Are hunting rifles over scoped?

John Y Cannuck said:
Many forum arguments could be settled by a simple pic of where you hunt.
I've hunted where I felt under scoped, but now days the chances of a shot out even as far as a hundred yards is limited. I prefer the 1.5X4 set usually to 1.5 if I use a scope at all. Peep sights I love.
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At the moment I seem most effective (farmer wants us to reduce deer numbers) at longer ranges. I get to a position with good views and observe. My last season had 25 deer with average around 250m. A few close off hand ones too. I recently bought a used Marlin 336 in 30-30 stainless. That will be my bush rifle for monsoon conditions.... no scope fitted. I stupidly sold my old 94 in 30-30. Our terrain changes from very dense rough bogs to forests and also open hills.
Very difficult to always have the right rifle/scope along.


the 94 with red dot sight, not sure f the open sights were not just as good. Sika hind taken running at 20yds.

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edi
 
Brian46 said:
Great choice, wish we could use suppressor here in canada for hunting
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We got used to the suppressors. Our little country is way denser populated and shots are closer to houses etc. Also makes shooting close to livestock much easier.
edi
 
littlehughey said:
I found my fixed 6x on a hunting rifle to be too much magnification at close range. I was happy with fixed 4x. My current lineup is 1.5-4x, 1.5-5x, 2-7x, and 3.5-10x, ive been quite pleased with the lower power scopes.
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I used a 1X3.5 variable for many years.
 
I love my 4-16x42 on my coyote rifle. Hunting wide open farm land it's nice to be able to have it on 16x for 200+yard shots.

My big game rifles have everything from 1-4x32 to 4-12x40 and pretty much everything in between
 
S&B 8X56 on my main big game rifle
as far as i am concerned its perfect
great in low light

every other rifle has a 50mm objective end
more light coming in the better
 
As I get older, well darn it - so do my eyes....I used to be a crack shot with open sights, not any more. Need to grab my glasses just to use my pellet rifle effectively. I'll choose a clear, strong lens dialed in, and a little more magnification never 'cost' me a shot in recent memory either....~!
 
As I become older, my eyes require higher magnification; especially at the gun range where the 1" square bullseye is most difficult to see clearly and sharply at 300 plus yards. While hunting, the magnification mostly remains on 9 power, even in the open prairies.
 
Fine hind, EJG. What weight? But 20 yds, why didn't you use a knife ?? :rolleyes: Just messin'- good shooting with a 'dot at close range runner. Prob didn't have much time to sight in.
I'm in New Brunswick and I wish there were enough farmers and deer to make culling a way of life. "Tag limits" when there are some communities that have deer 'in town' eating gardens. I guess the population of deer here is too low to make that an issue. The biggest problem here is "deer in the headlights' - very expensive with repair costs.
Back in the 60s I lost two friends to the deers. :( We lived on a migration route with corn and wheat fields thru the area.
 
Re the 'failing vision' probs. I've had Glaucoma for over 10 years and a couple years age the Opt determined my vision was failing from cataracts. So gov-med paid for double corneal transplants!! Now I have '20 Year-old's' distant vision and just need to use Costco reading glasses for fine print !! Now I still 'smack my face' to adjust glasses that aren't there (after 40+ years of doin' it). If you can get it arranged, I advise to go for it.
 
I have tried a few different magnification scopes over the years, 2-7X, 3-9X, 3-15X and a fixed 6X. They all worked fine. Dialing down below 6X is definitely an advantage.
The higher powers are great for scanning areas that are a great distance away.
 
You can save a few ounces and gain simplicity. Most variables are comparatively bulky and heavier. Extra lenses and more moving parts. I think the 6x36 Leupold is an excellent scope. I also like the Leupold 4X as a hunting scope.I know most younger hunters will disagree but a scope is an aiming device. It should be optically decent, extremely rugged, reasonably light (strength comes first), and reliable. Any feature which detracts from any of these requirements is a poor feature. Just my opinion.
 
Leeper said:
You can save a few ounces and gain simplicity. Most variables are comparatively bulky and heavier. Extra lenses and more moving parts. I think the 6x36 Leupold is an excellent scope. I also like the Leupold 4X as a hunting scope.I know most younger hunters will disagree but a scope is an aiming device. It should be optically decent, extremely rugged, reasonably light (strength comes first), and reliable. Any feature which detracts from any of these requirements is a poor feature. Just my opinion.
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This. Done. Bullseye !
 
Most of my hunting rifles are on the lightweight side and ~ 1.5 to 2 MOA rifles so my scopes tend to be in the 2.5X8, 3X9 range and distances for hunting tend to be moderate.
Those setups carry nice and work fine for me. I keep it on the lowest setting when walking around and crank it up when making a shot at distance.

I do however have a 4.5X14 Zeiss on my LSS Tikka 6.5 mm sporter just because the rifle showed such exceptional performance (frequently sub MOA) at longer ranges, I did not want to "hold it back or me" by choosing a lower powered scope. I also use a good shooting sling instead of bipod to keep weight down. This is my long range rig that I use for target shooting but doubles as a hunter sometimes.

Slightly heavier rig to pack perhaps but it's nice to know that you have one hunting rifle with the capability to reach way out there.:d
 
I grew up east of Calgary and hunted mostly with a 6 power scope in open country... but once when it mattered I found myself too close and 6 power was too much... so I became a believer of variable scopes... I think the 3.5-10x40mm Leupold or a similar quality scope is a better choice than a fixed power. The 3.5 power will display fine at short ranges and the 10 is really nice for longer shots.
 
guntech said:
I grew up east of Calgary and hunted mostly with a 6 power scope in open country... but once when it mattered I found myself too close and 6 power was too much... so I became a believer of variable scopes... I think the 3.5-10x40mm Leupold or a similar quality scope is a better choice than a fixed power. The 3.5 power will display fine at short ranges and the 10 is really nice for longer shots.
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That does seem to be the current sweet spot for many hunting rifles that are capable of fine accuracy. Not too heavy and bulky but with enough capability at both ends of the power spectrum. I own one myself on a Rem 308.

Vortex Razor HD Gen 3 which is a good quality scope manufacturer catering to 3 gun shooters now offers a 1 to 10 lightweight, small profile one if you can justify the cost.
 
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I have hunted for the last 4 years with various lightweight .308 rifles paired with a Leupold VX-3i 2.5-8x36. I always found that combination perfect for hunting under 250 yards.

Last year, while hunting open ranges in heavy cross winds, I really reached the limit of what I was comfortable shooting with the .308. Heavy erratic crosswinds meant I wanted to get within 200 yards of my quarry, being a mature mule deer buck surrounded by 4-5 mature does. Having to cross open country to get to them, I just couldn't get closer than 300 yards without one of does spotting me. They burned me two hunts in a row.

300 yards with heavy erratic crosswinds just wasn't something I was comfortable with in a .308. So I figured that my .308 combo was good for about 95% of the hunting I did and I wanted something for the remaining 5%.

This year I will also have a Tikka T3x super lite in 7mm RM paired with a Leupold VX-6HD 3-18x44. Overpowered? 90% of the time, assuredly. Overscoped? Same thing. Would I rather have this rig for the shot described above? You bet.

All in all this combo is 7 lb 15 oz vs 6.5 lbs. Is the extra weight and bulk worth it? For me it is, especially in the conditions described above.

Ironically, I ended up taking that buck at 50 yards when I stumbled upon him on a different day. So a 30-30 with irons would have been plenty then. Also, he tested positive for CWD. What a waste.
 
3-9 for me on all light barrel hunting rifles and that includes coyote guns. Never felt the need for more and the weight goes up fast and then the balance goes to crap. Most of the time stuff in close gets shot at 5 or 6x, longer shots 9x seems to work just fine. heavy barrels 14 to 24 power.

I bought a cz 527 varmint in 17 hornet and wanted to do load work, the only scope I had to throw on was a elite 4200 3-9x40. a few years and 100s of gophers later its still on. I figured i'd replace it with at least a 14 power but the elite 4200 has very fine crosshairs and clear glass, gophers out to 250-300 yards are no problem. Hornet really is maxed out at that range anyway.
 
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