Looking for Professional Opinions

[K9067]

I am looking to purchase a new hunting scope for Large Whitetail Hunting in Northern Canada. Looking for suggestions on a scope suitable for shots ranging between 50 yards in thick heavy wooded areas out to 500 yards in open farm land fields. Looking for something that is durable to the extreme weather conditions which we encounter in Northern Canada. Prefer good eye relief, First Focal Plane, Locking Turrets, Illumination, and some magnification levels to enhance animal at a distance for my aging eyes. Price range no greater than $2600.00. Open for your suggestions. So Send it as I’m all ears

 

[goosed]

I am looking to purchase a new hunting scope Immediately. I believe that I have narrowed my selection down to a new Leupold Mark 5 HD 5-25x56 F1 or a Minox 5-25x56 LR looking for options as to which would be the better scope to purchase for long range hunting situations in low light conditions.

The simple answer is Minox... but...

Are you dead set on those as your only options?
There is a large price difference between them, what made you choose those two specific models?
Long range hunting in low light is a challenge on many fronts... What kind of range & light situations are we talking?
What type of hunting setup (terrain, coverage, weather, etc.) & equipment?
What features are you looking for in a scope? (reticles, turrets, weight, magnification(&FOV), parallax, illumination, etc.)
Price range?

The more we know about your specific situation(s) and what you are looking for from the scope the more useful recommendations you'll get.

 

[mrtoyz]

Vortex AMG would be perfect. Great reticle and light weight. I’ve been impressed with the resolution and clarity

 

[ULTRAEDGE]

S&B 4x16x56 ultra bright. Euro optics has like new demos for $2799.00 This checks all of your boxes. I have one but still prefer my Swarovski X5i even though it is second focal plane. The Swaro has more elevation adjustment, the turrets feel better to me, and the low light performance is at least as good. both have good illumination and tracking. The S&B is a 34mm tube . The Swaro is 30mm.

 

[Sniperstud]

5x is a lot of magnification for heavily wooded terrain at 50 yards. I prefer 2x-3x on the low end. It gives you a wider field of view, and a brighter image, given comparable optical quality, of course. In addition, many, if not all, of the 5x-25x models have tunneling issues below about 7x due to the erector design. This means that your field of view at 5x will be the same as at 7x. This is a huge disadvantage in close, dark, heavily wooded or brushy environments.

A 500 yard shot is a long shot on game, but not all that long in terms of long range. Unless you are wanting the extra power on the top end to substitute for a spotting scope, you shouldn’t need more than 15x or 16x to make a clean game shot at that distance.

 

[Sinned]

Vortex razor giii 1-10 or the Kahles k18i is where I'd start looking.

 

[toader]

Schmidt & Bender Polar......