Choosing the right scope for hunting deer can sometimes be a hard decision. Regardless of whether you are a newbie looking for the first rifle scope or a professional hunter who wants to upgrade the rifle scope, selecting the best rifle scope on the market can be challenging.
What is a riflescope?
A riflescope is essentially a little telescope that aids in accurate shooting. You can either shoot like John Wick with optics.
WHY IS MAGNIFICATION SUCH A KEY POINT?
It enables you to “see” distant targets. If you purchase the incorrect magnification, you’ll bring home less meat. Nobody wants to commit such error.
However, a few variables will determine the proper magnification. After all, the best scout sight will differ greatly from the best AR-10 scope in appearance.
This is because you can find various options on the market, and their technical terms and unique features are many. This is the reason why it’s important to do research before you buy a scope so that you can get the one that meets your needs. This page is a guide for rifle scope for deer hunting.
Determine your requirements
From the onset, it’s a good idea to consider identifying what you need in a rifle scope. Any good rifle scope needs to have great resolution and clarity, so this must be your top priority. Because not all riflescopes are manufactured equal, then you need to opt for deer scope for deer hunting based on quality first.
Therefore, you need to figure out how you want to do the hunting, such as spot and stalk, tree stand, or even both. You also need to determine the types of habitats that you will use for hunting like clear cuts, dense forest, desert scrub, and many more. Besides, there are different species of deer, such as white-tailed deer and mule deer, so you need to know the species of deer you want to hunt.
If you are a white-tail deer hunter and prefer a tree stand, then you may be hunting in semi-dense or dense forest, clear cuts, or agriculture habitats. In this situation, you need to have a great field of view rather than magnification. Therefore, 2x magnification can be a good choice as it gives you a wider field of view to take close-range shots. With the 10x magnification, there is an extra zoom for taking 200 to 300-yard shots without a problem.
If you are a mule deer hunter, then you may be hunting in forests or open terrains where it’s important to take distance shooting. For these scenarios, you need to get scopes with broad magnification ranges or a red dot magnifier combo. . So the scope should accommodate short and long-range deer hunting.
It also makes sense to think about what you want in scope for deer hunting. After all, you want to make sure that a deer hunting rifle scope is the right scope for you. Therefore, these wants can include weight, size, customized turrets, and many more.
For eastern whitetail hunters, the size of the rifle scope may not be that important factor compared to the western hunters who need to take long hikes in the high country. The good thing about having a larger objective rifle scope is they do well in low light conditions. Therefore, taking shots in dense forests at dusk or dawn can be comfortable. For the smaller objective scopes, they are easier to carry to allow you to focus on doing other things.
When it comes to long-range deer hunters, which can be about 300 yards or more, you need to have custom or dialable turrets that allow for more precision. The choice to dial can sometimes be necessary, though it gives you more confidence, especially when shooting over 300 yards. When you pair them with a first focal plane, then the option to dial elevation as well as windage may be a deadly combination.
Another crucial consideration is to choose a reticle. With white-tail deer hunters, it means hunting in either dense forests or semi-dense forests. Hence, a simple duplex can always be a good choice. But if you want to cover shots of 300 yards or more, then a holdover-type reticle can be a way to take longer shots.
For longer-range hunters, you need to get a more detailed reticle. This allows you to have standard holdovers and more precise ones as well as windage adjustments.
There are many deer hunting rifle scopes on the market. However, you should understand your requirements and wants in a rifle scope. In this way, you can determine which scope meets your style of hunting.
Factors to look out for in the best deer hunting scope
Buying the best rifle scope for deer hunting can sometimes be an overwhelming task, especially if it’s your first purchase. So you need to take the time so that you can learn more about scopes and the features that make them good. Regardless of the features you want in a scope, it makes sense to stay within your budget. Here are some of the things worth consideration:
Objective lens
For deer hunting, it’s always important to go for larger lenses. This is because larger lenses tend to give more light that gets through to cause the images bigger and clearer. But you need to remember that larger objective lenses can lead to more weight for the scope.
Magnification
As may know deer are usually wary animals, so they run away quickly. Therefore, make sure that the deer hunting scope is not less than 9x. Even if there is maximum zoom, don’t compromise the image’s brightness and clarity.
A good rifle scope can perform effectively from dawn to dusk. Therefore, you should not stop hunting when the sun goes away. This is the reason why you need to have a rifle scope that can give you clear and crisp images, regardless of the situation.
Durability
It’s also important to consider the material used in making the rifle scope. The lenses made up of nitrogen purged are regarded to be the best. This is because they are fog-proof, resistant to dust, shock resistant, and waterproof.
Reticle
Long-range shooting needs your scope to compensate for the bullet drop for the long distances. This can assist if you have holdover positions or even bullet trajectory estimation systems. It can also be a huge benefit if the scope’s target turrets can be reset to zero and locked. A reticle with an illuminated score can score great brownies points if you use it in the dark.
