How to Choose the Best Hunting Scope on the Market

Hunting numbers across the US have been in decline for decades. But 2020 saw a surge in new hunters taking to the field for the first time.

With more free time on their hands, a desire to spend more time in the great outdoors, and the hope of eating wild, healthy food, Americans are getting registered and getting out to hunt.

It takes time to learn how to hunt. But if you want to increase your chances of success, whether you are looking to take a whitetail or a squirrel, you need the best hunting scope that you can afford.

Experienced hunters will tell you that hunting optics is the most important investment you can make. You can have a great hunting rifle, but without a quality scope, you’ll miss every time.

So how do you choose a scope for rifle hunting? Keep reading below to find out.

How High-Quality Scopes Impact Hunting

Head out into the field with a cheap hunting scope and you’ll come home with a list of complaints.

For one, it will be very hard to find your target in the scope. That’s because it has a terrible field of view. That means what you see is very small, and zeroing in on a critter becomes near impossible.

A bad scope will also work terribly in low light conditions. Often, the best hunting occurs just after legal shooting light, when the sun isn’t fully up yet.

A bad scope means no hunting until there’s enough light. A good scope makes it easy to see in these low light conditions, so you can get a shot off in the early morning.

Magnification Level

Choosing a rifle scope is difficult. There are tons of numbers that don’t make sense to most people.

For example, a 3-9×40 scope is recommended for most hunters, particularly those chasing whitetails. But what does that mean?

The first two numbers represent the power of magnification. So in this example, the “3” means that the lowest magnification power will make images appear three times closer than with your naked eye.

The “9” represents the highest magnification power on the scope. Pictures will appear nine times closer than with the naked eye. So this scope has a range of 3-9, which is easily adjustable for hunting distances between 200 yards out to 1,000 yards.

The last number, in our case “40,” represents the diameter of the lens. It’s the size of the glass, with a larger size making it easier to see through your scope, presenting you with a larger picture of your field of view.

Larger diameter lenses also let in more like, making it easier to find targets in low light conditions.

Most hunters would do well with 3-9×40 rifle scopes for hunting, though a lower-powered 2-8×30 does well for hunters shooting from a max distance of 200 yards.

Additional Features for the Best Hunting Scope

There are a few extra features a good hunting scope will have. For example, scopes should be both waterproof and fog proof, since hunting will pit you outside against mother nature.

You also want glass that is anti-reflective and wards off glares so you always have a clear picture. Burris Optics makes some of the best hunting scopes since they combine all these features into one.

Don’t Settle for Cheap Glass

Buying a hunting scope is not something you should rush. The difference between a cheap hunting scope and the best hunting scope means the difference between a full and empty freezer.

If you want success in the field, you need high-quality optics, period.

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