Who doesn't use Bino's?

[Bowwild]

About three years ago a thread like this inspired me to pick up a good pair (Swarovski) binocular. The VERY first time I took them into the tree with me, I spooked a deer that was coming from the side and saw me moving.  I very rarely spook deer (that I'm aware of).

I know, it wasn't the binocular's "fault", it was my technique.

I will occasionally put them in my pack when I'm turkey hunting in case a hen  is trying to hide her beard. 

Hunting without binoculars since 1970 I just never developed the habit. Except for incidental scouting while on stand (whitetails), I don't need to and often cannot see beyond close (50-75 yards) range. I don't need binoculars for that. 

So, I use them more for looking out my deck door about 300 yards up the lane between two large blocks of forest.

I should probably make myself give them another try. My ears don't pick deer walking at distance any longer, maybe my eyes could use some help "seeing" through thick stuff?

[Tim Finley]

I never hunt without them so many times Ive had to identify something or on very cloudy days in that last half hour you can judge a rack you wouldn't see with out binos . I have 2 pair one compact and one 8x30 both Swarovski and I have a Vortec monocular in 10 x which is too wiggly for me I wished they were 8 x . In the trucks I carry spotting scopes .

[T Sunstone]

Always carry them but not the high power but 6x32.  I like looking at other wildlife while on stand.  As the light fails I adjust to about 25 yards so I can tell if a buck is a shooter or not before he's in range.   

[Lefty]

Even though I only hunt the woods of the Midwest, I would rather forget my bow at home then my binoculars. I use them in low light, shadows, dense woods, to identify animals or movements far off, and to aid in recover of animals after the shot. Sometimes even just to study small birds or animals up close for entertainment.

[MnFn]

Like Walts experience, I have had Swarovski 8X30 binoculars for probably thirty years.  I like them a lot. But for just archery hunting I have a pair of Zeiss  8X20 Binos that fit nicely in my Safari-Tuff quiver pocket.  They are helpful to me especially as daylight starts to fade, but also when I see a little movement back in the brush that I want to identify.

I use them on almost every hunt.  On the rare occasion that I forget to pack them, I am usually  wishing I had them.

[Bowwild]

Have to add, as I'm sure my use of the binocs spooked that doe a couple years ago, I'm equally confident that I haven't failed to get a shot because I didn't have binoculars with me.

[Wudstix]

Trying to pare down my stable, see classifieds.  Still have 10x28 Votex Diamondback, 6x30 Leupold Yosemite, and 10x42 Vortex Diamondback.  10x gets the most use when stalking hogs as mentioned above.  10x28 gets more use for backpacking trips when ounces count.  Yosemite are what I call perfect for whitetail hunting.  Probably don't use them enough, but glad to have them.  Especially, on Federal land where a button buck or doe fawn can end your season.
            

[bigbadjon]

I used to not... but now carry a pair of 6x30 Mavens. Now 20 yards is about the biggest opening I get in Florida, but you can see way further with binos as it turns out by looking through brush. Also very helpful at low light when you hear footsteps but can't cut the shadows with your naked eye.

[Joshua Grimshaw]

I don't use them. I hunt in cedar woods; things happen so quick without much sound that I have my bow in hand all the time. By the time I see them I would worry about the extra movement also.

[Captain*Kirk]

Mine are always in my day pack. Small, compact, I can pull them out to zone in on movement out of visual clarity range, and also great for just plain scanning when nothing is moving.
I wear glasses but don't remove them, just push them up with the binos.
Better to have them and not need them than the other way around.

[Wheels2]

It seems that I am in the minority, but I carry them every time I hunt deer.
We have antler restrictions so it is necessary to determine if he is legal as soon as possible.
I have also had numerous times when the binoculars have allowed me to find deer hidden in brush.
I have a harness but once in the stand they hang on a hook.

[OkKeith]

My opinion...

Binos are the third most important piece of equipment to have with you in the woods after a bow and arrows (with sharp broadheads).

In wide open country 10Xs are the norm if the plan is to sit and glass before stalks but 8Xs are useful while on the stalk or just as all purpose binos. In close-in hunting situations they might be even more valuable. I have a compact size pair of 8Xs that I use focused in close to pick apart the cover around me from shooting range out. They are very light and I keep them on a short bungee lanyard so that the movement from the hanging position to my eyes is minimal. This also keeps them up away from my drawing the bow. Even modestly priced binoculars usually have adjustable eye pieces that move in and out so that they can be adjusted for those who wear glasses or need different eye relief.

It seems like every article about binos always says... "Spend as much money as you can afford" when giving advise on how much cash to put towards binos. Some even advise to take what you can afford and then wait until you can double it because "Good glass is worth waiting for". My advise is to head to whatever outdoor gear store you prefer and get what meets your needs and is within your budget. You do not need a $1000+ pair of binos, you don't even need a $350 pair. Undoubtedly the $1000+ pair has features and functions that the $350 doesn't (most of it just in the ability to SAY you have a $1000 pair of binos).

There are several budget options that will work fine for the average hunting situation. Vortex, Leupold, Nikon etc. all have options for a few hundred dollars that will work fine. I still have a $20 pair of small fold-up Bushnell's I bought at Wal-Mart in the late 80s. They are the camo rubberized, "armored" type that were popular back then and they still ride in my pack wherever I hunt.

I have two or three pair of binoculars in my truck at all times. At least one pair for me and at least one pair for my passenger (usually my wife). They are handy for looking at the countryside, or critters out in the middle of a field. They are invaluable for settling the argument of whether or not that was a Dark-eyed Junco or a Brown-headed Cowbird in the bush we just passed (she was right... Junco).

I do not agree with the opinion that bad (sometimes interpreted as inexpensive) glass is worse than no glass... no glass is, no glass. When I was a kid I hunted for years with my Dad's hand-me-down pair of WWII binos. I think they were 6X or 7X and they had the etched range-finding reticle in them. No coatings, I doubt they were nitrogen filled because they fogged-up constantly and they seemed to be built out of something that weighted at least as much as depleted uranium because they were HEAVY! I am pretty sure that these days $20 binos off Amazon are better than those.

Second hand is always a good option as well...

Growing up my Uncle was an avid birder and had a set of binos on the windowsill looking in every direction from the house. As a kid I was amazed at what I could see with them. I will admit to being a binocular fan-boy I guess but they really are handy to have in one hand if you have a bow and arrows in the other.

OkKeith

[Mike Bolin]

I always have my binos on me when I'm in the woods...hunting, scouting or whatever. I glass the thickets and hillsides whenever I "thought" I spotted movement and before I need to move. Due to low back issues I can only sit for so long so before I have to stand (or sit) I glass the areas where I expect to see deer moving to keep an unseen deer from picking me off.
Quick story-Several years ago a good friend wanted to get into bowhunting. He practiced hard all summer and come season I set him up in a good spot to get a shot at an early season doe. After a few evenings in the stand he questioned me as to why I set him up in a dead spot. I had loaned him a small pair of binos and asked him if he had been using them. He told me that he could see everything just fine and had not used them. I asked him to use the glasses to really study the terrain around him before he stood up or sit down and if he thought he spotted movement to use the glasses to really check out that area. Long story short, the next time out he saw 7 deer and had 3 walk right past him. He even missed one!
Deer seem to like to show up when you least expect them and appear out of nowhere. Since I started glassing, I see a lot more deer and have killed more deer. I move slowly and really study the cover around me and many times will see the deer well ahead of when I would've seen them with the naked eye. Glassing adds to the hunt for me.

[Huntschool]

Our country is mostly hardwoods with mixed brush at the edges and some in the more open woods.  I like having my Steiner Predator 8x32 compacts with me to be able to look "into" the brush for all the above listed reasons.  They have saved my butt on not spooking a deer a number of times. 

I have been wearing glasses for the past 20 or so years and would just push the glasses up to my fore head when I wanted to use em.

Fast forward....  In the last two months I have had eye surgery and now have new lenses in both eyes and I am seeing better then 20/20 binocular so I am good to go. No glasses save for real small print.

[hawkeye n pa]

Before I needed eye glasses there was binoculars around my neck.  Now I have a harder time using them and find them to smear my eyeglass lenses.  I still carry them (pocket or pack) and will use them after I remove eye glasses.   

[OkKeith]

I only wear glasses for reading or up close work (tying flies, sharpening broadheads, fletching arrows, etc.) but my Dad has always worn glasses. He prefers to set his binos up to use without them.

After adjusting the eye cups in or out depending on what he needs for eye relief, he closes his right eye without his glasses. Looking through the binos he focuses on a specific spot. Once the focus is clear he closes his left eye and adjusts the ring-diopter on the right lens of the binos (usually has a "+/-" symbol) without changing the focus, to correct the sight picture into good focus. This adjusts for any difference in the acuity of his eyes.

He never pulls his glasses off to use the binos... he just slides the eye cups under the bottom rim of his glasses and pushes them up while he looks through the binos. The glasses slide back down on his nose when he drops the field glasses. I have watched him do this for fifty years!

Keith

[BlacktailBowhunter]

I use them for Every hunt except when I hunt deer from a tree stand.

[Captain*Kirk]

I only wear glasses for reading or up close work (tying flies, sharpening broadheads, fletching arrows, etc.) but my Dad has always worn glasses. He prefers to set his binos up to use without them.

After adjusting the eye cups in or out depending on what he needs for eye relief, he closes his right eye without his glasses. Looking through the binos he focuses on a specific spot. Once the focus is clear he closes his left eye and adjusts the ring-diopter on the right lens of the binos (usually has a "+/-" symbol) without changing the focus, to correct the sight picture into good focus. This adjusts for any difference in the acuity of his eyes.

He never pulls his glasses off to use the binos... he just slides the eye cups under the bottom rim of his glasses and pushes them up while he looks through the binos. The glasses slide back down on his nose when he drops the field glasses. I have watched him do this for fifty years!

Keith

That's exactly how I do it as well.

[gregg dudley]

Well I think Keith about covered it for me.   

[bunyan]

I’m a believer in using binoculars even in thick eastern woods. Just a few days ago I saw a flicker of movement in some brush. I thought it was a squirrel but when I focused in with binoculars it turned out to be a fork horn! The times I’ve left my binoculars in the truck I have always wished I had them. Of course my eyesight isn’t what it used to be!