Good scope crucial in many low-light hunting situations
John Johnston

One evening last week I was hunting out of a stand that faces predominantly south. I was trying out a rifle that could shoot a group the size of a dime. To achieve this, it had a 6 to 24 power scope.

There was a feeder about 70 yards in front of me. The does and fawns were abundant under the feeder.

When dusk approached, I saw a big deer coming across a field toward the feeder. Using my Steiner binoculars I could tell it was a nice, wide buck. Putting down the binoculars and grabbing my rifle, I tried to find the buck in the scope.

I turned it all the way down to 6 power, but still there was not enough light coming through the scope to get an ethical sight picture.

The next evening I went out to the same location and carried an old Savage 99 with a Weaver 2.5 power scope just as old. Even though the big buck did not show up again, I felt I could have seen well enough at dusk with that scope to make a good shot.

What I learned -- or rather relearned -- was when shooting in low-light situations to use a lowpowered scope. The higher the power, the less light gets through to your eye.

I have a couple scopes with lighted reticules which, even though they might be a good idea, may not help much in low-light situations. If you cannot see the deer clearly, a lighted aiming point is useless.

Four phrases are used frequently by scope manufacturers in describing the quality of their scopes. These concern the coating of the lenses. Coatings allow more light to get through the series of lenses in a scope.

A coated lens means one, usually the front, lens is coated. A fully coated scope means the front and rear lenses are coated. A multi-coated scope means the front lens has several coatings. The best scope will be fully multi-coated, which means every lens in the scope has multiple coatings. This scope typically allows the most light to be transferred through the scope to the shooter's eye.

You might think with all the shooting I do that I use high-dollar scopes.

My collection ranges from $60 scopes to some 10 times that price; each one has its own benefits. There are some brands I will not use, but that is my choice. I demand accuracy, clarity and reliability from my scopes no matter their cost, and if one cannot deliver, it's gone.

If you are looking for a good all-around scope, the 3x9 Leupold VX-1 is hard to beat for the price, and it has the best warranty in the business.

John Johnston was a sergeant detective for the Austin Police Department for 25 years. He was also a licensed gun dealer for 25 years who now lives in Lampasas County.

He can be contacted via e-mail at olsingleshot@gmail.com.