Low light coyote scope

S

SEMN Coyote

New member
I've read lots of your questions and reviews, sorry to repeat some of the same in this post.

Looking for your opinions on which of the following scope to purchase. I'll be hunting under a full moon and aiming at coyote.

Burris XTR II 4-20x50 illuminated $977
Nightforce SHV 5-20x56 illuminated $1,299... possibly as low as $1,099
Athlon Cronus 4.5-29×56 illuminated $1,660 found a used one for $800, unsure of actual condition. I've never picked up a Athlon and know very little about it other than what I've read.

Nightforce tube is 30mm while other two are 34mm. I don't have rings for either yet.

I've eliminated most other options as the glass didn't sit well with my eye, or some other factor. I have 15-20 vision, left eye dominate, but was taught to shoot right handed. I see things differently than most because of this. I've never hunted at night before, and I'm a little worried about how it goes as I shoot with both eyes open. My screwed up dominate eye/ RH shot blends the two together and it's hard to explain the magnification I see.

Let me know your suggestions, or if you think I should look at anything else. I've eliminated Trijicon, Leupold, and Vortex. Great scopes, just don't set up for my eyes.
 
I've been night hunting in MN for several years now. All those scopes sound too big for me. 8 out of 10 shots are under 100 yards, and 8 out of 10 shots happen in under 5 seconds from seeing the coyote.

There's too much cover around here for coyotes to just come running willy nilly through fields, and even with snow in a perfect full moon most the time you wont even be able to see a coyote over 300 yards away.

If you're hunting south east Minnesota, at least most the areas I'm familiar with down there, there's fields up top and steep drops into thick wooded valleys. You will have to night hunt up top in the fields for the most part and the coyotes are going to use those steep hills as cover, they will use that cover wisely and come running into the field straight for the call at full speed, you will need to bark to get them to stop for a shot(this is how most my stands work out). 3-9x or 2-7x with a light up reticle, light up reticle is basically a must have, and good glass for as much light as possible. My favorite night scope so far is the Leupold VX-R, good clear glass at night and the little light up dot in the center is perfect, careful with some illumination like Vortex and US Optics. Vortex lights up the whole reticle including dots and lines and gadgets in there that aren't even used for aiming, making it harder to follow the dark silhouette of a coyote at night and US Optics lights their reticle by what seems like shining a light on the whole piece of glass containing the reticle and that washes out the whole picture making it harder to see anything at night.

My 8-32 Nightforce has a great picture at night and the light up reticle doesn't cover too much(lights up more than necessary) and the light doesn't wash out the lenses so wether the light is on or off the picture in the scope stays the same.

If you don't like the VX-Rs I would look at some of the lower powered Nightforces.

I've watched several friends miss coyotes because they were screwing around with their over powered scopes that work great at targets during the day but when you're talking about these little ghost like coyotes you need to be on the ball fast. And if you are having trouble with eye dominance and getting a good sight picture that problem is going to be compounded by low field of view, low light and coyotes dodging around back and forth.

And make sure you actually enjoy a scope with the first focal plane reticle. I can't stand them and I've got a buddy that just spent a bunch on US Optic and he found out afterwards he doesn't like the first focal plane reticle and the scope has sub par illumination. Spending money doesn't make more fur, I try to tell him that all the time.
 
I agree with Rock Knocker about too much power in the scopes. It sounds more like you are looking for a F Class scope or Parrie Dogging or Groundhogs,etc... In the fact that in TN we can't hunt at night I can't say but I do know a lower powered scope works better. TN used to allow night hunting and the lower power scopes worked great.. Not even the good quality scopes back then worked great but they were low power. I think in hunting people use too much magnification even though I also think it is better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. I have a 1-8 I'm liking real well. Low power for the thick cover. I just don't see many coyotes running through fields to my call. The coyotes I do see never stop,always moving. You say hunting under a full moon, I hope the moon is electronic with a lot of candle power or a night vision scope which it sounds like what you will need. JMO
 
Right now I am happily hunting with a VX-R 1-4x. 30mm tube but only 22mm objective lense, I still see great at night, those 2lb 56mm lenses aren't necessary and turn a sweet swinging hunting rifle into a top heavy lug of a gun quicker than you'd think.

If I had to do it over again I would get a 2-7x for the one or two shots I get a year at the slower coyotes that hang up past 150 yards.
 
I've been running the VX-R 3-9x40 for the past few years and really like it as well. As stated by Rock, 2-7x would be a great all around calling scope, although I really haven't felt that the 3-9 has been too much scope.
 
My personal opinion you're going with plenty of magnification for night hunting coyotes. Most all shots are inside 100 yards. Most of those even within 60. I have a Nikon coyote special 4.5-14 and wished it would go lower. I got a nightforce shv 3-10×42 for my ar I'm building. Haven't hunted with it yet but I took it to a field of corn stalks Saturday night to look through it under the moon. The first time I looked through it it was bright enough that I looked behind me to see if a vehicle was coming down the road and their headlights were lighting up the corn stalks. To me it seemed much brighter than my Nikon. The moar reticle is really fine and hard to see though.
 
I haven't played with all the scope options out there but right now the only thing I would replace my VX-R with would be one of those nightforces.
 
I have a luepold VX6 1x6 on my dedicated coyote gun

It has very good low light transmission and is deadly to 300 yards that I have tested it to

I just got my 25DTI and put a luepold VX6 HD 2x12 on it

Now, that thing is awesome in low light compared to my VX6, really has a awesome picture and is bright at dusk
 
No matter what scope, a coyote 2 hours after sunset,moon no moon,snow or no snow it is a silhouette to shoot at. I want a illuminated dot for best shot placement. I will usually place bait for a 185-200 yard shot, I have a friend who is paralyzed who enjoys sitting and watching for a coyote to shoot. That's about as close as I can get him(by vehicle).

Dream scope for me Meopta R1r 3-12x56 with the dot(4c) 99.8% light transmission. Price would be in terms range of other scopes mentioned.
 
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I have hunted with Burris, Leupold, Vortex, NF, Nikon, Trijicon and Zeiss. Zeiss wins hands down no questions asked in low light.

There are HD5s well into your price range right now. Of the scopes you mentioned, Burris. I would SERIOUSLY consider a Zeiss though.
 
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