Re: I just don't get it, Illumination
No Jon,
I said alot of things about using the illum reticle. You just choose to dwell on one point that a few scopes are slightly better at doing.
Bottom line and this is something I used to watch happen to dozens of shooters several times a year as well as something I have done while hunting for years.
IF, I say again, IF you have a good target ID then you don't need a dot to be your guide. Those who can't find their reticle are most likely using a hash reticle like Horus or TMR.
TRAIN to use your equipt and the only time difference is long after legal hunting time the dot guy can engage a white glob a few minutes longer than a non illum ret can.
TRAIN to use your scope in the low light of LEGAL hunting time and you can pick a buck out of the backround easily and use your Mildot reticle to put that bullet right where you want it.
I've done it too many times down in the dark creek bottoms where tall dead grass, and dark treelines make spotting game a bit tricky but if I can see it I can shoot it without illum.
Like I have said, I've seen and done this too many times to buy into illum works 'better' under any circumstance other than a few minutes more into total darkness at targets I can barely see and NOT ID.
I have seen non-illum shooters shoot much tighter groups than illum shooters, I have no trouble finding my mildot reticle in legal hunting hours, and have the antlers and tusks to show for it. I've seen too many illum shooters with a dead battery or corroded battery box for the 'better to have it and not need it' to give me a warm fuzzy.
For me the bottomline to most gizmo shooting is a bit of training on the proper equipt under the conditions to be encountered trumps some electric 'improvement'.
Train like you fight is real macho, but few do it under challenging conditions. Actually go to the range in the rain, the snow, the gawd awful heat, actually practice 'the shot' on a buck dummy or cutout 300 yards downrange after official sunset against a dull backround.
Anywho, I wonder if those who give a very vague, "the few times I needed the dot, I was glad to have it" could elaborate on how they trained, (obviously they didn't or they wouldn't say the few times), and when did the dot come in handy that their reticle failed. What reticles are we talking about not working in legal hunting light? TMR? Horus?
This can be hashed out online forever, the simple fact check is a low light test where the shooter has to ID the target and then engage. Depending on the distance real animal shapes or similar sized circles and squares, diamonds and rectangles. One drill is balloons of different colors but beware of using LED lights to give the low light glow,(real training is at least an hour so to try and keep the after sunset glow you will need a small artificial light source) LED tends to bleed the color out of the balloons.
Or you can buy a illum scope and for 99.9% of your shooting you won't need the dot, and if you ever do 'need' it AND the battery is still good you won't know any better and say, "the one time I needed it I was damn glad to have it!"
Or something like that
