Where to Start
For the modern deer hunter the proper choice of a telescopic sight to fit his rifle, hunting environment, and personal shooting style is second only to the deer hunting rifle itself in importance. When deer hunting season opens, avid deer hunters will want their rifle to be outfitted with the ideal scope, one that suits not only his rifle, but also the area he is hunting in, as well as his own personal hunting and shooting technique. Some deer hunters may be in a situation where they will need to shoot from a great distance, and so for him the scope must be the very best that his budget will allow. Often hunters find themselves in a variety of conditions, and so they may prefer variable power scopes that allow them the options of general observation, close range or long range shooting.
When you are hunting deer, it’s important to choose the best telescopic rifle you can possibly get considering your shooting style and weapon, that the only thing more important is choosing a deer hunting rifle itself.
If you want to shoot from long range, you should invest as much money as you can in your scope, so you can ensure accuracy. Most hunters prefer to get an adjustable magnification scope so that he/she is able to preform general observation, closer range shots, and long range shots, all with one scope. When looking at the listings for an adjustable rifle scope, you will normally find the minimum magnification, the maximum magnification, and the diameter of the objective lens. For example: a “3x9x42″ scope will be listed with a minimum magnification of 3 power, a maximum magnification of 9 power, and a 40 millimeter objective lens diameter.
The Magnification Range
A scope in the 3 x 9 magnification range for deer hunting is pretty standard. However, if you are hunting in thick woods and your shots will typically be 50 yards or less, you will usually do fine with a 4X scope. In open area long range hunting situations, a 4 x 12 or 4.5 x 14 is often preferable, especially when your average shot is several hundred yards. If you are hunting on the plains or in open country, you will want your scope to be at a higher power. You can typically see all around you, with little chance of an animal surprising you. There are alo instances where you will be shooting from one hilltop to another.
Objective Lens Size
They typical deer hunting rifle scope has an objective lens size of 40-44 mm. However, you can find some advertised objective lenses as big as 50, 56, or possibly 75mm. However, it won’t do you much more good to get these gigantic lenses. The larger lenses do not typically function much different from smaller and lighter versions, unless you are in very dim conditions and then they must be set at the highest power option. The pitfall is a lack of comfort and ease of eye alignment. If your scope is mounted appropriately, all it takes is a simple shouldering of the gun and opening your eyes and you’ll be able to naturally see through the scope, with no need to crook your head to any uncomfortable angle just to see through the scope appropriately. However, the large objective lenses make this impossible because the mounting height for the scope will put it at an unnatural position for your eyes. Having to mount your scope this high will cause you to have a rifle that is heavier, clumsier, less balanced, slower, and uncomfortable to shoot.
The Light Transmission Qualities
You won’t get as much light in your eyepiece if you turn up the magnification. As the objective lens increases, the light getting through your eyepiece will also increase. You’ll always lose some light as it goes through the lenses of the scope to hit your eye. You won’t get more than 98% of the available light through a scope, and even then, those are the priciest scopes on the market. Anything above 95% is considered great, and most quality scopes are around 90%.
Lenses and Coatings
Most all quality scopes are fogproof, waterproof, and have coated lenses. There is a wide range of coatings available. It is very possible to have a scope with single coated lenses to greatly outperform a scope with multicoated lenses. How well they function depends on what quality the glass and coatings are. Good quality does not come cheap.Coatings reduce glare, and loss of light due to reflection. You’ll notice improved light transmission and better contrast with a greater number of coatings.
Field of View
How much you see out of your scope in terms of its entire area, 100 yards in front of you, is called field of view. This figure goes down when you increase the lens magnification of the scope. Likewise, scopes with lower magnifications will have greater fields of view. While a 3×9 variable scope may offer a field of view of just over 30 feet when it’s at 3 power, when you increase that power to 9, your field of view will shrink to 14. You won’t get better field of view with a bigger objective lens.
How To Mount Your Scope
The place where many mistakes are made is in the scope mount. The finest rifle and scope combination is rendered useless without rugged and reliable mounting rings and bases. Often, a problem is not foreseen and results in a miss, or even worse, a wounded animal. Installing bases and rings incorrectly leads to wasted ammunition, and you can often get flustered when you consider how easy the target would have been to hit if you had a properly aligned scope.
It is important to understand that if your rings and bases are not installed properly, you can have more problems than just poor accuracy. It can destroy scopes and damage rifle receivers and bolts, and can even be dangerous to the shooter. It is well worth the money to have a gunsmith install the rings and bases as you will be ensured not only of accuracy but also of the safety of the shooter and anyone who may be around the shooter. If you don’t do it right, you’ll just eventually buy enough ammo to cover that cost anyway, because you’ve been missing so much. This can be frustrating as well as expensive. Shooting is supposed to be fun and a great way to relieve stress, not a source of frustration.
A professional will install the ideal mounting system which will keep your scope as low as possible, and will use as few parts as possible. More parts equal more opportunity for something to go wrong. You can do well with aluminum mounts, but solid steel mounts are absolutely ideal. See through rings may look attractive, but they are weak and can break just from your rifle being transported. In most hunting situations, using the minimum power on your scope should prevent you from having to rely on the iron sights on your gun anyway.
