Low Light Shooting Conditions and Scopes

[416]

Reading a thread which made reference to the quality of scopes in low light situations. How many here have had an issue with poor optics being the reason for not being able to shoot in those last minutes of light or very early when its just coming on day break, when its legal to discharge a firearm. I've had it happen once at dusk where l could see the buck, but in the scope it was indistinguishable...very frustrating to say the least. That being said, in over 40 years of hunting, its been the only time the l have ever questioned my choice in scopes. I often read "you get what you pay for" which is true in one way, but at what point does the spending and practicality come together? How many hunters find the extra 100's or even 1000's of dollars spent on optics have proved to be a benefit while hunting?

[schilly101]

I have a bushnell banner and a elite rifle scope and ive always found i could see animals at dusk better threw them scopes than my naked eye. if you need to spend hundreds and hundreds or even thousands on a rifle scope its probley too dark to shoot and your just being greedy. Ive shot more game than most people my age or most people in general and ive never needed swarovski or zeiss printed on the side of a scope.

[Brett]

I'm pretty sure any scope with a objective larger than the cornea, which is all scopes.. would allow more light than the naked eye. The objective lens should focus the larger image essentially increasing the light and focusing it to the eye. If you have a scope that doesn't look brighter in low light than your naked eye I would call it junk

[1899]

416 - same for me the year before last. I had to let a buck go because while I could pick it out of the group with binos, I was unable to do so with the scope. I'd love to take a peek at the new Ziess HD scopes.

[BCBRAD]

The human pupil will dialate to 7mm in a young person, after forty figure about 5mm. The exit pupil on a scope is objective lens (mm) divided by the power. 6x42 gets you 7mm. So you can not 'see' more than your eye will take in, no matter what the scope is delivering. Higher power scopes in twilight situations give you more definition and depth, '3D effect' which is lost on lower powers.
The scope is an aiming device, so as long as the thing tracks well, doesn't fog up, reasonable degree of durability and clarity that's all you need. Spend the extra you saved from buying one of the Euro's to buy a good bino's or spotter.

Also , many people do not focus their scopes, thus getting a blurry image ( maybe that's why sasquatches are blurry). Make a checker board up with balack and white squares and at 100m roll the focus ring until you get a sharp image, looking at scenery doesn't do it.

[sheephunterab]

You are correct about exit pupil...5mm is about max for most of us old guys and it can be as low as 3mm for some but all scopes are definitely not equal even if they have an equal exit pupil. How much light the lenses actually transmit makes the most difference. The use of high quality low dispersion glass and quality coatings greatly improves low-light usability. Quality optics are definitely brighter in low light situations....make no mistake about that. Old eyes appreciate quality optics much more than young ones. I've got high quality 40mm scopes that are way brighter than most 50mm scopes.....exit pupil is really only an accurate comparison when comparing optics of identical quality.

[warnniklz]

I just have some no name brand scope. I don't have a problem with my scope when I use my 10 000 lumen gamelight

[Fred1]

YES!! Do the checker board!!! I look through many many scopes every year of all makes and configurations... If you havent focussed your optic correctly you are definitely missing something. All true about the pupil stuff mentioned previously... A 50mm scope really only rivals a 40mm in low light at LOOONG range. So you decide if spending the extra $$$ matters to you. I think a recent (well in the last year) BC Outdoors mag had an article that explaind all the ins and outs of how scopes work. If you can find it , read it...

[boxhitch]

How many here have had an issue with poor optics being the reason for not being able to shoot in those last minutes of light or very early.........
good questiion. Assuming you are talking about rifle scopes and not spotters ?
There are several years worth of threads on HBC about optics and kills , but I don't recall one about needing more light at the end of the day.
Dusk is the most important time to get that decision down about whether the shot should be taken before the light is gone altogether , but most hunters are at the truck in daylight , so the need for high end scopes is low for that few minutes. Unless its standing on the road of course.
Legal shooting times are well beyond when anyone can see clearly without optics, let alone with , but few hunters are setup to take advantage of that.
Euro hunters can shoot by moonlight legally so the high end Euro scopes are large glass and tubes but usually have a low power setting for the best light gathering.

In answer to the question , no I have never had that problem
I do remember trying to legalize an immy moose at noon on a dark rainy day though , 15 minutes in the spotter before he gave us the right look , then boom!

[emerson]

I have had to let 2 animals walk because I couldn't see well enough over the rifle, but the naked eye was ok. I use a Leo VXII 3-9x50 now; not a high end choice, but I can see better through it than by eye in dim light. (at close range where the magnification isn't required)