Best Bino's your opinion

[Greg Duerr]

I just spent a week scouting my deer hunting area .................spent the whole time looking through my Binoculars. Right now I have some Eagle Rangers 10x42. I paid $300 for them about 8 years ago. For the money they have served me well, however, after looking through some of the better ones I see clarity that I dont have and light gathering that I dont have also.

If you were to spend $2000 Plus what would you buy and why, what is your experiance glassing with the upper end Binoculars. I hunt an area that demands lots and lots of glassing.................
G

 

[orangeride]

One word Swarvaski 10 x 42 EL. It's whats all other high end binos are compared to.

 

[bubba41]

el 10 x 42 Swarovski

 

[Sully2]

I bought 10 x 40 Zeiss at a bird watching show...$1000 and Im glad I did. I had ( and still have ) a pair of Pentax 10 x 42's that are HD...and the Zeiss is still better.

 

[Greg Duerr]

How is the Light gathering early in the morning late in the evening with The Zeiss or the El's

Ive decided that I want the best and Will save up for the EL's I dont want to wonder what im missing out on and since I carry by Binoculars where ever I go ...................How durable are they, the EL's

Even when I dont have a deer tag when Im chukar hunting a love to get up early and spend the morning glassing to find out whats out there.

This year I purchased a MT. Lion tag and will be doing a lot of glassing from advantage points. Mt. Lion season last here in Nevada all year long...............

 

[Sully2]

How is the Light gathering early in the morning late in the evening with The Zeiss or the El's

Ive decided that I want the best and Will save up for the EL's I dont want to wonder what im missing out on and since I carry by Binoculars where ever I go ...................How durable are they, the EL's

Even when I dont have a deer tag when Im chukar hunting a love to get up early and spend the morning glassing to find out whats out there.

This year I purchased a MT. Lion tag and will be doing a lot of glassing from advantage points. Mt. Lion season last here in Nevada all year long...............

Its very good. I also TRIED a pair of 10 x 50's there....and of course they pulled in even more light but there was one problem. 10 x 40's were $1000......10 x 50's were $2100..!!!!!!!! They didnt pull in that much more light!!!!

 

[wklman]

I use the swarovski 15x56's to hunt these little coues deer here in AZ. I spend all day glassing wide open canyons for the hint of a deer. I get no eye fatigue and can glass all day without getting a headache. They're the best bino's for the money in my book.

 

[orangeride]

I find the EL 10x42 to be a good compromise as far as weight and size. The big 50's pull a lot of light but are Considerably larger and heavier. I used to have a pair of Hd slc's (they where in a backpack that got stolen. ) and I find that my EL's are much lighter even in the harness. With swarvaski you get the best in every category other than price. There customer service is great. They once sent my uncle a loaner pair of binos for a hunt while his old ones where getting fixed for free.

 

[Methow Packer]

I use Leica Trinovid 10x42. For years I've used Leupold and Pentax optics. One hunting season I was with some buddys glassing a herd of elk across a large canyon @ 8-1000 yards away. One guy has Swarovsky 10x42 and the other has Leica 10x42. They both were seeing detail way better than I at longer ranges and with dusk coming apon us. I borrowed each one of their binoculars. Amazing differences between them all. Leica showed far more detail than the others , no doubt about it. I saved up and bought a pair. Realize without good optics , binoculars or scopes , there's no reason to have an accurate rifle. Optics can make the difference in successful hunt.

 

[Sully2]

I use the swarovski 15x56's to hunt these little coues deer here in AZ. I spend all day glassing wide open canyons for the hint of a deer. I get no eye fatigue and can glass all day without getting a headache. They're the best bino's for the money in my book.

Those things are so big and heavy its like having a concrete block around your neck. GREAT as far as optics go...but if Im going that big Im going to have a spotting scope instead

 

[Sully2]

I use Leica Trinovid 10x42. For years I've used Leupold and Pentax optics. One hunting season I was with some buddys glassing a herd of elk across a large canyon @ 8-1000 yards away. One guy has Swarovsky 10x42 and the other has Leica 10x42. They both were seeing detail way better than I at longer ranges and with dusk coming apon us. I borrowed each one of their binoculars. Amazing differences between them all. Leica showed far more detail than the others , no doubt about it. I saved up and bought a pair. Realize without good optics , binoculars or scopes , there's no reason to have an accurate rifle. Optics can make the difference in successful hunt.

OTHER THAN $$$......what can a person have to say thats bad about the Leica's???

 

[wklman]

Those things are so big and heavy its like having a concrete block around your neck. GREAT as far as optics go...but if Im going that big Im going to have a spotting scope instead

If you're glassing a small area or field then you have no need for the bigger bino's but once you go from the back forty in ohio to the wide open canyons of nv and az then you'll change your mind. 10's are ok but once you start looking at animals more then a mile a way and try to judge them with only a 10 power bino they come up short. The original poster was asking about doing lots of glassing in bigcountry and for the money I'd go with the 15's. I put then on a tripod most of the day so there's no strain on me and they go in the backpack for the trip out.

 

[orangeride]

A year or so ago the high end Leica was getting better reviews than the EL's. swarvaski has since updated there whole line of bino's since then. If you want the best it's either Leica or swarvaski. I'd say you need to actually look through both. If you buy from any of the big box stores your going to pay full retail. Look for a place that doesn't advertise the price and you might be able to do better.

 

[Methow Packer]

I learned something about glassing last year. I was using my Leica binoculars to glass some big country last year. My hunting buddy had on an Eberstock Just one back pack , which is really neat, when he pulled out a Swarovski angle eye piece spotting scope , I think 20x60 power and hooked it up to a tripod. Now we're talken! What a handy deal. You could see horns on mule deer from over 1200 or so yards away. We did see a nice shooter. As the matter of fact we went back to camp and had some lunch, saddled horses, rode about 4 miles or so around to ambush these bucks. Found them before dark and scored a 28" 4x5. Now, the whole hunt would not have been possible without that spotting scope. The binoculars can't do what a spotting scope can and visa versa. In big country I'm convinced you not them both. There's a success story.

Ted