Birding binoculars vs. hunting binoculars (1 Viewer)

[justabirdwatcher]

I'm both an avid hunter and an avid bird watcher (wildlife watcher, really) and often read here and elsewhere about the different needs of each group when it comes to selecting binoculars. It seems most feel that hunters need a higher power binocular than birders do.

I've found just the opposite to be true.

For 20+ years I have selected 8x32's for my primary hunting binocular. Maybe because I most often hunt with archery equipment, and it's common for the game I hunt to be within 100 yards of me. Often, I'm searching through branches and leaves to identify an animal that's no more than 50 yards from me. Not too much unlike birding I guess.

But identifying the sex of a deer at 50 yards, and trying to decide whether a bird is a grasshopper or henslow's sparrow are quite different tasks.

So at least for me, I prefer 10x42's for my bird watching, and 8x32's for my hunting. The 10x42's allow me to see fine detail that are important for identification or behavior, while the 8x32's provide plenty of information, decent light gathering, and most importantly, save on weight in my pack.

Having said that, my 10x42's will be traveling with me to Colorado this fall for an elk hunt, where I fully expect to be trying to locate elk over a half mile away. But that's a pretty unusual task.

I'm wondering how many others here use their binoculars for both hunting and birding, and if so, what platform do you select for either?

 

[ads]

In my opinion, the difference between 8x and 10x is not very significant. If I were building a shed, would it matter so much whether I was using a 20 ounce hammer or 25 ounce a hammer?

If I could only own three binoculars, they would probably be 6x, 10x, and 16x.

 

[jgraider]

8x32's for Africa hunting, and big game hunting in NA in not very open country. I use a 10x42 on a tripod for glassing open country mule deer and whitetails, along with a Meopta S2 spotter.

 

[Alexis Powell]

In my opinion, the difference between 8x and 10x is not very significant...

With respect to magnification, I agree, but not FOV or DOF. I like 8x for its practical advantages in those aspects.

--AP

 

[jgraider]

I also prefer a much slower focus for big game hunting. It seems I'm able to wring out that very last bit of sharpness much easier to these 54 yr old eyes.

 

[justabirdwatcher]

I guess what I'm thinking here is that my desire to see detail is just greater when I am bird watching. When I'm hunting, so long as I can make out the critter and know it's legal, that's all I need to know. Granted, when you're making that decision out west from 2000 yards vs. back east from 200, it makes a difference. But I want every single bit of detail I can eek out of an optic when I'm trying to ID a bird in fading light, flitting around in the tall grass and brush.

 

[OPTIC_NUT]

A deer is just plain bigger.
And seeing subtle color variations helps a lot....
and rapid aim, and optical depth of field (much greater at 7x).

In Suburbia, I just track deer in the ridgey woods here.
From 30 to 150 yds (where all is lost in the brush), I use
7x35s, either Swift Triton #748s or the old Bushnell Customs.
The amber internal coatings on both of those help a bit, and the
UVC fronts cut the glare off the twigs and spills. They are fairly
plentiful used.
Deer can suddenly 'decloak' nearby when they move. It helps
when they are clear and saturated near or far. When they move,
stop, and stare at you, you have to freeze. No twiddling.

The 7x35 Sans+Streiffe 10-degree "Hunter" is great, but without as
much light filtering, it doesn't track as well under strong sunlight.

Zeiss once made some with coatings supposed to help with hunting,
but I'm not sure when.

If you have coyote and you can find their special 'surveillance spots',
you can use a 10x42 along their site-lines and cover big territory.
They pick a spot with spokes and sometimes chew brush for peep-lanes.
They monitor nodes where people, deer, and rabbits cross path intersections.

 

[dannat]

I think there is a big diff between 8 &10x, I can hand hold 8 very steady, 10 I can't but for distant obi. I find them a musr

 

[John Dracon]

Every binocular made is useful for birding or hunting. But just how useful depends upon a host of circumstances. A quick example. This morning I sat on my deck with two binoculars overlooking literally miles of open hayfields with willow bottoms bordering the north fork of the Smith River. One binocular was a 6x30 Bushnell Banner picked up at a pawn shop for $20. It possesses exceptional optics. Its pedigree says it shouldn't be as good as it is. It is a kind of binocular paradox, "from manure grow roses." thing. The other was the Zeiss 15x60 B/GTA. Paid $1,500 for that in 1995. One might call it descending from royalty.

IMO the 6x30 binocular is the most under rated binocular for almost any use. Its 5 mm exit pupil plus generous FOV and ease of holding steady makes it useful for looking for detail of birds or objects of hunting. That plus its inherent compactness, will make believers out of almost anyone if they give it a try. But human beings are lulled into believing all the hype and cant which has evolved with binoculars. Try and find a high quality 6 power binocular made today. There are just a few.

Scanning the hay fields this morning with the Bushnell revealed several Sand Hill Cranes pecking away at something at least a quarter mile away. Their large brown bodies are easy to see, even with a 6 power binocular at that distant. I was looking for the evidence of a chick - they raise usually only one, and I saw something brown but very small near the pair. This is the time for the Zeiss to come into play.

I keep a heavy duty Bogen tripod on the deck for times like this, and the Zeiss was quickly attached. It revealed a very small chick almost submerged by the growing hay. Looking through a 15 power Zeiss with both eyes open is what a friend of mine calls, "like looking into heaven." Why Zeiss discontinued that model is anyone's guess. It is a superb instrument to use for both hunting and birding. But it is a heavy honker and used only occasionally. One needs a variety of support systems for making the Zeiss really useful. The 6 power? Just hang it around your neck.

John

 

[Steve C]

I hold the opinion the there us no difference in a "birding binocular" or a "hunting binocular". The difference is between users and with the magnification and size they prefer for either use. As has been stated, there is some stated preference for a slow focus for hunting. However that is not my preference. If it won't work for both, I don't want it.

I will say this, the hardest answers to questions I have asked from a binocular have come while hunting.

 

[perterra]

I hold the opinion the there us no difference in a "birding binocular" or a "hunting binocular". The difference is between users and with the magnification and size they prefer for either use. As has been stated, there is some stated preference for a slow focus for hunting. However that is not my preference. If it won't work for both, I don't want it.

I will say this, the hardest answers to questions I have asked from a binocular have come while hunting.

I know quite a few who use Stiener IF's and wouldnt trade for the world. Their hunting is south Texas over a feeder from a blind. You might as well say they hunt from a fixed distance, so IF is rarely an issue. So I agree with you but would say hunting styles could be a dictator of types, but then again, I guess that really is just a preference for what they have or know. Any binocular would do as well.

 

[Maljunulo]

I'm probably just simple minded, but I have always figured the way to do it was to buy the best binoculars you could afford, and use them, without niggling over things which are more in the mind than in the actual application.

Pick through a bunch of them, and choose the one you like best, based on the image, not stuff on a spec sheet. If the ergonomics are terrible, choose a different pair.

Analysis to the point of paralysis is alive and well, in the optics world.

I always get hooted down, when I say this.

 

[WJC]

I'm probably just simple minded, but I have always figured the way to do it was to buy the best binoculars you could afford, and use them, without niggling over things which are more in the mind than in the actual application.

Pick through a bunch of them, and choose the one you like best, based on the image, not stuff on a spec sheet. If the ergonomics are terrible, choose a different pair.

Analysis to the point of paralysis is alive and well, in the optics world.

I always get hooted down, when I say this.

I'll "hoot" up UP! You dive to the heart of logic. I get hooted down, too. But then. I'm too old to care.

My everlasting mantra is that so many performance points that get talked into oblivion on this, and other such forums, are WELL BELOW the observer's ability to ACTUALLY discern them. And, as long as some people see a collimation error as a FOCUS error, or a problem in the aperture really being a problem in the field stop, it will forever be so.

So, pull up your socks and withstand the gale with me. If one person has been taught to grasp reality, the sacrifice and all the demeaning will have been worth it.

"Seize on the truth, where'er tis found
On Christian, or on heathen ground
Among our friends; among our foes
Neglect the prickle, and assume the rose." --Nickerbocker Magazine, New York, Oct. 1836 :cat:

Bill

 

[John Dracon]

"Analysis to the point of paralysis is alive and well..." in every aspect of our modern world. I won't hoot you down for your quotation. No, you aren't simple minded. Just practical. I suggest your analysis is based on your set of experiences, and after all, none of us are any more than the sum of our experiences.

We are a motley crew lurking on this web site. Some are fossils like me. Others would debate how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. Still others look for reinforcement in their buying decisions. And others like to share their technical knowledge about binoculars. A few equate price with status, and generally speaking the so-called alphas do possess qualities which cost serious dollars. For the person with limited resources and time, your comments make good sense when they begin acquiring binoculars.

I tend to "drift" off subject when my random brain reminds me of stories that are remotely related. I try to inject some humor in my comments because prose needs something besides just facts IMO.

 

[Pinewood]

Hello Bill,

I'll hoot you up. as well.
I was out, today, in New York's Central Park, where I saw one of your favourite birds, as well as mine: cedar waxwings.
On Friday, an overcast day, I managed to induce some CA, at the edge, of a moderately priced 6.5x32. Does this mean that I have to give up using that binocular? Of course not, because I used the center of the field, while the edge, of an ample FOV, only has to be good enough to allow one to acquire another target.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur :hi:

 

[justabirdwatcher]

Sorry if this sounds like I'm hooting you down, but to me at least, there is a pretty huge difference between what I'm willing to drag through the brush or climb a tree with, and what I'm willing to carry on a leisurely bird walk. I suppose a lot of this comes down to what style of hunting (or birding) we're talking about.

 

[ceasar]

Sorry if this sounds like I'm hooting you down, but to me at least, there is a pretty huge difference between what I'm willing to drag through the brush or climb a tree with, and what I'm willing to carry on a leisurely bird walk. I suppose a lot of this comes down to what style of hunting (or birding) we're talking about.

You can bird pretty well with a good 8x32 which you selected as your prime hunting binocular in post #1.

Lots of people use 8x32s for birding. Probably for the same reasons you use them for hunting. I think women particularly like their light weight.

It wouldn't surprise me if more were used for birding than hunting although Terry Wieland, the Shooting Editor of Gray's Sporting Journal wrote an article back in 2006 or so that said all you really needed to hunt with was a quality 8x30/32 binocular. He ended the article by stating that bad optics wear out good hunting boots.

Bob

 

[OPTIC_NUT]

The description of the 6x30s and the Zeiss 15x60s reminds me a lot of
golf clubs, the different jobs. Or...even power tools.
The 15x60s would be great for putting the tripod
in the center of a coyote 'nexus', the 6x30s for creeping into one of the path nodes.
Hunters often carry a spotter to get a path into the valley and binoculars to take there.

Out in the field, the big difference in real conditions means
a difference in perceived quality couldn't make one of those sizes
take the place of the other.

I took some 10x50s up Holt Hill today with a monopod.
It worked for swallows soaring the treeline, The Hood Ice Cream blimp working the beaches,
hawks, eagles, landings at Logan, and a peculiar orbiting drone 6 miles away.
I needed 10x for the reach, I needed the FOV to re-acquire the drone,
but more power in a spotter would be useless past 15x due to the atmospheric mixing.
It was almost the right tool for today. 8x wasn't enough, 20x was too much,
and extra filtering was required past 1 mile.

I think I would use my 6.5x32s a lot in Central Park, if the birds moved around a bit.

 

[justabirdwatcher]

You can bird pretty well with a good 8x32 which you selected as your prime hunting binocular in post #1.

Lots of people use 8x32s for birding. Probably for the same reasons you use them for hunting. I think women particularly like their light weight.

Yes, I agree. My wife prefers my Sightron 8x32's specifically because of the light weight. I use them for hunting for the same reason, and because they fit nicely in the side pouch of my day pack.

For all-day birding, I'm going to have a quality pair of 10x42's with me though. I can use a harness (not something I'll use while hunting, although many western hunters will use one) with my 10x42's and the weight doesn't bother me - plus, as I said, I want the extra detail with the birding binocs.

I think 8x32's may be the perfect dimension for woodland hunting situations however.

 

[perterra]

Sorry if this sounds like I'm hooting you down, but to me at least, there is a pretty huge difference between what I'm willing to drag through the brush or climb a tree with, and what I'm willing to carry on a leisurely bird walk. I suppose a lot of this comes down to what style of hunting (or birding) we're talking about.

And your physical capabilities.


We always stand hunted so it didnt really matter.