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Turkey hunting binos |
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urbaneruralite
Optics Journeyman Joined: January/03/2008 Status: Offline Points: 479 |
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Posted: May/06/2017 at 19:54 |
What do y'all that hunt West of the Mississippi use to spot the grand old bird?
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JGRaider
Optics Master Joined: February/06/2008 Status: Offline Points: 1540 |
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Something in 8x32 config, either an 8x30 Swaro SLC, or Leupold Mojave.
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gdpolk
Optics Apprentice Joined: May/05/2006 Status: Offline Points: 87 |
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6x or 8x bins with a wide field of view and good low light performance
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Whitefire
Optics Apprentice Joined: December/29/2014 Location: Alabama Status: Offline Points: 132 |
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Do you have a price range?
Wf |
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May His face shine upon you and give you peace.
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Peddler
Optics God Joined: July/04/2012 Location: Oswego,NY Status: Offline Points: 13526 |
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In New York the hours are dawn till noon so it won't take much to see birds. Just about anything will work.
It seems hearing them is as important as seeing them. Over the past few years the boys seem to be increasingly quiet. Not sure if that's pressure related or not. |
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When you are dead, you don't know you are dead.It is difficult only for others.
It is the same when you are stupid. |
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urbaneruralite
Optics Journeyman Joined: January/03/2008 Status: Offline Points: 479 |
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Price range less than $500. I'm looking at the Mojave and also the Monarch 7 right now. Kinda wanting to try 10x, but it's probably too much I guess.
Peddler, if you're like me that quietness might relate to aging ears. I can't hear them fly down anymore for one. And taking a young fella with me has them scratching their head on how I manage to kill any when I can't hear half the gobbles they do.
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tahqua
MODERATOR Have You Driven A Ford Lately? Joined: March/27/2006 Location: Michigan, USA Status: Offline Points: 9042 |
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I use 10x42 daily and think they would work well for your needs. They aren't as good in the lowest of light like my 7x42. But, is low light performance needed for turkey?
I think that Monarch 7 would be a good choice for the money https://swfa.com/nikon-10x42-monarch-7-binocular.html
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Doug
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urbaneruralite
Optics Journeyman Joined: January/03/2008 Status: Offline Points: 479 |
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Well, I ordered the Mojaves because I'd rather deal with Leupold if I have a problem. Went with 10x42s just 'cause I wanted it. I have a pair of 8x40s already.
Binoculars are not generally needed for turkey in the Southeast. If you can see the bird, it can see you lowering the binoculars, so I never bother with them. From what I understand, spotting turkeys or their roosts in OK or KS is helpful. Low light shouldn't be too much of an issue, but I don't really know yet. I will find out next Spring!
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urbaneruralite
Optics Journeyman Joined: January/03/2008 Status: Offline Points: 479 |
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I took the 10x Mojaves out back to the range to focus and decide if I would keep them. I made adjustments while focusing on bullet holes in brown cardboard at 100 yards under grey skies. There was no trouble getting detail enough to tweak by. They're a bit fidgety to get a complete view for me. I generally have this problem due to my eyes and glasses. For some reason one barrel appears brighter or more yellow than the other. The other is more grey and not as bright. I have another pair of Leupold binos that are the same way. It is hard to tell anyone anything else because I am looking through a pair of strong eyeglasses with bad eyes before I get to the optic. The experimental control/wife never sees what I am talking about.
I was able to look at tree limbs with the 10x Mojaves versus some others in 8x and 6x. The idea here is to be able to see whether there is a turkey or maybe a shiny spot on a cottonwood limb at distance. Come to think of it, I have no good idea of how far away you can get a look at a cottonwood out there. Clearly I just wanted some new binos. I judged by looking at lone pines and poplars in a clearcut and power line right of way. The 6x would do maybe up to a quarter mile or more. If the 8x were as good as the Mojave, then I think they would have hung with the 10x out close to a mile. (The 8x I have are not as good. Those will now be retired to the boat for spotting surface feeding rockfish.) I could see the branches, but not tell much about them. Past a mile 10x would be fine maybe, but I think I'd need a tripod to tell anything that far out. At about 1 1/4 mi I just couldn't tell anything in more detail than whole bushes. Closer in, birds really popped in color. Honeybees and hoverflies in the buckwheat looked like perfectly resolved creatures from a 1950s sci-fi flick. They really brought out the pink in the ripening buckwheat that looked white and brown without the binos. That's all I got to report back. Hopefully I'll have available and remember to post a pic of a dead Rio next year.
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tahqua
MODERATOR Have You Driven A Ford Lately? Joined: March/27/2006 Location: Michigan, USA Status: Offline Points: 9042 |
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Good choice on the binoculars. Let us now how they work in low light, too. I don't know about the OK or KS birds, but here in MI they come down off the roost fairly early. So, light may daylight be low.
Or just let out an owl or crow call. That will rile them
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Doug
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