The key to finding good bucks

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freedivr2

Guest
I don't know if this will even make sense to some or most of you guys, because I'm sure many of you are "the lucky ones" who have the knack for this. But I think there's either a technique or just a knack for spotting deer that are hidden to other folks eyes for some reason. Over the years I've hunted, I've definitely gotten better at finding deer with the unaided eye or when glassing an area, but no matter how much I glass or look, I still can't spot a deer on a hillside as quickly as some other guys I hunt with.

I know to look for parts of a deer when I'm glassing, and that most things are vertical in a forest and horizontal deer are easy to spot because of that. Still, I can't just look at a hillside and spot deer instantly like other guys can.

My question is....why is that? Anyone even know what I'm pokin at here?
 
I think it comes down to time on a task... i have agreat eye for looking for deer especially when I know the area and am familiar with where to look.... other times I see deer far away better than up close. My dad can't spot deer for chit! I always have to talk him through it. On the up side i always am looking and seeing game including while driving down the interstate!!! Don't know how many times my wife has poked me and said watch the road i know you see a deer or elk, but I want to get where were going!!!:)
 
I grew up hunting and trapping with my dad and at an early age I learned quickly that spotting the animal before it spots you increases your odds. I have hunted with people with no hunting experience and some with a little and I believe that those of us who grow up doing it are better at spotting animals of all kinds. I didn't get to hunt Muleys until I was in my early 20's and we were in Nevada, right off the bat i noticed the huge white rump was easy to locate in that High Desert country. Also I grew up hunting Black Tail in very dense cover and you learn to see not just look.

I have two children and I started teaching them to spot animals when we are out in the woods and driving back and forth to Grandma's. I play games with them, i.e. $.10 for every doe and $.25 for every buck. I know this my 8 and 5 yr old can out SEE most people already.
 
its simple after you have trained your eyes to look in only the high pecentage areas. hunting open country mule deer by Dwight Shue. he disscusses this very topic and shares the lessons.
 
Although I have hunted since I was a small child I never considered myself exceptional at spotting game either. A few years back I hunted in Africa with a native tracker that was exceptional, where all the trackers are good. He couldn't speak english at all Xhosa being the language he spoke but I learned more from him in 2 weeks that all my previous time spotting game.
I have read all the books about about looking for parts of animals not the whole and shades and all the other advice and never really put it together until he started showing me ears, eyeballs, noses and other parts of animals in the bush. I think since that practical experience I continue to improve even though my vision is worse. Na Hoy hadn't ruined his eyes learning to read or watching tv or a computer screen, perhaps his best advice through an intrepreter I think about it often was "You must learn to look not just appear to look."
 
I've spent alot of time in the high county looking for deer and elk and I feel i'm pretty good at it. but a few years ago I went out in the desert with a old friend and I could hardly spot anything while he could look into a basin and right off say "there are some deer". My point is you got to spend alot of time in a certain type of country and learn how to find the animals there. Also I thing you have to have the spotting obsession. If you are not into looking for animals you will not put out as much effort.

just my thoughts
 
I know exactly what your talking about. I have friends that can spot a deer at 4-500 yds with no problem. Some guys just have a knack for it. I believe the more time you spend in the hills looking at deer, the better you will become. When I'm glassing I have no problem finding them. I'm still working on the naked eye thing.

Mike
 
I agree with huffmad knowing where to look in the type of terrain your hunting is probably the most important part of trying to spot game. I feel I am very good at spotting game in the high country but in the desert terrain I have a really tough time.
 
I think you can definitely improve your ability to spot game by spending more time doing it, but I think there is a lot more to it than practise.
I think some of us have superior vision than others. I think there are guys with ultra-vision if you call it that. Others may be hampered with contacts, glasses, cataracts, or fuzzy vision. No way they can spot game with the guys with the eyes!
Another piece to the puzzle is the glass you look through. The clearer your optics are the easier it is to see what you are looking for. There is a reason that $300 binos are not as clear as $2000 binos. If your time is worth anything at all, it would be to your best interest to buy the clearest optics you can possibly afford. Your eyes will thank you for it.

I've guided lots of deer and elk hunters in the last 15 years, and I have only had one client that amazed me with his spotting abilities. He was the first guy that I've hunted with that spotted deer that I hadn't already seen.
Since then I have made friends with another guy that is unreal with his spotting. It's no wonder he has killed 6 bucks over 200" in the last four years.
Sure you can become "good", maybe even "really good", but I think it's like any sport. The great athletes are typically born with something extra special to start with, then they put everything they have into it to become superstars.
Just hope you were born with the eyes of a hawk, that way you can see the difference between Japanese optics, and Austrian optics!
 
Part 2
Another key to finding game on a hillside is to make sure you are looking on a hillside that has game on it! I used to glass places that a deer wouldn't use if it was the last place on earth to bed.
Some quick tips on glassing would be to look for deer in spots they are likely to be. For example: On a warm September day in the high country you would need to look in the shady areas behind the trees and rocks. No deer in it's right mind will bed directly in the sunlight on a warm day. The sun moves and a deer might bed in the shade, then the sun moves and the deer will be in the sunlight for a short while before he gets up and moves, but you should not waste time glassing where a deer won't be. That cut your glassing right to the chase because there are only so many spots that are shady.
The next thing is the wind. If it's windy and I mean really windy, the deer will bed in protected areas. Draws, crevices, cliffs, thick tree stands. It is a waste of time to glass open areas in these conditions.
Same thing on bitter cold days. Deer will be in less windy and more sunny areas trying to stay warmer.
This is the part of glassing that you can improve on with practice. You can learn where to glass, and where not to glass. When to glass, and when not to glass. What time of day to glass the timber pockets, and when to glass the feeding spots in the avalanche chutes. Experience will teach these lessons if you are willing to learn. I think that is why most people say if you practice more you will learn how to glass and see. Lots of guys glass, but only a few really "see".
 
Another thing to do is look for things out of place and that look like it doesnt belong. Stop and glass over it. I drive people crazy as I stop a ton while looking for animals. I have even stopped and looked over the same rock or sagebrush or tree year after year. Dont look for the obvious. To many think to see a deer it will be broadsie standing on a hill. Not true. Train yourself to look for the non obvious. Legs ears butts horns or whatever.It will come natural over time. My son after 2 yrs is starting to pick these things out now. Let your predator instinct take over. It will help out.
If your glassing from a vantage point sit and glass over and over. Very good reads in alot of magazines and books I have read. I have found that I find alot of animals when I look over and over area's. The little lulls in hills while they are feeding up or out away. Do not overlook any area. I have overlooked area's and when I went to cut threw jumped animals because I failed to look there. Animals will be where there is less pressure and most hunters dont look in areas with little cover or open area's. Hence less pressure. I have seen lots of hunters do this and pass threw area's where I find animals and because it is not thick and nasty there could not possibly be a animal there so they wont hunt it. I have given out this advice many times but people dont take it. My biggest animals I have found has been in this terrain. Dont get me wrong there are good ones in the thick and nasty stuff to.
Good luck in the upcoming year.


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I agree with a lot of what your guys have said. I think it is a learned skill by practice and time in the field. I have a rancher friend in eastern Montana and we will be driving down the highway at 75 mph (edited for content) and he will say "there is a deer". I ask him to stop and look and the damn thing is about as far away as it could be and still tell its a deer. Usually he will tell me its a buck or doe at the same time. It is amazing, but he has lived there on a ranch his entire life and deer are in his backyard. It is truly amazing.

Rich
 
My experience has been 90% of hunters just really don't look but half arsed scan a area. I will glass it quickly both vertical and horizontal edge to edge, then slow, then slower, then barely moving, switch to the spotting scope, do the same thing, and repeat for hours and hours from the same spot. Repeat day after day. Oh buy some good glass costing at least $1000 and preferably at least $1500. But spending $1500 does not make you see the animals just gives you a better ability. Yes the 400 glass is good but not even close in reality. Then spend more then one week a year doing it, and did I mention hours and hours LOOKING at the same rocks and trees for days.
 
Lotsa good replys here. I like what this guy said, "My point is you got to spend alot of time in a certain type of country and learn how to find the animals there. Also I thingk you have to have the spotting obsession. If you are not into looking for animals you will not put out as much effort."

I agree with him 100%. There is no substitute for time in the field and motivation. It's like fishing, if you put your favorite lure on you catch more fish because you trust it, and youre motivated. You have to spend the time, in the terrain and spotting animals. On the otherhand, good trackers/guides can, with very little time in the particular area pick it up.

I think starting kids young to look for animals is a good idea, I hope it works for my kids anyhow!

I think anyone that can see can get better. I have vision in only my right eye and am color blind and if you think I have trouble spotting game, just ask hoofsandhorns of a few others that go out with me, if I can spot game. . . I'm not spewing, I'm just saying that it takes practice and you have to be motivated. . .
 
Great post! I believe there are a few key qualities needed to glass and find game effectively and consistently.

Those things are Desire, Confidence, Patience and Persistence.

Desire to find what you are looking for.

Confidence in your ability and the area that you are glassing.

Patience to pick things apart slowly.

Persistence to do it all again and again until you find what you're looking for.

NvrEnuf
 
NvrEnuf, you nailed it. If they were there once, they will be there again and you have to have the confidence and patience to keep looking. Good eyes do help. I can spot animals very well,but I had a guide in Mexico my first year that showed me a grande that he spotted with his natural eye, that I could only see with a spotter. Blew me away. Those boys down there can really see.
 
Free, I think the key to spotting game is always move very slowly with your head up (not looking at were your walking) and knowing where to look. Edges of timber, draws, just below the top of a ridge, just below a shale cliff, Follow game trails with your eyes. Most important GLASS, GLASS, GLASS.....Good game spotters are alway alert and looking.
 
Here's the short and sweet version that I have used with some degree of success.

Think about where a "good buck"(mature mulie) is going to escape during hunting season for the five to 8 years it takes for him to get big and old. This probably isn't going to be near easy acess spots. You can glass all you want in a spot where there isn't a big buck living and guess what? You'll never see one there.

Consider weather, topography, seasonal movement, hunter pressure(number one factor on heavily hunted public land and should not be discounted) and this spot must have cover for security and good feed reasonably close.

Think about how you could hunt that spot without blowing him out and realize that many mature bucks are almost completely nocturnal. Carefully evaluate how you will access that spot using obvious considerations.

Utilize all the intangibles that make some hunters very consistant killers almost every year. (getting up early, staying late, glassing with high quality, high resolution optics etc. etc. and not being a fat, wuss who can't go every day of a one week season one week per year)

Realize that hunting is a learned skill and just like anything, the more you do it the more you learn from all the screw-ups and excuses that you've experienced.

Glassing is not rocket science. No really, anyone can do it. All it is is looking through binoculars. I don't grid, I have no organized method. I look through my binoculars at places I think might hold a big buck based on years on experience, much of it with not so happy endings. Spotting game is a talent and a learned skill and having the persistant dedication to stay focused on that task at hand takes mental toughness.

If you don't have a pair of top of the line optics like Swarovski and Leica, you are SERIOUSLY handicapping yourself.

Leave your quad at home. If you can ride it there, someone else already has.

There's my .02$ so take it for what its worth but don't think for a second that finding big bucks is just about spotting them with $1,500 binos. Its a complete gameplan and focus.
 
LAST EDITED ON Dec-21-06 AT 11:19AM (MST)[p]Wow, lots of great thoughts here. Thanks to all of you for posting. My original post/thought was basically about why some people can spot game on a hill with the naked eye real easy, where other people can't spot the game as easy, but the responses given have provided a lot more than I'd asked for.

I think a little of being able to spot may be God given great eyesight. Maybe those folks with 20/15 have an edge on the rest of us. In fact, I've been considering getting that lasik eye surgery to improve my 20/30 vision because I'd like to see better than I do and can. I'm pretty sure I'm gunna go for it in the next few months, and I'll let you know if that helps me spot more game or spot em quicker or not.

A P.S. to Kingfish; OK dude, how in the heck did you know that I look down at the trail more than I wish I did?? That was a great comment, 'cause I'm sure we've all very likely missed some good buck because we were looking somewhere else while he pulled the sneak on us....

Lots of good glassing advice. And the same old thing applies to glassing as it does to most things in life; use the best equipment, work hard at it, and you will reap the rewards that you earn. Invest time in glassing. Too many guys take a cursory look at a hillside (I'm guilty) and don't see game simply because they give up too early on it.

Thanks again to all of you from myself and anyone else who's learned something here, and any more thoughts out there please add em on.......

And Merry Christmas to all of you guys. I hope this is your best Christmas ever!
 
Since the question was "the key to finding good bucks" I went with that thought instead of glassing techniques because technique is less important than lots of time behind the glass in a good spot.
 
Buckspy, you've got the mind of an engineer, dude. You're exactly right. I should've titled this subject something more like "the key to spotting deer easily with the naked eye". My error in my haste to get this post up yesterday during a break at work.
 
In addition to and related to quite of few of the answers is to divide the area you are looking at into small windows. Don't scan through an area, but rather pick a window and look at it. Then move to the next window and look at it and so on. I use this method with the naked eye or with binoculars/spotting scope.
 
After many posts that I read here I can't help thinking to myself...
Wow, I'm dumber for having read that.
This thread however I can gladly say, I'm smarter for having read it, thanks for all the good advise :)

The only comment I might add is when you set up, look close for movement first with out your glass, bucks can sneak off right under your nose if you start by throwing up your bino's & looking far away.
 
You were just as smart before you read this one B_F_E. You just didn't know it until all of the glassing "techniques" were exposed.

A little known glassing technique not covered so far is called the "shed hunting pattern." You start out in one spot and start glassing in increasing larger circles until you have covered it all or collapsed with vertigo and total eyestrain induced dizziness. At that point you could care less what is out there.
 
BFE, Great point. I did that exact thing a few years ago. In my hurry to glass lots of country I didn't look 100 yards below me? After a good hour of glassing and glassing I looked straight down in front of me and not more then 100 yards were two very repectable bucks bedded and looking straight at me. They had been there the whole time and because I never made eye contact they felt safe. I was looking for something bigger so I eased up and out and let them lay.
 
My favorite glassin technique is to glass the mountain sides while bouncing down the rough logging roads. Have a buddy drive Logger Speed, crack open a couple 6 packs of beer and start glassing with those expensive Tasco Wallmart specials. Watch out for the cross-ditches though. They can really give ya scope eye if ya ain't to careful. ;)
 
Or you could just follow BUCKSPY around and shoot the 190-200 inch bucks he passes on. Mike, if you ever need a midget to pack your scope and a couple beers just holler. I'll check with AZbedroombuckkiller and make sure it qualifys as ethical.
 
Great advice guys, and I believe you all have good points. I have a few to add however, I think that spotting deer with the naked eye is a gift, I think spotting deer through optics however can be learned pretty easily over the course of lots of time afield. I know that when driving with my buddies, they almost always see deer before I do. However when we pull over and start using the binos, I'm almost always the first to spot deer.

When you set up, as stated above, look close and scan away from you. I glance over the area with my naked eye looking for movement, then settle in with the binos. I do a 'rough' scan of likely spots for deer and if that fails, I then start to 'grid' the area. I start on the left and low, then glass straight up, (or follow the lay of the land) then when I reach the skyline, move a 'frame' to the right and glass down. I find WAY more deer this way. Also training yourself to look for the right things is important. And once you've scanned the area and maybe seen a doe or two, do it again going even slower. How many times have you spotted a doe, then 2 minutes later looked back at her and seen a couple more deer?

Another thing I like to do is relocate. Once i've glassed an area over REAL well, I like to move maybe 50-100 yards and setup again. Seeing things from a different angle really helps if you aren't having success at first.

I also believe that having $1500 glass isn't as important you some make it out to be. Having good quality glass is very important, but I've never felt that when glassing next to a buddy with topend glass that I'm handicapped because I'm only using $200 binos. The only thing he has over me is that he can see better in low light conditions, I'm talking EARLY morning and LATE evening.

Michael
"What I could do, I was doing, and that was simply putting my butt on the line for my country, the country that I loved, so that all the protestors and the academics and the liberal intelligentsia back home could enjoy the right to protest against people like me, the hated middleclass." --Gary R. Smith, US Special Forces
 
It all boils down to 3 things... practice. practice, practice! The idea that expensive glass is going to help is about as absurd as saying that a $5,000 rifle is going to make you a better hunter. B.s.! All of that crap is just to impress themselves and other hunters!!! I have never owned a pair of binocs that cost over $150.00 and I will bet that I can out spot just about anyone. If you need such expensive optics go get your eyes fixed first. A good scope is a must but paying over a grand is overkill, IMO. Hell, what am I talking about, I dont even carry optics in the field. Where I usually hunt you cant see more than 100 yds at a time. It has been my experience that most guys with the really expensive set ups arent good hunters. They like to sit and glass and shoot at critters from several hundred yards instead of actually working and getting close for a kill.
Eric
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Good glasses will allow you to glass longer because of less eye strain. I do have a pair of 15x Ziess and they are awesome for long range glassing. My 20yr old leupolds only 185$ are still great on my eyes.
 
Silly Free, it's easy. All you gotta do is come huntin with me more often, LOL.

I'm not expert but, I like to hunt open country. Get a good comfortable glassing setup (tripod, binos, spotter, butt pad) and concentrate on those North facing slopes. Spend some time and pick apart the shady areas looking for bedded deer. Try to stay at it all day (hard to do when/if you're not seeing much). Bucks will get up to stretch every few hours. When they do it is easy to pick them off. You'd never notice this back in camp. Lastly, you gotta hunt areas where there are big deer. For the most part, asking for big bucks in OTC units and easy to draw zones is asking too much.
 
"I have never owned a pair of binocs that cost over $150.00 and I will bet that I can out spot just about anyone."

Are you really serious Eric the Polarbear?

That sounds strangely similar to claims made by someone who's handle rhymes with AZbutthumper.
 
I am dead serious! To me it all boils down to experience and time spent in the woods. I use to spend 200+ days a year in the woods or on the water. After a while you almost instinctively know what to look for. I know too many folks that competely rely on their optics and cannot spot an animal with their bare eyes to save their life.
Eric
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Polarbear, Yest time in the field is a huge advantage. I have yet to have a person using cheap "$150.00 glass say they could see just as good with my EL's. Not trying to offend anyone but no way possible from scientific to practical can anyone see better through cheap binos to top end binos. Enough said.
 
I also think the high end glass is not really worth it, I have used every level of glass, and from my experience the glass in the $400 - $500 range gives you good quality that is far ahead of the cheaper glass, and is close enough to the upper ranges. when you start talking about $1,500 to $2000 glass, I do not think you are getting anywhere close to 4 or 5 times the quality of a $400 pair.

I think there are a lot of people who go out and plunk down that kind of money because in all of the mule deer "how to books", that is something they always say.

after you have seen enough bucks and get good at field judging them, you don't need perfect glass to tell if they are worth someting going after.

the most important part of finding deer through your bino's, IMO, is simply knowing where to look and being persistent about it. The key to finding deer in big open areas is knowing the small areas of micro-habitat that deer want to be in, within the larger context of the area. That is the key. You then concentrate your efforts in those areas, while still occasionally, looking in all of the areas.

i do think though that some people have better vision/clairty/whatever than some others, I have seen that with a few people.
 
Muleyguy is right I think, any of the optics in the $350-$500 are close enough to the higher end optics, and are substantially higher quality than say the $150 binos.

Eric, I believe that you are correct in you being able to spot deer with the best of them, but I believe that to be in the type of country that YOU mostly hunt in. In any distance under 400 yards, I think the $150 binos would work well (I know, I've used a set of those $150 binos for the last two years). But get out to anything past that in big open country, then I think you're handicapping yourself. However I do think that spending anything over $500 for a set of binos is a "waste" when you could take that extra money, and put it into a decent spotter. However if you got the $$$, then why not spend it on those optics???

Michael
"What I could do, I was doing, and that was simply putting my butt on the line for my country, the country that I loved, so that all the protestors and the academics and the liberal intelligentsia back home could enjoy the right to protest against people like me, the hated middleclass." --Gary R. Smith, US Special Forces
 
low light situations are exactly where the top end bino's show their stuff over the others. It seems like alot of guys will spend the money on the gun/scope but have a problem with spending more for bino's that will last your lifetime. To each his own, but if higher end bino's really do help find deer/elk etc better in the morning/evening (assuming you already know how to find deer and the glass is just improving your ability) especially in low light situations, you should look into buying a pair...........Allen........
 
Tell you what I went through 4 or 5 pair cheap optics before getting some SLC's, I DONT know how I made it. LOL If I lost them I'd go plunk down $1500 bucks for another pair. When I look through a buddies walmart special it's a world of difference.
 
LAST EDITED ON Dec-23-06 AT 06:53PM (MST)[p] Try glassing for 6+ hours through that "just as good as glass"
You'll feel like someone threw sand in your eyes.
My Kmart driver is just as good as your ping also.
 
LAST EDITED ON Dec-23-06 AT 08:02PM (MST)[p]Ok, maybe I should clarify something. First off, I wont sit on my a$$ and glass for 6+ hours at a time. You cant "glass" sign like tracks, poop, rub lines etc. I like to actually hunt the animal and not just watch a vast open area hoping for one to stick it's head out. I realise that is the way that some have to do it, but not me. I rarely hunt open areas where you can see more than a few hundred yards. I do, however, hunt very wooded and brushy areas. Even the spots that are several hundred yards across are covered with jack firs and brush. What I am saying is that I am pretty damn good at finding critters in jungles, even several hundred yards across without the aide of expensive gear. I will admit that better glass is called for when viewing at ranges over 600 yds. I just cant see much difference between the $300/$600 stuff as compared to the $1000+. If that is your bag fine, but i do very well with so called cheap crap. Some of you will get a hoot out of this but for the past 20 years, I have been using 2 pair of Perma Focus binocs that I bought at Costco. One is 10x50 and the other 7x35. I think that I paid $100 for both. Haahaaa.. I can see where you might "need" some high dollar glass if you are trying to spot one in the wide open from a mile and a half away, it just aint my kind of hunting. The reason, most of those guys are more apt to take shots at much farther distances than they are qualified for. IMO.
Eric
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I hunt sheep more than anything so glassing all day long from one or two spots is not uncommon. I spotted a group of sheep at almost 6 miles this year with my leica 15's. Cant do that with walmart glass, Sorry didnt mean to piss anyone off.
 
Take any person period and have them look through 500.00 glass then through 1500.00 glass outside your local sporting goods store at any time during the day. Every single one of them will tell you the higher end glass is better. So please don't say they cheap glass is just as good because it's not and everyone knows it. Now it is up to each idividual to decide if it is worth the extra cost. To me if 1500 glass helps at 6 miles then it will help at 6yds. The laws of physics says the quality is the same regardless of range. I bought my EL's because they were the best that I tried. I have a pair of 10x42 Gold Rings that are dang good also better then my Zeiss Classics.
 
PB,
I too hunt the thick crap and I've found my binos are even more of an asset in there. Sure it's up close and personal but when you are sneekin and peakin, those binos can really save your ass. Things the naked eyes think are nothing can suddenly get up and bolt on ya. Catching that leg or ear in the thick stuff before they are on to ya is key.
Other than early season hunting above treeline, I don't get much for open country hunting. My hunting is all timber hunting but I can do small scale spot and stalk. If you look at a timbered hillside, you can find those small natural openings and that is what I'll glass. A deer might appear one second and be gone the next. Chances are, he's not hiding, but he's just out of your dirrect view due to terrain and tree. If you saw him long enough to know he's worth a closer view, then you work your way through the timber sneekin and peakin as you go.
 
I just wanted to put in another plug for the quality optics.
I used to be just like some of you guys with the cheap ass binoculars. I went through 6 different pairs of $200-$300 dollar Pentax, Nikon, Leupold, K-mart, etc, and everyone of them ended up with double vision. I could look at an object and there would be two of them. ( this is the key to finding twice as many bucks!)
My guide buddies would always ask me why I didn't get a good pair of binos. I would always look at them and say: "I kill bigger bucks than you, and my binos are obviously plenty good enough to get the job done."
I guided a man from Phoenix in '98 and after he killed a 34" 204" gross mule deer, he gave me his Swarovski 10x50 binoculars for a tip. I am here to tell you that from that day forward I have officially seen the light! I can see more, I can glass longer in the evening, and earlier in the morning, and I can pick out deer at ranges that cheaper binoculars will not allow you to discern the difference between a deer's ear, and a tree branch. I have since bought the 15x56's, and the Leica 10x42's, and the Leica 10x42 Geovids. All are premium glass, and allow me to maximize my effectiveness while glassing.

My wife and I went on a hunt in Colorado this year, and I wanted her to have her own binoculars. (I hate sharing mine anyway!) We went to Sportsman's Warehouse on the way and instead of buying the Leica's or Swarovski's, I wanted to only spend $300 bucks. I looked through every pair of $300 range binos, and I just couldn't bring myself to waste the money on them. I finally found a pair that looked really clear to me, the Brunton Epoch's. I paid about $450 or so for them, and they are nice, but I can still see an obvious difference between them and my Geovids. Once you've used the best it's hard to go back to the lower quality optics. I would rather be beat with a club than have to glass with lesser quality binoculars.
I know, this still won't convince anyone who loves their K-marts, and Tasco's, but that's ok with me. I would rather see a guy glassing me up with a pair of any kind of binoculars, than looking at me through a rifle scope!
Deer be dead
 
personally, for me the argument isn't about the k-mart specials vs the top end; I will certainly stipulate that it is not very enjoyable looking through very low end bino's. And, I will certainly stipulate that $1500 binos are better than $500 binos.

my main point is that for $500, you can get a pretty decent pair of binos that will spot deer 99% as well as the top end ones.

most of the arguments have been about comfort and low light situations. Comfort is certainly important, and the low light argument is valid, but low light glassing isn't nearly as important as some will make it out to be.

I guess my main point is that people seem to think that $1500 bino's are going to suddenly improve your deer spotting abilities, and that is not true at all. Some bino's are so horrible that it would hinder your ability. But, not the $500 ones, they will see deer just fine.

I think the issue about comfort is a very vaild one, and if you have the resources and/or that is really important to you, than by all means get the $1500 glass. no argument from me that they are of higher quality.

the point of the thread, though, was keys to finding good bucks with your bino's, and I don't think you need $1500 bino's to do that; I think there are other factors way more important.
 
I am in full agreement that good glass is important and a pleasure to use. But having said that, not everyone is in a situation to afford 1500.00 glass. I have slowly improved my gear over the years but it is not the key to succesfully finding bucks.

I will say that there is probably a minimum quality one should expect to spend when starting out, but certainly spending a small fortune on glass is not essential.

I did hear one interesting rule of thumb once.... Whatever you spend on a new rifle, you should spend the same for a scope. And whatever your total was for both rifle and scope is what you should spend on quality binoculars. Not sure I agree with that or not.
 
Eric: you are probably right in the area you are hunting, I grew up hunting that jungle and know what you mean. If you are down hunting other stuff or hunting big country though, optics really come into play like in Mexico, the Kaibab or High country in Colorado. Thats where a tripod and good glass really makes a difference.......... Thanks, Allen Taylor......
 
Here is an example of I believe what this post is about. I was out glassing several years ago and I had spotted some deer and I was watching and a guy drove up and asked what I was looking at. Told him a buck and some doe's bedded in the sagebrush. Well I was using my Pentax $300 bino's and this guy pulls out his Swaro $1800 bino's. He looks threw his and cannot find them bedded there. Well he hands me his bino's and I find them right away. I tell him where and he still cannot find them. I have them in my spotting scope he looks threw them and see's them. He pulls up his bino's and then finally finds them. The doe is bedded right in front of a sagebrush and buck up next to her and sevral others threw out the brush. They where in open sight out about 1200 yds. So the key is learning to spot deer. High dollar items do not make finding things easier. If this was true I would go buy a high dollar rifle for hunting because I can not shoot out that far and if I hit anything it is pure luck. So if the point is to finding bigger bucks from high dollar bino's I will spend the money and go get a pair so I can find bigger bucks. If it makes me find bigger bucks than what I have seen to date then the world is in trouble.
My philosphy is go with what you can afford. Good luck all.



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Muleyman, I disagree with your statement 1500 binos will not help you spot deer any better. I have a good friend who is tighter then the bark on a tree. He shot and used cheap stuff on everything he did. He had a pair of Nikon binos that he continually swore by were "good enough" and used them for years. I was constantly trying to get him to try and use better quality equipment. This was not a money issue, but more along the lines of he really did not know better.
I finally took him out with me just to prove a point., and we were glassing a canyon for deer. I intentionally did not mention where the deer were. He said he did not see any deer. I then let him use my 10x50 Steiner's and he saw the same deer I saw. He was absolutey amazed at the difference. I asked him the number of points on a couple bucks, and he got close with the Steiners but was really off on the size. I then let him use my Zeiss and he actually admitted he "has been a idiot".
He then went out and bought a pair of Leica Geovid (sp) and dumped his 150 range finder and 150 binos.
 
Have kids so you can take them out hunting and fishing. Finance your equipment if you have to. I have made payments on a lot of my gear. You do it for your car, home, etc., might as well do it for your hobby. Cabelas offers no interest for 6 months on a lot of their upper end glass. Supersider I agree with your basic premise about big bucks, but good glass in some situations will help you make the decision easier.
 
LAST EDITED ON Dec-24-06 AT 01:22PM (MST)[p]Its not about the money as much as its about the time. Hard to take an 8 month old into the field. I'm sure her first buck will be my trophy of a lifetime. For her first b-day she gets a preference point.
 
I guess that supersider34 made the point that I intended. For the most part, it is the dude behind the glass. A $2,000 spotting scope wont do you a bit of good if you dont spend the time in the woods learning what to actually look for. I agree that in some cases the higher end optics are best, as in the case of hunting Mexico or high in the Rockies etc., but for the majority of us "average guys" they are overkill. IMO. What I am getting at is expensive gear dosent nessesarily make you a better hunter, time in the field does. As for the original post, some guys have it naturally and some have to rely on tools, which are you?

By the way Bura.... When are you getting back up here? I saw the biggest 4x5 blacktail that I have ever seen the other night on the west side of Bush Mt. in Tumwater. Right in the city limits!


Eric
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Deerbedead, is spot on with his advice. I have hunted with him and his ability to spot game is incredible. The first year I hunted with him, I made the mistake of looking through his glass. 2 years and over $3500 bucks later, I have owned and tried it all. Swaroski and Leica are dang hard to beat.However, as has been said, owning good glass is only half the battle. You really need to learn were to look as deerbedead mentioned in his earlier post.
One thing that has helped me spot more game is mounting my Leica Duovids to a tripod and than cranking them up to 15 power. I am now spotting more game than I have ever dreamed of. Infact, I know if I am in a basin and a portion of a deer is visible from my vantage point I will eventually spot him.

Mike
 
I get up alot earlier then most amd am in Prime Deer Habitat in the dark. I set up on a high point and start glassing for deer in the dark!!! Yes in the dark!!! I use Swarovski EL 10x42's. I know this thread was about spotting deer BUT you are only as good as your equipment!!! You will never do this with cheap optics!!! I hunt alot of steep open country and I will find a game trail and follow it looking for Bucks heading to bed. I start at the top and work my way down. When I do find some deer I always keep track of how many deer are in each group. I see it all the time. Their is six in that bunch and seven in that bunch and then you go back and check them and now there is seven in the first bunch and 8 in the second. For what ever reason you didn't see them all the first time. Behind a tree,bedded ,behind a rock,behind sagebrush. Good Luck
 
No one has brought up how cool you look with the expensive ones around your neck in all of your hunting photos.

No really I really liked all of the good tips earlier in the post.
I agree with the fact that the more expensive glass do help in the low light situations. I just replaced my Baush and Lombs with the Cabela's Euro's and I absolutly love it. What a difference it made on this years hunt. At the end of the day my eyes didn't feel like someone had ripped them out of my sockets and stomped them into the dirt and then put them back in. Plus the lifetime warrenty lets me feel like I won't have to ever buy 3 or 4 $400 pair of glasses. My .02
 
I will tell you this my grandfather is color blind and he can spot a deer better than anyone I know. He can spot deer and I cant see them unless I look through my binoculars.
 

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