Whether you’re a professional or an avid hunter that wants to explore the wilderness for fun, shooting optics are one of the most important equipment pieces that let you easily locate and shoot your target with precision. However, you probably know that this era of innovations and technology development didn’t skip shooting optics at all, as they became far beyond the traditional iron sights that were popular in the past.
Hence, when it comes to choosing the perfect hunting optics for yourself, you’ll undoubtedly stumble upon a wide range of different types packed with a bunch of different features and functionalities. And since it’s the worst realizing that your new optics failed to do the job, or you overpaid for features you don’t even need, we put together a couple of tips to help you choose the right option for your hunting adventures.
Pay Attention to the Sight
Optics’ sight is part of the sophisticated optical system that has the purpose to “absorb” things like windage, parallax, elevation and low light conditions. In fact, the sight uses a system that requires alignment so you can get an accurate point of aim on the target.
Hence, once you decide to explore hunting optics for sale, you’ll come across the following couple of types of sights:
Open Sight
We already mentioned that open, or commonly referred to as iron sights are the traditional type that date from the Civil War. Later, they were also used in World War II, but in a lot more advanced and modern versions than the previous ones. And even though these optic sights aren’t used anymore, it’s important to mention them as a comparison point to the other sight types we’ll talk about later.
Except for that, open sights were delivering a good-quality accuracy with slight variances in the slight components, but they required using the old school technique of aligning your sight to match the rear and the front sights to create a straight line to the target.
However, simultaneously focusing on three distances, the target, the rear and the front sight was an impossible task for a lot of hunters, which imposed the need of inventing more sophisticated and easy-to-use sight types.
Reflex Sight
Reflex, or commonly referred to as red dot sight is a type of very popular sight used in tactical optics. They work through a reflective mirror-imaging optical system that causes the appearance of a red or green dot through the lens to assist close and fast shooting.
These sights are very popular among the military, competitive speed shooters and shotgunners. However, keep in mind that the red dot can sometimes fail due to electronic problems, and this is why it’s best to check it more often and have a backup option.
Holographic Sight
Holographic sights work through the similar technology of red dot sights, with the only difference being that they use a different projection system. In fact, the image in holographic sights is provided onto a single, flat glass panel which helps you get a fast target acquisition no matter what angle your eyes are at.
Holographic sights are considered very accurate, and influences such as parallax aren’t an issue at all. However, you have to keep both your eyes open constantly to guarantee 100% accuracy.
Laser Sight
Last, but not least, laser sights are one of the most convenient types. These sights don’t require any alignments as their green or red lasers are enough accurate to confirm where you aim.
However, keep in mind that laser sights have a couple of drawbacks. For instance, they’re extremely sensitive to atmospheric conditions which makes them unreliable when hunting. On top of that, due to reflectivity factors, weather and lighting conditions, the laser can only be seen if it’s on a reflective-enough surface which can be a huge problem for hunting in long-distance and open fields.
Consider the Magnification
Optics’ magnification power is their ability to show the size of an image in relation to the size of the object creating it. For instance, if your scope features a magnification power of 4-12X32, this means that you’ll be able to see your target 4 to 12 times closer.
However, this doesn’t mean that the higher the magnification the better, as magnification power of 4x to 6x is quite appropriate for standard purposes. But on the other hand, if you’re a long-distance rifle shooter, you might want to provide yourself with a magnification power of up to 15x.
Choose the Right Objective Lens
On the other hand, the 32 in the 4-12X32 is the objective diameter which tells you how big the outer lens is in millimetres. In this case, large objective lens could be better, as they give you a larger field of view.
However, know that the larger objective lens, the more you’ll have to pay attention to how well it mounts to your firearm. The mounting scope rings need enough space for the scope to clear the riffle, so make sure you’re careful enough.
Opt for Adjustable Objectives
In order to successfully dodge the condition called parallax, many high-tech optics come with adjustable objectives. In fact, this is when the image is on another focal plane than the reticle, which results in the reticle shifting from the target or aim point whenever you move your eyes or head to a different angle.
While reflex and holographic sights are considered parallax-free devices, some scopes are set at certain distances to compensate for it. Hence, when using a scope that has higher than 10X magnification power, parallax could be an issue. This can only be fixed with adjustable objective lens, so make sure you don’t skip them when choosing shooting optics.
Go for a Water and Fog-proof Model
Finally, it’s of crucial importance to choose optics that are resistant to impacts such as water and fog. You probably know that hunting can be an adventurous activity that can occur in rain, snow and muddy terrains. Hence, you’ll have to clean the lens constantly to keep your vision high. You can imagine what can happen to your optics when hunting in rainy conditions if they can’t survive occasional flashes of moisture while cleaning them.
Now that you know the basic optics aspects, it’s time to hit the market and start searching for the perfect option for your upcoming hunting adventures.
