ever looked through. Including those high dollar leupolds.

Answer 4

Check out the Burris Brand Scopes reasonably priced, great warranty.* Variable or a straight 4 Power.*

Answer 5

The best scope is the one that you can afford that does what you want it to do without all the bells and whistles. If you've hunted the area long enough then you know what kind of shots you're going to make. I like a variable scope, but I set it to what I'm hunting, and where I'm going to hunt before I leave home. Once you're on target, it's too late to change the settings.

Answer 6

Leupold Vari-X III are nice, but pricey. Bushnell 4200 series are nice, but also pricey. I've been using $200-$300 - Barska, Swift, and Tasco scopes in 8x32x 40 or 50. These scopes with a higher magnification is like taking candy from a baby with a good bang for your buck.....

Answer 7

new Savage 111FL

Answer 8

Unless the deer is sitting on your lap, there is no reason to have your scope turned lower than 3-4X in the woods. 300 yards in low light conditions does justify a 9 power. As with any scope, buy the best glass that you can afford. For $200, you can get a Nikon Team Primus 3-9x40 scope which has Monarch quality glass (95% light transmission). They are last year's models being sold for wholesale on a few sites.

I will take a Monarch any day over a VariX-II and most of the VariX-IIIs I have tested.



A 2.5-10x42 Monarch is about $400.