Hunting Binoculars

Happy New Year Everybody.

I searched several pages but was not able to find a post on binoculars.
I am looking to buy a pair for hunting only,I wear glasses so a good eye releif is needed,light weight,etc... I hunt mostly in northern A.B with the occasional trip for antelope.
I am not rich so the top end stuff is out of the question.$350.00 tops.I don;t put a lot of trust in internet reviews.Rather hear it from real life everyday long time users of they ones they own.
Thanks for your input and looking forward to your opinions.

Nikon makes good glass for around the price...you can get into a pair of decent ones for that price. Baush and Laumb is another compnay to look at, as well as Minox or Pentax. Take a look in person and see what you like, and you'll make a better decision.

Cameraland in New York is a great shop for internet buying of optics. Doug (owner) is the best guy to deal with and runs a HELL of a business and keeps his prices very very competitive. He's worth talking to and can be found at the 24hourcampfire site.

I bought my Nikon Monarch 10 x 42 Realtree camo binos on ebay for $365
canadian, shipping included. My hunting partner bought the 8 x 42 model, and we are both very impressed. The 8 x 42 is just a little bit better to avoid
shake. They have retractable eye cups, which should work well for people
who wear glasses. Binoculars Canada has some good info on their site.

BigBull

P.S. I highly recommend a good quality binocular harness. They keep the binos close to your chest and ready for action!

I had a pair of Nikon Monarchs 8 x 40's up until November, lost them somehow hunting. They were a pretty decent binocular for the price. I went to local hunting store in town and bought a pair of Bushnell Excursions 8 x 42's. Binoculars were fine, accually quite liked them. A week later I was looking through Wholesale Sports catalog, and the same Excursions were selling for $179.95. Here I just paid $400.00 from local store, what a rip off that was. So I took them back, showed him the price at Wholesale Sports, and battled with him on this, but I did manage to get my money back for them. Like what a ripoff, sure I like to support local, but when the price is like over twice as much, what you going to do. When I think back, and look at the stuff bought from there, and see what I can pay elsewhere, shopping local to me is not worth it. But enough of that and back to the subject. So my point is the Bushnells Excursions were a good cheap binocular for a pretty low price. After I got my money back for them I drove to Lethbridge to buy the Bushnells again, then once there I decided to try a bunch of different brands to see what I really liked. I tried some Leica's, Swarovski, Stiener's, Leupold's, & Bushnells. I Ended up purchasing a pair of Leupold Windriver Olympics 8 x 42's for $460.00. Honestly I couldnt tell that much of a difference with them or the cheap Bushnells compared to Swarovski's priced at $2100.00. Sure they are for sure a better glass, but ill admit im rough on stuff, and just cant justify spendind that much on binoculars. As well I wear glasses, and the Leupolds & Excursions had good eye relief for myself.

SouthAlta

I have never looked through Nikons but I have seen Leupold and would sugest to save up over the summer if you can't afford them now. It wouldn't be much more to get the goold ring bino. They are really good.

i would recommend that you dont get the leupold 'wind rivers' i use a pair of bushnell legend 8x26 that i found by rocky mountain house. great little goggles. i also have a pr of swaro in 10-42, which really spoils you
PS if you know who'se they are and can identify them, color and approxiamtae location, I'll give them back to you

Varmitr curious as to why you would not recomend Leuopold binoculars. Have you had or heard problems with them.

SouthAltaHunter

I would avoid Steiners, I bought a brand new pair, they failed and they would not honor the warrenty.

Talked with Doug at Cameraland in N.Y. this morning. Was thinking about the Ziess Conquest or the Bushnell Elites. Doug pointed me towards the Minox HG 8.5x43s. In his opinion the Minox HGs have better glass and are built better than my two choices and they were cheaper too.

I have a pair of bushnell legends-8x42 and i like them, however i was out with my uncle ths year and he had a pair of nikon monarch-8x42, and i have to admit that i liked the nikon glass better then the bushnells, and the nikons were much lighter.

But after all everones eyes are different, so go out and try a few pairs out to see what YOU like and what works for YOUR price range.

my 2 cents

I'd second dealing with Doug at Camerland NY. This past fall I bought a pair of Leica 8x42 Trinovids through him. Good service and prices (even with the exchange rate). He deals with quite a few different brands and price ranges of binos.

I have a pair of bushnells, there large and camo and i believe are 10X. They carry them at wholesale sports and i think i paid around $200. There really clear and make spotting easy. I use them for sheep and have spotted single animals up to 5 km away. For deer there awesome as ears/antler tips stick out really well. I'd reccomend them. Can't remember the exact model but i was reallly impressed with most of the high end bushnell gear, just as clear as the Leopolds and other brands the guy was trying to sell me. My favorite part was they pick up light really well in dark conditions (early, late, deep forest) and weren't as heavy as they looked.

IF YOU CAN FIND A PAIR OF KARL ZEISS EDF 7-40 BUY THEM I GOT MINE ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO AT BARTS IN G.P. BEST GLASS I HAVE SEEN .

Hi:

Go to Wholesale sports in Edmonton or Calgary, or Bashaw sports (in Bashaw, it is worth the drive) and look through a selection of binoculars they have in your price range. Do Not, I repeat, Do Not look at higher priced glass than you can afford, because you will want the higher price glass. Generally speaking, the more you pay, the better the image sharpness, clarity, brightness, etc, etc. As a result, you will drive yourself crazy trying to find more glass for the same price. Pick a range of binos you can afford, spend some time in the store looking through them at detailed pictures (or outside if they will let you) and buy them. Check out binocularscanada.com they have some great sales if you know what you are looking for. But in all fairness support the store where you spent 3 hours looking at binoculars. They deserve our support for carrying the inventory and letting us look.

Hoopi

OK, got my new Minox HGs from Camerland today. Cost me $820 by the time everything was said and done. If I had gotten these from SIR they would of cost me $950. I would like to shop in Canada but if I can keep alittle extra coin jingling in my jeans I'll shop where the best deals are.

I am going to try a pair of Browning 10x42 this year. Dad bought them last fall and they seemed excellent. Alot clearer than the bushnell legends and a bit under 400$

I have what guidehunt recommends...Carl-Zeiss edf 7x40's. Best I've used. They used to carry them at deutscheoptik.com I think. Might be out of your price range though.

Buy a pair of Nikon 10-22X50 Action Zoom for less than 150$
They are excellent for hunting...I know, when hunting there in fall, guide kept grabbin my bino's cuz they were so much better than his...buy these and ya won't go wrong.....and the zoom feature alows that little extra reach when judging an animal.
Carb