Mt elk hunt binocular choice 8x or 10x

[hank4elk]

Love my 8x30 Steiners in thick stuff,low & bright light.Ruby lenses.
But in most of my hunting in NM now I need the distance of 10's over seeing thru thick brush usually.
I have Alpen 10x42's & HD/ED10x50's and use the 10x50's mostly now.
I use them on a tripod for long range long time glassing,off walking poles or just sitting bracing on knees.
They do bounce a bit if I am just holding them for a long time.
But the difference over the very good 10x42's in clarity at distance,low light make up for the slight extra weight & bounce. They are the same size just about too.
Also have a Alpen 20x60 spotter. I get less eye fatigue with the Alpen spotter than I did with my Leupolds. Just me.

8x30 quality glass will work good. But 10x42's are what most folks use in the west for distance & overall glassing.

 

[pre6422hornet]

Hank I have been using Steiner 8x30 predators since 1998. I love them for whitetails here in the midwest, and have used them out west in Colorado and New Mexico.

I upgraded to some 8x42 Meopta's a few years back and while they are very nice, I still can't get used to having to use the focus wheel on the Meoptas. My daughter has commandeered the Steiners for now!

Just some food for thought on the OP's original question. Back in 2015 I drew the Oct 10-14 muzzleloader tag in New Mexico for unit 45. On the second morning, 15 minutes before legal shooting light 7 elk materialized out of the timber and started feeding in the meadow 210 yards away. My hunting partner had 10x42's and I had the 8x42's.

He couldn't see the antlers on the two bulls that were in the group. I could see them clearly. Sometimes lower magnification is a good thing.

 

[hank4elk]

I had a similar experience there in 45 in 08'. O dark thirty & I can clearly see the bull & rack in the meadow @ 200.Had to wait for 45 min. and by then they were in the thick aspens.
I used the 8x30's for coastal deer in CA & deep woods in Sierras'.
Just did a test with the Steiner 8x30's & the Alpen10x50's plus an old pair of Bushnells on a herd of elk leaving my place this morning. About 1500' yrds away. Both picked up the bodies quick but I could spot the bull in this herd & the 6x rack with the 50's. 1st light to sunup.
The same with an old pair of Bushnell 10x42's & I could not see them til it got lighter.
I still use the Steiner 8x30's if I am hunting in close/dense stuff.
But to save myself a 2mi walk I use the 10x50's in the open PJ's and big country.These pics are right after I went in & got the camera & tripod. My corner posts are about 1800' here.They like going out thru the low draw across the valley.
It's the ability of the Steiners to pick up all light that have always impressed me.Mine are just Sunbird models,compact military style I got for $160 new on Sierra Trading post 20 yrs ago.

 

[Firehawk54]

I'm finding it odd that guys can't hold a 10 power glass steady enough. mtmuley

Mtmuley, believe me, I thought it weird too. How could I have spent the money I did on multiple sets of "good glass" and still have the same issues. Almost seemed that I couldn't keep them focused. Once on a tripod, they were terrific, but handholding, no way. That went away when I went with a good 8x42 bino. Now we have an 8x32 Minox BD BR ASPH (son #1), a Zen Ray ZRS HD 8x42 (Daughter #1), a Zen Ray Prime HD 8x42 (just picked up, but son #2 will likely use), my personal Maven B2 9x45 and recently sold an 8x42 Vortex Talon HD (sold last month), and my older Leica Duovid 8-12x42 (sold last summer).

 

[zfountaine55]

Mtmuley, believe me, I thought it weird too. How could I have spent the money I did on multiple sets of "good glass" and still have the same issues. Almost seemed that I couldn't keep them focused. Once on a tripod, they were terrific, but handholding, no way. That went away when I went with a good 8x42 bino. Now we have an 8x32 Minox BD BR ASPH (son #1), a Zen Ray ZRS HD 8x42 (Daughter #1), a Zen Ray Prime HD 8x42 (just picked up, but son #2 will likely use), my personal Maven B2 9x45 and recently sold an 8x42 Vortex Talon HD (sold last month), and my older Leica Duovid 8-12x42 (sold last summer).

How do you like you Maven B2's? I use Vortex Viper HD 10x42 and am looking to upgrade and the Maven B2's keep climbing closer to the top of my list.

 

[KClark]

The higher quality the glass the less X you need. In other words high quality optics resolve better so what you can see with Leica 8x you might need 12x Bushnells to pick it out. Usually fixed power have better resolution than variable when set to the same magnification.

Having spent some time in the Bob I would be very happy with 8x binos.

 

[el unit]

My 8x30 SLC's have been excellent the last 10 years. But I'm sure 10x42 EL's would be even better.

 

[Firehawk54]

How do you like you Maven B2's? I use Vortex Viper HD 10x42 and am looking to upgrade and the Maven B2's keep climbing closer to the top of my list.

To my eyes they are definitely better than the Vipers. I believed them to be better than the Razor HDs that I was comparing them to. I also thought that they were better than the Conquest HD binos, although I didn't spend a lot of the time in the outdoors with the Conquest.

I felt that these Mavens were better then my Leica Duovids and so I sold them after spending some real time with the B2s. After using them exclusively this past fall, I like them even better today than I did at the start. Good early morning and late evening light, very good at exploring the shadows and I feel that the color pops on them.

FH