scope question?

7mmlefty

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
13   0   0
What scope would you put on a 30-06?.

I'll use it for deer out west for now, and maybe use it for moose in NW Ontario later down the road.

Is a fixed 4 power ok for western deer hunting?.

Anyone use a fixed power, and how do they perform through youre eyes at those close to distant targets?

Or should I just go with a lower powered variable scope?.

I would like to hear from some seasoned hunters on this.... Thanks..:)
 
3-9 x 40 Zeiss Conquest.

Go take a read on em, check the reviews.

They are the best quality for the money on the market.3-9 will allow you to hunt heavy cover or open areas, if you want better light gathering you can go to the 50mm,but with the clarity of the glass, 40 is pretty darn good.

Many others love these scopes.
 
I used to hunt with a fixed power scope, but given the choice I'd take a 3-9x or even 4-16 for more wide open area. Realty is though, I've never taken a shot that I couldn't have made with the old fixed 6x I used to hunt with. If you have the bucks, that Zeiss would be good, if you don't have the money, a Redfield, Burris or Bushnell 3200 3-9 would give you good value. But don't go any cheaper for hunting. It's got to work for that one important shot.
 
I would also probably go with a 3X9, or 2X7. That being said, I have a straight 6X on a rifle that I used to do all of my deer and pronghorn hunting with, and have never felt "under scoped". And my longest shot on a pronhorn, which is a fairly small animal, was at close to 400 yards with a straight 4X. I appreciate the simplicity of a straight power scope, but my last scope purchases have all be variables.
 
I've made hits on moving deer @ 20 yards with 6x and stationary critters @ 250ish with a 4x. Nerves,bad triggers and lack of practice are much larger impediments to good shooting than lack of magnification.
If you like fixed power scopes you won't have any trouble hitting targets at any reasonable range out west.
I got tired of sending variable scopes back for warranty so my hunting rifles mostly wear 4 or 6x scopes.But my 375 keeps telling me it needs a 1-4 Trijicon.
 
A fixed four power scope is excellent for big game hunting in the west.
So neat and easy to carry, compared to a big variable. And, as has been pointed out, so reliable.
If you miss an animal, or make a lousy hit with a 4x, don't blame it on the scope.
 
I shoot a Rem 270 pump with a Bushnell 3x9 3200 elite with firefly for low light conditions. I shot a 6 point buck at 110 yards on 4 power and wacked a big doe out in 600 yard range on the power lines at 9 power. So I would say a good 3x9 would do the trick for you. Hope this helps. Kevin
 
when my eyes we younger i thought a 4x was all i needed. now i prefer a 2x7 or 3x9 set on 5 or 6. also like leup 6x too. i have never needed a scope above 9x for big game. even a deer is a pretty large target.
 
3-9 x 40 Zeiss Conquest.

Go take a read on em, check the reviews.

They are the best quality for the money on the market.3-9 will allow you to hunt heavy cover or open areas, if you want better light gathering you can go to the 50mm,but with the clarity of the glass, 40 is pretty darn good.

Many others love these scopes.

this is a great scope for the money. leupold 3-9 or 3.5-10 are a good choice aswell. i like a good solid 3-9x 40 ish size thats is tough and will hold zero. you dont need to break the bank for a great scope for general hunting.
 
A fixed four power scope is excellent for big game hunting in the west.
So neat and easy to carry, compared to a big variable. And, as has been pointed out, so reliable.
If you miss an animal, or make a lousy hit with a 4x, don't blame it on the scope.

Now you guys are really making me think fixed 4 power. I've found myself most comfortable around 5 power in the variable 2x7 scope that I've used in most all the walks through the plains. :)
 
The tendency of many hunters is to over-scope their big game rifles, making it more difficult to hit the game over the ranges they are most likely to encounter it, having preconditioned themselves to the idea of a quarter mile shot. The purpose of the telescope sight is to make it easier to see the target, and most big game animals are well, big, so one doesn't need a scope suitable for shooting prairie dogs. A 4X scope is a good choice, but so are many of the low powered variables, particularly the 1.5-5X, 1.75-6X, 2-7X, culminating with the 2.5-8X. I've owned 3-9X scopes and have found that they are larger than they ned to be, although the power range is suitable for most occasions.

The real advantage of the glass sight is that it puts the target and the aiming point on the same focal plain, thus both the aiming point and the target are in sharp focus unlike iron sights where once the rear sight, front sight, and target are aligned; the target the rear sight blur out of focus, while the eye focuses on the front sight. If magnification was the sole advantage of the telescope sight, we would all use 20X glass. It doesn't take long to understand that as magnification increases , field of view decreases, making the target difficult to find. Consider a deer standing on the edge of a tree line at 40 yards. If your magnification is so great that all you can see is his eyeball, how are you to find him in the scope to make your shot? The deer will probably wander away without you ever having the opportunity.
 
I've got a 2.5-8 Vari X 111 on mine, but anything close to the 3-9 x 40 genre would have served just as well. I've got more 3.5-10 VX 111s than any other scope and can honestly say that I never found a hunting situation where I wished I had less power. It helps if you can shoot with both eyes open.
 
Back
Top Bottom