If you only had one?

[Lambchop]

Hey all,

Some of you all may have seen a post I made a few months back regarding spotting scopes. After some further discussion with a hunting buddy and some unique circumstances I decide to come back to the forum for some input from the experts.

Most of my hunting is done in the east for whitetail. I am going to be making more trips west and obviously optics are an important and expensive piece of equipment. On my last trip west I ran 10x42 Leupold Mojave BX3 Pro Guides. I used them off hand and am surly going to be picking up a tripod if I decide to continue with them. My eyes seem to like them and I have zero complaints but that may be subject to change once on a tripod.

Back in 2009 I suffered a serious eye injury. I am now blind (zero usable vision in my right eye) . By the grace of God it was my non dominant eye that sustained the injury and it hasn’t stopped me from living life to the fullest extent. I had never put much thought into using a monocular for deer hunting as I had binoculars then and have continued to use them because it was what I was used to. As backcountry hunters we are always looking for a way to reduce weight and I wanted your thoughts on this so here it is for discussion.

I can continue to use 10x, 12x or 15x binoculars off a tripod or hand with no foreseeable benefit over a spotter. My field of view with a binocular is only half of what it is for you folks with two operable eyes. It’s slighty more or less than a spotter depending on model or zoom obviously.

Stick with the 10x and just pick up a tripod.

I can ditch the binoculars, pick up a spotter and use my R1000i range finder that is 6x and always with me when lower end power is needed or during a stalk.

Throw some feedback my way, your thoughts and even some shade for being a One Eye Willy. Thanks Alan

 

[Gatorgrizz27]

I suppose that would work well, Zeiss also makes a 10x25 monocular that might be worth a look.

 

[elkguide]

Great thought provoking question. I hunt in the East as well as the West. I guided in Wyoming for ten years and after some on the job learning, I settled on Swarovski 10X42's. I worried that they would be too much for whitetails here at home but good glass works well even in the thickets of the East. I use a spotter a little out West.
Now to your question. If I had to settle on one piece of glass, it would be something in 10 power.
I will admit to being a Swarovski fanboy. I have used each of the BIG three and to my eyes, the Swaro's are best. (Their service department, being used due to my EXTREME negligence, is Superb.) While guiding and thus spending at least 8 hours a day behind a pair of bino's, you do get what you pay for.
So if I were in your situation, I would take time to find the best 10 power glass for my eye and buy it.
Good luck.

 

[Lambchop]

Thanks for the input. Anyone else want to chime in?

 

[nmiller08]

So when you say zero usable vision, is your right eye totally dark or is there some light transmission? I'm wondering when you use binoculars are you closing that eye? I only ask because I'm one of those guys who can't seem to look through a spotter easily for long periods (seems to be the effort/squint caused by keeping one eye closed). If I had to keep one eye closed I'd probably still opt for a binocular and just keep the front cap on there all the time. But if you're comfortable looking with one eye for long periods, then I think your range finder/spotter idea could work...but I would definitely miss having something in the 8-12x range for the way I hunt that's about all I use

 

[Lambchop]

I have very little light transmission. Maybe around 3% of a normal eye. Its comparable to having a patch over it with some small holes in it maybe. I don't close one eye when looking through a binocular. I know that for a fact and I shoot archery both eyes open but I close one eye when shooting a scoped rifle but thats probably just a habit from prior to my injury. A lot of guys say they would really miss that low end power and that you don't need the high end magnification for elk hunting. I just really wish I could have this large field of view all you guys talk so much about

 

[nmiller08]

Ah, I see, so when you look through a spotter do you leave the right eye open?

Your original comment about half the field of view confused me...doesn't each barrel of a binocular see the same area? It's not like they cover different ground, they're both pointed at the same spot, hence the need for perfect collimation between the two tubes right? I would have thought you just lose the stereo effect and hence you lose out on the 3d effect, but that the FOV remains the same but I guess I've never looked through binoculars with one eye

edit: just went outside and I see the same FOV with one eye vs with two

 

[Beendare]

Interesting.

So you are packing a bino around and only using 1/2 of it.

I wonder if there is an outside the box solution that would work better for you. For example, maybe a short rifle scope??? You could get one of those that has adjustable magnification...maybe rig a hand grip for it??

The hand grip part is something I would explore on whatever you use as you could have a stabilizing section that braces against your forearm or wrist to help hold that thing super steady.

I dunno. A 25mm exit on the monoculars is small/poor. Maybe look for a high quality RF that has a larger 30mm exit pupil [if there is such a thing]

Taking a sawzall to your binos is a bit extreme....but if you are only using 1/2 of it??? It makes cutting the handle of your toothbrush look like Childs play....grin.

Doubt I was much help....but best of luck to you!

 

[nmiller08]

Taking a sawzall to your binos is a bit extreme....but if you are only using 1/2 of it??? It makes cutting the handle of your toothbrush look like Childs play....grin.

I like it!! Did a quick search of monoculars and the selection is a lot smaller than I would have thought. There's some good glass but everything has a pretty small objective lens size

 

[Broomd]

Definitely a monocular! Leica makes the best, but Zeiss' is no slouch either...

 

[Lambchop]

I don’t think cutting my binoculars in half would go over well. I may have to take a loom at these monoculars. I will also measure the objective on my rangefinder and see what it is.

Thanks for all the help and the good laughs along the way.

 

[Matt G.]

I think you should continue using bino 10x 42 or 50 just for stability of being able to use off hand. Sometimes setting up is too slow when stalking around. Although you are only viewing through one barrel, both will help with the stabalize/balance. Also the brightness at low light will be better through bino.

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