Become A Better Glasser

[ADMIN]

I've had the unique privilege of "growing up" in the world of hunting with high-performance optics. Over the years, my hunting partners have included some of the best hunters and professional guides in the West. One major skill that separates "good" hunters from the "best" hunters has been their ability to spot game with optics. Notice that I used the word "skill" and not "talent". A skill is a developed ability, whereas a talent is something you're born with; you either have it or you don't.

Spotting game with optics has very little to do with eyesight. With the diopter adjustment set properly, anyone can attain an equal image quality (assuming the optics are the same). There are no excuses; if your buddy consistently spots more game than you, it's because he has done a better job of perfecting his skills. The good news is that it's never too late to start learning how to be a better glasser.
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This is a thread for discussion of the article, Become A Better Glasser, By Chris Denham. Here you can ask questions or make comments about the article.

 

[yobuck]

good article but somewhat lacking in my opinion. supporting the glasses on a tripod isnt an option for extended glassing sessions its a must. im not implying the article said it was an option but i dont feel it was stressed strongly enough. for those who feel otherwise look at your watch before you start glassing. when your arms become tired enough to stop glassing look again at your watch. remember also your now not hunting. even a walking stick upon which you can mount glasses is a large plus. if theres more than one person
dont be starting in the same area. determine where each will start glassing
first. it speeds up the process of finding game.
a few years back a guest joined my son and i at our nc pa camp for bear season. the first day we went to a spot we had to walk to to hunt. it was about 20 minits for them but almost an hour walk for me. my son and our guest both carried rifles. my son had his tripod and large glasses in a pack and the guest had hand glasses.
i carried only my large glasses and a tripod on my back. when i arrived at the
lookout it was well past daylight and they had been glassing. i sat down not
more than 5 ft from our guest and set up my glasses. i looked at the direction
their glasses was pointing and aimed mine at a different area. it wasent 1
minit till i said i have a deer. the guest looked at me as if saying your joking right. he then said where? i pointed and said right over there. it was just about 400 yds. the deer was laying down and pretty much obscured by laurel.
i had no trouble picking it up as i scaned slowly past it. he however couldnt
find it with his hand glasses. i had to walk him to the deer by pointing out objects he could see. had it been a buck and a week later how would he have felt? next day late in the afternoon the same thing happened on a hillside
right opposite our camp. my son found a buck laying in a hollow and partially
hidden at about 800 yds. this guy couldnt be led to the deer this time.
my son finally said well look thru my glasses. the guy stared at that buck till dark. but guess what, he has since spent about $1200 on a better set of
hand glasses. proving the old cliche about leading horses to water.

 

[HUAINAMACHERO]

Nice article Chris,
I think glassing is a very important part of hunting, if we cant see the game we are looking for we are not going to be able to shoot it!!!
I liked the way you explained the needs for developing the skill and the importance of having a steady rest to glass. Agree 100% with those issues.
Looking forward to see more comments on this thread, I think we are all going to learn from it.
Thanks.

 

[BestNThDez]

Not saying that he was super specific in saying that you should always glass top to bottom or bottom to top, but the human eye is more adept to scanning left to right and right to left, like reading a book, or scanning the horizon, or using our peripheral vision. I will do the grid pattern the exact same way, but scan left to right, then go up a half of frame, then back right to left. and keep doing this until I've covered all of the terrain that I need to look at. Also, at least when I'm hallway through, or even every 1/4, I'll stop looking through the glass, and just look with my naked eyes around to see if something jumps out at me that didn't through the glasses, like a buck up close. This is also the time to let your eyes rest. When I'm all done doing the grid, I'll go back over and follow all of the horizon lines looking for animals that may not have been there a few minutes ago; IE, the ones that just are coming over, or have just made it to the skyline, as they are easily identified against the sky. Just my .03 cents.

 

[Sully2]

". proving the old cliche about leading horses to water."

Anyone can lead a horse to water and get him to drink....but when you can get that SOB to float on his back...THEN you got something........

 

[BestNThDez]

What the???

 

[GBA1776]

Anyone can lead a horse to water and get him to drink....but when you can get that SOB to float on his back...THEN you got something........

Nice