Has poor optics ever cost you a deer?

[dsa5455]

I will be the first to admit that my scopes have mostly come with the rifle I purchased or have been given to me or on one occasion purchased but definetly a budget buy. None of my rifles have nice caliber scopes on them but are adequate for what I hunt most of the time. I had the opportunity to hunt some property that has been managed for several years. I hunted several days and it was largely uneventful until the last 20 minutes of shooting light on the last day. A doe busted out of the woods with several decent sized bodied bucks behind her. Several walked out in the field at about 100 yards. I could see antlers and could see clearly enough with my scope on the vitals that I had a shot. HOWEVER, knowing the potential for this property and respect for what they were trying to manage for I did not pull the trigger. Had this been at 20-30 yards I could have made the call. I was wondering have any of you had similar experiences AND if you made a change because of it?

 

[catman529]

Not big bucks or anything but I've had a couple times when it was still shooting light but my tasco got blurry and I couldn't get a shot at a doe. Switching it out for a Nikon this week


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[wsm]

I always put the best glass I can afford on my rifles and muzzleloader.It does not pay to skip on your scopes as you now know.

 

[dsa5455]

Not big bucks or anything but I've had a couple times when it was still shooting light but my tasco got blurry and I couldn't get a shot at a doe. Switching it out for a Nikon this week


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Blurry is what I experienced as well.

 

[Jcalder]

Occasionally in cold weather I have trouble with the lenses fogging up. Is there any brand that won't fog up when it's below 30 degrees?

It always happens at the worst time!

on higher end scopes it's usually the outside of the scope that fogs up. It's extremely bad if you wear a mask.

If it's fogging internally keep your gun in your truck thru the night. The extreme temp swing can cause them to fog as well


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[poorhunter]

Only back when I used to shoot with a peep sight on my bow. Took it out probably 15 years ago.

 

[cbhunter]

Yes I have dealt with the scopes fogging up. SO FAR, I can't recall it costing me a shot but I can remember frantically wiping it off to make the shot.


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[ruger7mag]

Yes, a POS tasco world class cost me two really good bucks. Either one of the two would be my biggest to date. First one, a big 9 pt, came in at last light following a doe. Of course my pos scope didn't gather light at all and I couldn't see anything but darkness when I looked through it. Even worse, he was only about 50 yards away.
The second one was on a Christmas Eve. A really big deer with a lot of extra points came out following a group of does. He was about 175 yards and I ended shooting 3 times at him and never cut a piece of hair. The next day I shot my gun and it was way off. That wasn't the first time I had to rezero it either.
After that deer I broke down and bought my first Leupold. Do not skimp when it comes to scopes!

 

[Simpleman.2]

Yep. A few years ago it cost me a buck because my lense fogged up on my bushnell banner. Did everything I could to try and clear it up enough to shoot but it wasn't working. The moisture was on the inside of the glass.


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[infoman jr.]

Two years ago, I had a deer come out in a field at last light. I couldn't clearly identify it as a doe, so I had to pass on the shot. I believe I would have been able to see the deer's head with a better optic.

 

[buckaroo]

I have been hunting with cheap tascos for 40 yrs, so far no problems, I just haven't been able to lay down 400 plus for a scope

 

[MUP]

I believe they have. Just old, yellowed lenses that I couldn't see the deer period with, led me to believe that he had moved on, when in fact he was still standing in the thicket, where I could have actually taken a shot at him.

 

[Urban_Hunter]

Simmons and Tasco have both cost me. The Simmons I sighted in just fine and then I missed a deer I shot at 3 times. Went back to the range and it was shooting all over the place, could not be adjusted. Trashed it. The Tasco was due to not being able to see at low light.

I will say I have a Simmons A-Tec that is a pretty good scope. It lived its life on a sporter 7mag taking a punishment and never gave me a bit of trouble. Now when it counts I'm running a good scope. My muzzleloader cost me $75 and it carries a VX-III

 

[BULL MOOSE]

Anyone know how to identify the manufacturer of a scope on these no name scopes? I picked up a Remington 700 youth model and same for a mossberg patriot. Both are topped with 3x9 with no brand.

 

[Headhunter]

so many do not understand, you need to spend as much on a scope as you do the gun. Or at least as much as you can afford. scopes and binoculars are 2 things that the cheaper you get, the worse you get.

 

[Mike Belt]

A good scope can make a gun better. A bad scope, even if mounted on a great rifle, can make the rifle worthless. If I had to choose between the two I'd have a good scope on a not so particularly good rifle. The same can be said of binocs. Good glass doesn't usually come cheap. Even if you have to rat hole money for a while to get some it's worth it in the long run.

 

[Bone Collector]

A good scope can make a gun better. A bad scope, even if mounted on a great rifle, can make the rifle worthless. If I had to choose between the two I'd have a good scope on a not so particularly good rifle. The same can be said of binocs. Good glass doesn't usually come cheap. Even if you have to rat hole money for a while to get some it's worth it in the long run.

I took your advise and many others on here years ago and bought the best scopes I could afford at the time. It has made a world of difference. The one thing that most don;t understand is that good glass earns its keep in the 20-30 minutes before official sun up and sun down. Often times this is when you catch those bigger deer slipping through and good glass can be the difference in getting a shot. Also it takes more to knock a higher end scope off IMO. My old Simmons would be knocked off after a few shots. This helps conserve ammo on sighting in.

My next purchase will be a nice set of binos. I have Leupolds, but they are the cheap ones. They work, but I have looked through some high end binos and man they are clear.

 

[Deer Whisperer]

I used to hunt on the cheapest stuff I could find. I had 2 cheap scopes fail on me and cost me deer. Since then, I have used Cabelas bucks to buy 3 Meopta Meostar and I found a nice Swarovski on Craigslist. It's amazing when you see the difference.
Just about any gun can be very accurate, so you don't need an expensive gun.
Good optics are more important.

 

[RUGER]

One time, trashco that I couldn't see the antlers on a deers head from about 100 yards right at the end of legal light.
This was back before we could kill does.
Never bought another cheap scope.


Another time it wasn't due to poor optics but a poor decision on my part.
Had a pretty high powered Leupold scope on a 7mm STW.
I got the target reticle, because it was pretty much a target scope.
Never thought a thing about it till that faithful evening when at last light an absolute STUD of a deer walked out at 250 yards.
Couldn't see the flippin crosshairs :bash:

 

[buckaroo]

Maybe I'm wrong but I see fine thru my cheapo, I have been to bass pro looking thru scopes, I have a hard time telling much difference

 

[ZachMarkus]

so many do not understand, you need to spend as much on a scope as you do the gun. Or at least as much as you can afford. scopes and binoculars are 2 things that the cheaper you get, the worse you get.

Not exactly true, I have a pair of bushnell 10x42 binos that I gave $50 for at cableas and they are great in low light conditions and are very very clear. My buddy has a pair of vortex that he gave around $500 for and there's not a bit of difference in the two...especially not $450 difference.


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[Jcalder]

Maybe I'm wrong but I see fine thru my cheapo, I have been to bass pro looking thru scopes, I have a hard time telling much difference

you won't tell much difference in a nicely lit building. Early morning and late evening is when you'll notice the biggest difference


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[buckaroo]

At dark there is much more light looking thru scope, if the size is magnified so is the light

 

[buckaroo]

One day when kids are out of house msybe I can see spending 300 on a scope ! Lol

 

[cbhunter]

I will say as far as light gathering capabilities in low light situations, the bushnell banner dusk to dawn is amazing compared side by side to leupold, Nikon and even Swarovski scopes.


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[infoman jr.]

At dark there is much more light looking thru scope, if the size is magnified so is the light

I have a quite expensive 4.5-30x scope that would disagree with your assessment.

 

[Nsghunter]

When I harvested my first buck it was during a beautiful sunset over the lake. I was traversing a multiple hundred acre field that was broken up nicely into smaller fields by very wide fence/hedgerows.

I became curious and tried to glass with my scope into the direction of the setting sun. The very cheap scope actually whited out if I looked in the direction of the setting sun. I was really nervous because the western portion of the fields had the greratest expanse of land. As it happens I turned about-face and there was a 4 point looking into he sunset too. I busted him at 200 yards. I couldn't make out his points but could tell he had antlers.

The scope nearly could've easily cost me a deer if he had been on the western portion that evening.

 

[Nsghunter]

On another note, some hunters feel that the money should be saved for a high quality optic, not a high quality gun. Lower quality synthetic walmart specials with top shelf glass supposedly will yield better results than high quality rifles with a poor optic.

I have a mixture of scopes from a leupold VX-3 all the way down to BSA and the type that come with the weapon. If I had to buy another scope I would try to save up for good glass vs a nicer rifle.

 

[Grundy.308]

When I was young I had a couple of tascos on my rifles replaced them regularly every other season they were cheaper hand me downs. I missed a 140 class 8 point at 140 yards. Due to my scope not holding zero needless to say. I will never shoot a tasco again lord willing. If your loookin for a good budget scope Nikons prostaff are great exceptionally clear glass and hold zero well.


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[DMD]

Far better off with cheap gun, and good optics if you have to skimp on something.

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