For $700 ....
Vortex Viper HD
Nikon Monarch 7
They are both really good. For a little less there is also
Bushnell Elite HD
I bought my father the Zeiss Terra for Xmas and he really likes them but really, they're only slightly better than my 10 year old Diamondbacks I was comparing them to. The ones above are all better choices .... and, well, more expensive
Words of wisdom: Go for 10X rather than 8X.
".....It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of a Trudeau government than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their prime minister......"
In my mind, binoculars are the most important tool in the tool shed when hunting.
Often you can spend hours behind them and only minutes looking thru a rifle scope.
Try a few, see what works for you and buy the best you can afford.
Leupold, Zeiss, Steiner, plenty of options
Good luck
“Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
I always used 10x42 but switched to 8x42. I like the bigger field of view, they're brighter in low light due to larger exit pupil
"If you ever go into the bush, there are grizzly bears lurking behind just about every bush, waiting to pounce, so you need a powerful gun, with huge bullets" - Gatehouse ~ 2004
Not always. If you need a wider field of view or generally hunt in close quarters (example most blacktails) or if you have a hard time keeping them steady then 8x is a good choice.
When I get older I will probably have to switch to 8x. Sometimes keeping 10x steady enough by hand is tough already
I would look at both and see which one you can hold steady the longest. My choice would be 8 x. For me the steadier the picture the more I see and the real difference between the two is not that great and on a limited budget the 8x's will be less. Course I'm mostly looking for blacktails in thick stuff maybe different in the alpine but for that I have a spotter.
Leupold® Green Ring Olympic Binoculars. Limited lifetime warranty. Cabela's sells them. Buy a good shoulder harness at the same time.
My advice is go look through them before buying. It is a world of difference from one year to the next in quality. I have 5 40 - 100 dollar binocks laying around too.
The challenge of retirement is how to spend time without spending money.
The worst day slinging lead is still better than the best day working.
Look around is there someone you can introduce to shooting because that’s the only way we will buck the anti gun trend sweeping Canada! "tigrr 2006"
Look, just save your self a lot of money in the long run and buy yourself a pair of Nikon laserforce rangefinder 10x42 binoculars! They come on sale a couple times a year at cabelas for about 1100.00 bucks. Excellant glass, excellent range finder the best of both worlds in one package. IMO. Go online and read the reviews for yourself.