How to Pick Binoculars for Hunting?
For a good hunting experience, you need professional hunting binoculars to look at objects that are yards away from you with a crystal clear view. While buying hunting binoculars, you should look for some important features, like:
- The lens should not catch fog easily or cause you headaches. Thus, should be glare-free.
- Must offer a perfect focus in low light areas and evening.
- The lens’s focus quality should provide you with the exact position of the object you are looking at, even if that object is in motion.
Still confused, how to pick the best binoculars for hunting? Just follow this guide.
Factors to consider while choosing the hunting binoculars:
1. Magnification
Magnification is one of the main features that should be perfect for your usage. Sometimes, a higher-range magnification lens can be helpful, but low-range binoculars are not that useful if the object is far from the range.
If you are a newbie to hunting, you are probably confused by descriptions of the binoculars. Normally they are described by numbers like 10*40 or 8*32. The first number represents the magnification, and the second number represents the diameter provided by the respective binoculars.
These calculations are in millimetres and show you the range they provide, so look out for them when finding the perfect binoculars for your hunting.
Always remember bigger magnification lens means heavier and big-sized binoculars, which can be a problem if you are tracking or walking long.
Some of the most used binoculars for hunting are 10x and 12x, which are easy to carry and give you long distance view range.
2. Objective Diameter
Apart from the magnification and diameter, you should know how objective diameter can help you in your hunting. Objective diameter is responsible for the sharper and brighter image of your binoculars.
As objective diameter increases, binoculars give you an increasingly bright and sharp view. For example, if you compare two binoculars, 8×25 and 8×40, you will find that 8×40 provides a brighter and clearer image than 8×25. However, both of them provide the same magnifying capacity.
Usually, when searching for binoculars in the market, you will get three options in every magnifying range of binoculars which are 30, 40 and 50 but in some cases, you will find 32,42, and 50.
When searching for best binoculars for hunting, you should have a clear objective of what you need. If you don’t have any problems with heavyweight binoculars, then go with the 50 objective diameters, giving you unbeatable image quality.
If you are one of those who like quality with lighter weight, then go with 30 or 32. For those looking for something in the middle option, go with the 40 objective diameters, which will provide you with the quality with not so heavyweight.
3. Roof Prism vs Porro Prism
Another factor you should look for is the lens prism of the binoculars. Usually, binoculars have lenses that are wider than the eyepieces, which makes them larger, but the objects look three-dimensional with them; these are Porro prisms.
The compact ones are binoculars that use a roof prism and let the main lenses and eyepieces rest in line. So if you are looking for better quality, you may fund it with Porro prism binoculars because Roof prism binoculars are compact, but this compromises their image quality.
Still, if you are interested in Roof prism and want the same quality as the Porro prism, you can get them by increasing the budget. Expensive binoculars come with BAK 4 prisms which give brighter, sharper and rounded images.
On the other hand, less expensive ones come with BK 7 prisms which deliver a one-sided squared image. A prism in any binocular refers to how much an image is “Righted” after passing through the lens.
If we talk about hunting binoculars, most manufacturers stick to the quality design of the roof prism, and you should consider them too.
4. Coatings
Coatings on your binocular lens play a major role in the image quality. You will find lens coating descriptions with codes like C, FC, MC and FMC; all of them provide different benefits.
C coating means that you will only get single layer coating, meaning few surfaces are coated. FC Coating means that you will get the coating on all glass surfaces. MC coating on binoculars means that few surfaces are coated with multiple layers.
FMC coating means all the glass lenses are covered with multiple layers of coatings. Although binoculars with multiple-layer coatings are superior, they are expensive. Roof prism binoculars are the ones which use phase correction coating, which helps in enhancing the quality, contrast and resolution.
On the other hand, Porro prism binoculars have no benefit of phase coating. So when choosing a binocular with the right coating, make sure they have phase correction coatings.
5. External Coatings
Like the Lens coatings, external coatings also play a major role, especially when using binoculars for hunting. A good quality rubber coating will give you a handy and non-slip grip with protection.
While buying binoculars, look for the options with a lifetime warranty; it may increase your budget a little, but binoculars with a lifetime warranty help you in future repairs.
6. Steadiness Provides Clarity
No matter how long you are using binoculars, but if you are using binoculars for hunting, then get yourself a tripod with your binoculars. Try as hard as you want, but you can’t steady your hand for a long time during hunting.
You need to track the object for a long time until you get your perfect chance, and for that, you need a steady partner who will stand by you as long as you want. Using binoculars with hands will disrupt the exact quality of the image because of many factors like wind, tiredness etc.
In these situations, your jiggling hands will make your game slow. You can easily see this difference by putting binoculars on the tripod and then in your hand, more steady, meaning more clearer image.
Steadiness will allow you to notice those little movements you may not notice using binoculars with your hands.
7. Waterproof or Water-resistant
While buying binoculars, think about the situations like bad weather conditions or a situation where it may get wet. When buying a good pair of binoculars, look at what protection they offer you, waterproofing or water resisting.
Before choosing one of those, think about the tasks you may perform during your hunt. If you plan to go on rafting or skiing, getting binoculars with waterproof protection can be a good choice.
On the other hand, if you think there is less chance of your binoculars getting wet, then you can choose the water-resistant option.
Always remember waterproof binoculars are more expensive than water-resistant ones, so buy as per your need.
8. Heaviness that you can handle
As mentioned above, higher magnification lenses come with higher weight, and the compact ones come with lighter weight but low magnification. If you are planning to travel long distances and already have a lot of baggage, go with the lighter-weight binoculars.
Carrying a tripod and a hanging strap for your binoculars is always a good option. Because, no matter whether they are heavy or not, a tripod will provide you with a steady image, and a neck strap will help you in carrying them without trouble.
So, if you use the neck strap, light-weight binoculars will be the best option as you need to travel them along with you.
9. Price Range
Lastly, don’t forget the price range to find a perfect fit with all the available features within your price range. You already know that expensive binoculars offer better, brighter and clearer image quality and are durable for any situation.
But this doesn’t mean that budget-friendly binoculars don’t come with good features. There are many pocket-friendly binoculars that are durable and have manageable image quality.
Thus, fix a price range and find the binoculars that fit within it with most of the needed features. Don’t feel compelled to buy higher price options; buy a pair which will be worth buying and completing all your needs.
Conclusion
It can be tricky to choose binoculars, that’s why we hope that this guide on how to pick binoculars for hunting was helpful.
When buying binoculars for hunting, people may give you many product suggestions, but before buying any of them, you should know what features they offer and whether they are enough for you or higher than your need.
After reading this guide, you will know what you need in your binoculars because these features depend upon their usage. There is no use for those binoculars, which are feature loaded and expensive, but you are using them from your room’s window. If you know some more features or tips to help you find a good pair of binoculars for hunting, then let us know in the comments.
You may be also interested in: the best compact binoculars for hunting.