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Who caries binos while rifle hunting

Majja

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Mar 30, 2016
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All of my hunting is base camped where we go out for the day. I have never carried binos when I Rifle hunt as i have always had the scope on my rifle to use for spotting.

Am I missing something by doing it this way? WOuld I be better served by having both my binos and the scope. My scope is a 4x12x40 and the binos are 10X50 ( i think) they are a pair of older Nikon Action's

Always willing to try something new but at the same time do not want to be to loaded down with unnecessary gear.

Thanks
Matt
 
I switched from what you are doing to going with the binos. With a chest harness they are out of the way and quicker to get up. I also don't always feel comfortable pointing my rifle at everything I want to look at without knowing what is behind it. Don't even notice them and miss them when you don't have them.

Jake
 
I never leave home with my binos or spotting scope while hunting out west. Here in pa I always have my binos as well. Biggest reason is what ever your scope is looking at so is your rifle.
 

This makes me sad.

Use your binos. Scopes are not for finding game, but harvesting. Binos will give your eyes a better chance of finding critters. Pointing a gun at anything you do not intend to shoot is usually a bad idea.
 
I hate arseholes who look at me through their rifle scope.
This in spades and triplicate! I find it totally amazing that folks are still doing that this day and age, especially ones savy enough to be posting on the internet.
 
The 2nd to last thing I want to do is accidentally put my rifle on another person because I'm using my scope to see what I'm looking at. The last thing I want is for someone to use their scope to look at me. I've been (semi) unintentionally shot at before, and it's pretty scary when you hear a bullet whiz past your head before you hear the bang.
 
I agree . . . . . not a fan of someone looking in my direction through the scope on their rifle. Too much potential for something bad to happen, that was never the reason a scope was invented or intended. Depending on the terrain, binoculars will help you spot game and plan a stalk after spotting game.

Regarding a "chest pack", here is one I have been considering and will likely get: http://www.kuiu.com/hunting-accessories-field-gear/bino-harness/80010.html?dwvar_80010_color=ViasCamo&cgid=field-gear#start=8

There are a lot of good folks on this site that can give sound advice. Hope that helps.

Good luck.
 
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I use an alaska guide chest pack. it's the smaller one. Room for my binos, wind checker, range finder and tag with a little room to spare. I like to use my binos for scanning the trees on the other side of meadows as I work my way through them. My eyesight can use all the help it can get.
 
One time I saw movement in the brush about 200 yards away. I looked in my binoculars to see what it was, and in my binoculars saw someone looking at me in their scope. Not a good feeling knowing someone has their rifle pointed at me. PLEASE use binoculars!
 
The question should be, who doesn't carry binos when hunting? Binos are a MUST!
 
One time I saw movement in the brush about 200 yards away. I looked in my binoculars to see what it was, and in my binoculars saw someone looking at me in their scope. Not a good feeling knowing someone has their rifle pointed at me. PLEASE use binoculars!

that's one reason I quit rifle hunting in 97. Haven't gone back...
 
Kudos for asking the question. It might seem silly to some, but I wish more people would ask rather than go on uninformed.

Ultimately it goes back to some pretty basic hunters safety principles regarding muzzle control and knowing your target. Regardless of intent, having a gun pointed at you is a very unsettling feeling.
 
I'm not one to make accusations against someone for bad future behaviors, or to assume they would act badly, (or illegally) at some future time.
That said, with about 50+ years of hunting experience, I find it hard to imagine that at some point a person might be tempted to look more closely at someone else for any number of reasons. So when you don't have binoculars, the only option then is your rifle scope.
in some States, intentionally pointing a firearm at another person, constitutes a possible Felony under the Reckless Use of a Weapon public safety laws. It might also be considered Reckless Endangerment.
I remember a time when my brother, a Game Warden stopped his truck to have a look with his binoculars at a hunter in a tree stand. That hunter was looking back at us through his rifle scope. We got out of the truck and made a beeline for the hunter. The hunter started swearing at us for trespassing and ruining his hunting. When brother got up to his tree, he opened his coat to show his uniform and badge, and ordered that hunter got get down to ground level, NOW. That was about as mad as I ever saw a Game Warden. He told him he was pretty close to taking the rifle and trading it for an arrest script. By the time he was done chewing that hunter out, I think every Deer in the township had relocated to a different zip code. The hunter began to wise up too, and figured opening his mouth might mean losing his Remington 700 for the foreseeable future.
Moral of the story, use binoculars.
 
I've used several and would second the kuiu harness. Keeps them close to the chest but easily acessible.
 
I have never done this. Pointed my rifle at some one, nor will I.
 
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