Chuck R.
Member
They're everywhere because people buy them. What I wonder is why they buy them in the first place. Disagree on their utility. I would wager that 99% of those who have them would be better served with a low power variable. I know guys that never shoot over 100yds but use a 4-12x.
I agree.
And I've got a friend that swears by his 4-16X on his Sauer 30-06 for his woods rifle. His shots are rarely even out to 100yds.
But, he hunts from elevated blinds, over feeders, and he shoots relaxed stationary deer. So for him a low end of 4 works.
I've got a couple Leupold VX6HDs : 2-12 and 3x18. In theory they could be used as "big woods" scopes due to the low end. Problem is for me, they reside on a 24" barreled .270Win and a 24" barreled 300WM, and I'm just not putting 3000+ FPS bullets into deer at "big woods" distances on purpose, nor am I dragging long action, long barreled, rifles through the woods.
For woods I use lightweight carbines, mid bores and LPVOs.
But, I hunt "big woods" while on the move, either still hunting or doing drives. Rarely are my deer "relaxed" nor are they "stationary" and there's not a a lot of time to make a shot.
It's all about conditions IMHO.
One of the longest shots I've ever made was 540 meters in Austria on a Chamois, from one ridge to the other with a 6X.
The 6X was because at the time I had 2 Steyrs; an 8x68 with a 1.5-6X and a .270W with a 2.2-9. Both wore Steyr QD mounts and when packing I screwed up and grabbed the wrong scope. Luckily the action length was the same and the 1.5-6 attached to the .270 without a hitch, zero'd the rifle and off we went. I also used the 8x68 on a 5x4 bull at a little over 300 yds and the 6X wasn't a hinderance there either.