deer's nose sticking out from behind a trunk can appear as one or two trunks. But which ones? Unless you're a pro at pointing your binocular precisely at your target each and every time, you might not do so well with high magnification. Lowering power increases field-of-view. High magnification also decreases depth-of-field, the area before and behind the focus point that remains in focus enough to make sense. This can be good for minimizing distractions and focusing precisely on the target, but if focus is initially too far in front of or behind the target, it can be impossible to recognize the target at all. While you spin the focus wheel, the game can walk away. Reserve the likes of a Nikon Monarch 20x56mm for tripodmounted specialty work, i.e. spotting bedded game. : ED is not Extra Dark Today's highly ballyhooed ED glass. does not change light transmission through a binocular. It sharpens the view by more precisely focusing various wavelengths (colors) to the same point. This becomes more and more important as power increases. You might barely notice it at 8X, probably will at 1 OX and certainly should at 12X and above. 8 to 10, Not "25 or 6 to 4?" The 1970s pop tune "25 or 6 to 4" has nothing to do with binoculars, but 6 or 8 to 10 does. Most hunting. binoculars are sold as 8X or 10X, but if you hunt tight cover and woodlands, don't discount the 6X or 7X. My favorite is 6X. Bushnell's 6x30mm Natureview Porro prism binocular yields big, bright, 5mm EPs in a small, compact package that weighs just 17 ounces. Easy to carry and quick to whip into action. Lifting a binocular might seem trivial, but over a day of glassing, weight becomes a subtle deterrent to use. An effective hunter should be lifting that instrument to examine every twitch, every suspicious line or form, especially in woodlands where whitetails blend into background clutter. The whitetails you find in woodlands when glassing extensively are a revelation. The extra field-of-view inherent in a 6X or 7X lets you see a wide area as you glass for white bellies, shiny black noses and glinting tines. I find 12 I DEER HUNTERS EQUIPMENT 2016 more deer with a 6X than 8X in woods and open country. This is because 6X reveals distant deer while taking in enough landscape to spot movement on the fringes. At 8X and especially 10X you might not see those fringes. I once glassed with a 6X while a buddy used a tripod-mounted 15X. Both were top-quality binoculars, but I found more deer. Why? Because many deer showed up as quick movements on the far edges of my field cif view, edges he couldn't see through his 15X. That was an eye opener. Most hunters, however, are not going to buy my 6X argument, so I'll push for 7X or 8X as an acceptable compromise in the East and Midwest. An 8x42mm with fully multi-coated lenses, Phase Coated BaK-4 prisms and a dielectric mirror such as the Bushnell Legend M, Nikon EDG, Hawke Sapphire, Vanguard Endeavor ED or Stryka S9 is my ideal all-round binocular. With one of these you'll be seeing whitetails in light as dim as 30 minutes after sunset, maybe an hour after. It all depends on cloud cover, tree canopy cover and moon phase. I can easily see deer against the butte 80 yards behind the house under a full moon at midnight. In open fields under a clear sky, one of these fully multicoated 8x42s should clearly reveal whitetails an hour or more after sunset. The Lust for Power Out West As soon as hunters cross west into the Dakotas they get an appetite for a more powerful binocular. In the West, 10X is considered standard, and more than a few hunters have fallen for the 12X and 15X Slow down folks! Big power requires big objectives, and those make for huge, heavy binoculars. A monster glass such as the Stryka deerunddeerhunting.com
15x56mm S9 is great for specialty jobs such as glassing brush-dotted mountainsides for bedded deer, but for stillhunting or stand hunting I don't think so. Here's the thing: Whitet!=).il hunting Out 'lf'!est isn't necessarily the long range deal many suspect. Sure, much of the terrain and habitat is open, but whitetails are still whitetails. They still love brush and woods and thickets. So where are you going to hunt them? If, like me, you like glassing big country to find traveling bucks, then run to intercept them, high magnification can help. But once you're slipping into cover to stalk, still-hunt or stand hunt them, power can hurt. Again, based on long experience, I argue for an 8X in the West. A 10X can be used effectively, especially if you mostly scan distant pockets, but once you get into cover, the 8X will be better because of the wider field of view A 10X should reveal more details, but the extra 2X isn't a significant power increase. For studying trophy racks and finding bucks miles away, you need serious magnification. Spotting a Real Scope Mount a 20-60X spotting scope to a tripod and strap it to your pack and you're ready to set up for serious long rnnge searching and tropp.y judging -out to 4 miles. At those powers you need big objective lenses. At 40X in a 60mm objective spotting scope, EP is just 2mm. At 60X it's 1mm! Even through an 80mm objective, EP is just 1. 5mm at 60X. Clearly, the best mirrors and coatings are needed in a big spotting scope, and ED glass is almost imperative. You can cut a few comers in an 8X binocular and barely notice, but get the best you can afford in a spotter. A Word About Prices and Prisms Consider getting more than one binocular - 6X in woods, 10X on plains, 8X for mixed duty. At today's prices that's affordable. Stiff competition, modem tools and. Pacific Rim wages have improved binocular quality while lowering prices. Top-line Porro prism models go for less than $100. Porro prisms don't need a mirror surface or phase coating to sharpen their images, so costs are low. They are less compact and more fragile than roof prisms (straight barrels,) but man, are they sharp, bright and inexpensive. In roof prisms look for phase-coated BaK-4 prisms with silver or dielectric mirrors. Thus outfitted, East or West, you'll have the best views in the woods. - Gun, ammo and optics expert Ron Spomer hosts Winchester World of Whitetail and is the creator of the app Everything Whitetail. Learn more at wwwronspomeroutdoors. com. V,/ I deeranddeerhunting.com DEER HUNTERS EQUIPMENT 2016 I 13,_