Which scope is better for night hunting?

E

Embalmer

New member
I am looking at the Nikon MOnarch and the BUshnell Elite 4200 with the Firefly reticle.

Does anyone have any experience with these for night hunting? I want the best light trans I can get and both are rated at 95%. Which is better then even the Lupy VX-III that I won which is at 92%. I am also open to other suggestions, but I do want a good high quality scope for the money I am willing to spend which for this project is under $500. I know that limits the choices alot but ya gotta make do with what ya can when ya can.
 
have a elite 3200 with firefly and love it for night hunting. however the cross hairs are thick so this is not a long range p dog scope. but if u are using it as a night calling scope i dont know if you can beat it. i ordered mine from the optic zone off the web. talked to the poeple who run it and they will take it back if its not up to your standard. since this is my calling scope i got mine in the 1.5 x4.5 x40. love it!
 
Embalmer,
The Leupold you have would probably do well,any good optic will do well at night,in the lower powers.IMO-the 3x9 is a great all around calling scope--I just ordered a 4.5x14 zeiss for my all around scope.
 
I've got a BSA Mil-Dot illuminated reticle.I know alot of guy,s don,t have much good to say about BSA,but it lays down coyotes.Got it bought for under $120.00.The reticle brightness can be adjusted to suit any amount brightness you like or just turn it off and use black cross hairs.For the money I don,t think you can beat it.
 
If you truly want the best for night hunting then get a good scope with a 30mm tube instead of a 1" tube. and 40 mm objective or bigger.
 
Hey Cracker, what about what Eversole said. Is it a night hunting scope with the charged recticle or is it a twlight scope like he said? It seems like what he said would hold water. Does it defeat the purpose or not.Light on light? In an artifical light, my black crosshairs really standout. I ain't trying to start a dogfight here, just seriously wondering. No experience, but thinking of buying if they are a hot item for night hunting.
 
the thing with the firefly is when you dont need it to glow they are black. what i mean is if at night you look through the scope at something dark they glow. if you look through the scope at something light like the snow they are black. just like the hands on a watch they only appear to glow when you need them to. hope i didnt confuss anyone one this. we dont use lights when hunting as you can only use them after spotting the critter, for shooting only not to spot. its the law. we will try some lights and let you people that get to use them how the firefly works however i dont see it having any neg effect. in the basement they glow bright at the dark walls but then when i point at the window they are black.
Sportingly,
cracker.
 
Thanks Cracker, had no idea they were like that! (watch hands so to speak). I thought they were always on or off. Appreciate the knowledge. I like your lower powered selection, that alone adds light magnification, more so than a larger powered scope, good choice. I have two Bushnell 1.75x4x32 scopes that are a night preference, but occassionally a 3x9 comes in handy for those hangups out there aways.

Glad we aren't inhibited by your regs on lights. It helps to spot em coming across a river bottom at you. Good hunting there Cracker. Enjoy
 
I was at the Gun show today and tried the Firefly reticle. It seemed to work great. Not to bright at all.

But then on the way home I stopped by Turners and held up the Lupy VX-III, NIkon Monarch and Ziess Conquest scopes all 3-9s side by side.

The Ziess blew em both away. No contest plus it is on sale until mid sept for $349. Which is $50 less then I have ever seen it for.
 
For the past 15 years I've happily used the same setup. The scope I've used is a Leupold fixed 6 power x 42mm objective with the heavy duplex crosshairs. This scope is real bright and clear, also I can see the crosshairs real well at night.
I have other rifles with variable power scopes that I've used through the years but given the choice for a strictly coyote hunting rifle I prefer the scope I listed....If the intention is a more well rounded scope, like for target shooting, ground squirrels etc. I wouldn't recommend the heavy duplex. Especially for target shooting.
 
I figured I would pick up the Zeiss since the price I always see it at is $399 and never any cheaper from anywhere. I will probably buy 2 so I have one for my next barrel for my TC Encore. It will be a VVCG 223WSSM for Yotes. I think that ought to be a nice Varmint barrel.
 
I use a Leupold 4.5x14x50mm. Heavy duplex. It gathers a lot of light and has always been reliable. I look through a lot of my customers scopes and, for the money, the leupold is my favorite. Randy
 
for all of you young hunters out there i want to give you a little hint!!!! if and when you get around 40 yrs old you will start to lose the cross hairs at night and you will think the scope is going bad!!!! its not the scope!!!! if you start to lose the crosshairs have your eyes checked!!!!! i had 20 x 15 eye sight all my life and killed alot of stuff with a 6x on my 222.. went to a 4x12 on my 243 and killed some more!!!!! then the 4x12 went bad and i replaced it with another 4x12 leo.. still bad!!lol so i went back to the 222 and it was bad also!!!! i know you ol.. more mature guys know what i mean!!! if you start to miss!! have your eyes checked!!! grandpa fudge
 
My eyes are 60 years old lol. I can still see a coyote at 10 yards no problem. Past that I have a big problem, how about you? lol.
 
I have to agree with Randy on the Leupold 4.5x14's, I have 5 of them mounted and they are excellent-day or night.

I have had the chance to look thru the 3x9 Zeiss and I would have to say that it is just as good or maybe even just a tad clearer than the Leupold.

Going to 30mm tube does nothing to give more light to your eye, but going to a larger objective lens does, such as 50 or 56mm etc..
 
The max amount of light your eye can use from an optic is 7 power with a 42mm objective. This is why the 6x42 scope does so well. If you have a vari, cut the power down to 6 or 7 and you will have a little more light but that depends on the quality of the scope as to how much.

I have to agree with Watson on the Leupolds. It is really hard to beat the 3.5-10x50 or 4.5-14x50 models. The lighted reticle versions of this are really good. They have special lighted reticle that is not like any of the others that works better than anything I have seen and I have seen them all. The problem is they are out of the price range you are talking about. Check one of these out next time you are at a shop or show.
 
Well I ordered my new scope today. I originally was going with the Zeiss but with the warrenty on the one I got I cant loose. I chose the Bushnell Elite 4200 2.5-10x40 with the firefly reticle. I chose it for two reasons, when I looked through it it was amazingly clear and the firefly reticle sounds interesting to me since alot of my hunting will be at night. So I will give it a try and if I dont like it I will trade it in for the 3-9 Conquest. The bushy warrenty/guarentee states that if you are unhappy with the scope for any reason just return it for a full refund. This can even be after a year of use which I had my vendor guarentee about before the purchase. She said she would take it back and send me the Conquest if I am not happy with it in one year. So we will see.

I will post my initial impressions of this scope later down the line once I have had a chance to spend some time behind it.
 
Randy said it all, light gathering and heavy duplex for the night shift is the way to go.
For the money, I liked the Bushnell 3x9x56, it was under $150 dollers when I got mine 20 years ago lol. I also had a Weaver 3x9x56, I believe they were the first ones to come out with the 56mm objective, darn good scope too. I also like the Leupold, I've had a couple 3x9x50s. Leupold makes a fine scope, but in resent years the prices have doubled and tripled, that part I don't like lol.
Hey Grandpa, I know I'm getting old when someone in the CSVCA don't know me lol. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
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