Max Range - Glassing

[Deleted member 28227]

What is the furthest you can glass up critters?

Assuming clear line of sight, mule deer sized animal, out in the open.

With 10x42 binos?

With a 20-60x spotter?

* assuming high quality glass on a tripod.

 

[vanish]

Too many factors. Sun and body angle have a huge effect on it. I'm pretty sure I've spotted pronghorn at 4+ miles with 10x42s before.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Too many factors. Sun and body angle have a huge effect on it. I'm pretty sure I've spotted pronghorn at 4+ miles with 10x42s before.

I'm guess I'm asking under perfect conditions, the farthest I've glassed up prong horn was 4 miles. At that distance you could tell bucks from does with a spotter. Has anyone glassed up animals at 10 miles?

 

[Irrelevant]

a couple miles with binos on a tripod and good conditions. Heat waves will be the killer.

 

[Pucky Freak]

10 miles? Better get some elevation if it's antelope- the horizon is just 3 miles away if you're 6 ft tall. Numerous times on hunting shows I've heard them say they''ve spotted animals at 4 to 4.5 miles, and nearly all those cases there is no play on the animals that day due to travel time to get there. I've used 10x50s to spot dall sheep at 5-8 miles but can't tell sex. Only able to spot because happened to have a clear day and they are in stark contrast to brownish gray rock in AK summer.

 

[ImBillT]

I’ve spotted deer at over 2 miles with 8X binos. I could tell sex by body shape and size, but that’s not always 100%. Seeing antlers is possible when the light and background are right. How far over 2 miles I’m not exactly sure. I could see 3-4 being possible under the right circumstances with 8X-10X. You need A LOT more power than that to decide if it’s a buck you actually wanna shoot though.

 

[Werty]

I know I have seen elk, without glass, at 1 mile " I know the area well, so i know what I'm looking at". So based on that, multiple that by whatever your glass power is. I will also say, I couldn't tell you what sex it was, I could just see bodies contrasted against mountain side

 

[dmandoes]

At what range can u tell what u r looking at without having to get closer? What r u using for optics?

 

[Irrelevant]

Without sun I was unable to sex mule deer at a little over a mile this fall. Will sun it was easy to count points. Lighting made all the difference.

 

[antlerradar]

I one time glassed a buck chasing a doe in sun, snow and cold at just under three miles. I could see his antlers fairly well with 15 power binoculars. Set a speed record setting up the spotting scope but wasn't fast enough. It was the last day of the season and there was no way I could get there by dark. I never could catch up with him even though I looked for him the rest of the winter and the next year. Sure would have liked to get a better look at him.

 

[madtom]

Once you’re beyond about a half mile, I don’t know how you can guess how far away something actually is. Unless there’s a recognizable landmark you can find on the map/gps, it’s kind of a wild guess with big error bars.

 

[WalkingBird]

How about javelina in overcast wind in AZ? Even with Vortex Dback you're good to a mile, but most are 1/2-3/4 mile (using the Line Distance tool on OnX to guestimate)

 

[antlerradar]

Once you’re beyond about a half mile, I don’t know how you can guess how far away something actually is. Unless there’s a recognizable landmark you can find on the map/gps, it’s kind of a wild guess with big error bars.

That is how I measured the distance. Put a ruler on a 7.5 minute quad and calculated the distance.

 

[Old man bob]

Elk at 4 plus miles. A great Bull , but at that distance couldnt tell how great with 15 power Minox. I been preaching for 25 years to people use a tripod. I even have used it Turkey hunting in open Country. ............BOB!

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Far horizon is 50miles out?

 

[Doublecluck]

We have glassed plenty of elk in the gravallies from the Madison range. Even killed a few. Over 10 miles for sure. It’s a lot easier to pick up a herd of 20-300 than a couple though.