Binos?

[brsnow]

What size binos are you all running? My goal is to be able to make sure 5” or less horns up to 500 yards. I typically just chase Elk and have 8x30 Swarovski . Thank you

 

[The Real IronMan Fierro]

My chest harness bino for archery are Nikon HG 8x42. Then I have a pair of swaro 15x56 that stay in the pack until needed. I leave my 85mm scope at the truck for now and I have a pair of vortex razor HD's 10x42 for a back up. Sounds like a lot but if I had it my way I would buy 5 more pairs. Lol

 

[805Bowhunter]

12x50els on a tripod. If you want to evaluate further trophy quality some type of spotter. Lope hunting is nice in a lot of instances because you can glass from a truck and therefore dont have to worry about carrying a big hunk of glass into the backcountry. I use 12x50el with a 95mm sts.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

What size binos are you all running? My goal is to be able to make sure 5” or less horns up to 500 yards. I typically just chase Elk and have 8x30 Swarovski . Thank you

As in wanting to hunt "antlerless"? The black cheek will stand out more than trying to decipher if tiny prongs are <5. Presuming you have a good scope and stable rest, you can double check before the trigger pull but generally safe beth is avoid the black cheeks and don't gamble on whether that buck fawn is legal or not would be my suggestion.

Typically I run 10x42 and 15x56 on tripod when looking for antelope. If I was really trying to judge quality I'd use a spotter as well but to verify a legal antlerless I'd be fine with those. Stable glass (tripod) I think is more of a factor that magnification so you can see details clearly.

 

[brsnow]

As in wanting to hunt "antlerless"? The black cheek will stand out more than trying to decipher if tiny prongs are <5. Presuming you have a good scope and stable rest, you can double check before the trigger pull but generally safe beth is avoid the black cheeks and don't gamble on whether that buck fawn is legal or not would be my suggestion.

Typically I run 10x42 and 15x56 on tripod when looking for antelope. If I was really trying to judge quality I'd use a spotter as well but to verify a legal antlerless I'd be fine with those. Stable glass (tripod) I think is more of a factor that magnification so you can see details clearly.

yes, thank you. This is a for a doe hunt.

 

[gadrahthaar]

yes, thank you. This is a for a doe hunt.

As in wanting to hunt "antlerless"? The black cheek will stand out more than trying to decipher if tiny prongs are <5. Presuming you have a good scope and stable rest, you can double check before the trigger pull but generally safe beth is avoid the black cheeks and don't gamble on whether that buck fawn is legal or not would be my suggestion.

Typically I run 10x42 and 15x56 on tripod when looking for antelope. If I was really trying to judge quality I'd use a spotter as well but to verify a legal antlerless I'd be fine with those. Stable glass (tripod) I think is more of a factor that magnification so you can see details clearly.

I second this advice.

 

[realunlucky]

Your current binoculars will be plenty. As stated the check patch is the tell sign on buck antelope but 5" of horn is plenty of cushion for a decision.Antelope ears are about 5 1/2 long so just use that as a reference, a good bit shorter than the ear and your good to go. Does typically have very short horns if any. These are the longest I've personally ever seen on a doe.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

 

[brsnow]

Thank you, appreciate the information

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

IIRC this was the first pronghorn I've ever shot, its a buck fawn (~1.5" prongs) which was legal but not intentional. At the distance and in my newbie knowledge of pronghorn at the time I didn't see or register the cheek which isn't that distinct yet but it's there. I'm probably closer to 2 dozen pronghorns at this point and twice filled 3 doe tags out of the same herd (setup up stable prone, shoot, pivot and acquire, repeat), first shot is a piece of cake to verify does, the subsequent ones I swing right past anything with darkness on its face/head and just settle on ones that are white/light brown in full. You're not judging quality on a doe, at least I'm not, I'm just filling the freezer and take whichever ones present a shot that I know is a doe.

 

[Rich M]

I went a couple years ago - the rule was not to shoot a black cheek if doe hunting. Its in the WY handbook.

Ended up shooting 2 yearling bucks - horns about the size of the ones on the doe in the picture. One was at 25 yards, the other at 350 yards - they might have weighed 45 pounds, LOL! There is a long winded story that goes with that hunt but the good news is that I'm going again to make things right.

You will not have any issues telling them apart - you'll be fine.