What scope is the best for predator hunting?

[Bob Azadi]

Depending on what you're doing and where are you doing it. I prefer my scopes to be 3-4x on the low end, with the high zoom as high as I can afford. On my yote/ rodent setups I have a 4-20x and a 4-16x. I have a 6-24x on my .243, but I use that on prairie dogs almost exclusively. Glass quality is more important than max zoom IMO.

 

[c_bass16]

For me personally.
I have a very very vary hard time looking past the NX8 2.5-20 with a Mil-XT reticle and if you really want to get wild...add an offset red dot.
at 28oz and 12" long...it's not big, it's not heavy and it has great low end, as well as great top end.
OR the March F Tactical 3-24x with a FML-T1. At 13.2" and 24oz...it's a little longer, but a little lighter as well. Both have a 30mm tube, and a 50mm and 52mm objective respectively.

IMO 2.5x - 3x is plenty low on the low end if you really really really think you need the 1x...you go for an offset red dot like an RMR for quick up close inside 50yd movers.

Specs clipped from a post on SH

For me personally...I'll likely never own another optic that doesn't have a christmas tree style Mil reticle. Knowing your drops makes it stupid fast and you don't need to ever touch your turrets. 12 yrs of shooting matches 120-220 rounds a few times a month gets you comfortable and confident with range and makes knowing your drops almost 2nd nature. For example...for 90% of my guns...I know that 300 yds is going to be between .8 and 1 Mil. At 300 yds, a .2 mil variation is a kill on just about any critter that requres quick acquisition. For colony varmints, you've got more time to be sure of your range and holds.
I have had $4000 optics and $250 optics. Both mentioned fall somewhere in between, but when looking at high end glass...I have no issue buying off a 2nd hand market.
A preowned $2000 optic you can get for 1500 is still going to be worth $1450 a couple years later....where a $600 optic might be hard to ever get rid of down the road if you change your mind.

When you have a reticle that gives you mil hash hold overs (not BDC)... MPBR becomes an unnecessary crutch.

Shots like these are actually really really simple when you know your rifle and dope. And if you have something beyond 400 (400 yds for me is an easy 1.5 Mil hold)or you think you really really really need to burn rounds that far...you absolutely have time to get an accurate range and dial if you choose to. From what I've seen...more coyotes are educated by people spraying ammo on shots they have no business taking, than anything else.

 

[Hidalgo]

Most new hunters go with scopes with WAY too much power for the task. And then they keep them cranked up to the max, only to have a difficult time finding the target in the scope at closer ranges. Unless you're out west or regularly shooting extreme ranges at the club, a max of 12x is about all that most folks will ever need to predator hunt. The last 4 coyotes I killed were shot at near 100 yards with a scope that was set on 6x and they were all clean hits. My regular hog rifle wears a 4-14, and I can't remember the last time I moved it from 4x. Do I have more powerful scopes? Of course. But they aren't for use in a sage field shooting coyotes either.

 

[cropdamage]

C_bass16, good info and thanks for posting.
I originally had posted info on using NF NXS compact scopes (like Alf) for my application . I guess the info didn't fit the original narrative , so I deleted it .

 

[cropdamage]

Most new hunters go with scopes with WAY too much power for the task. And then they keep them cranked up to the max, only to have a difficult time finding the target in the scope at closer ranges. Unless you're out west or regularly shooting extreme ranges at the club, a max of 12x is about all that most folks will ever need to predator hunt. The last 4 coyotes I killed were shot at near 100 yards with a scope that was set on 6x and they were all clean hits. My regular hog rifle wears a 4-14, and I can't remember the last time I moved it from 4x. Do I have more powerful scopes? Of course. But they aren't for use in a sage field shooting coyotes either.

I'm not around new hunters much anymore, but from what I have seen and read, I would agree on the to much power. I would tend to believe, the new to the sport are trying to have a do all rifle for the first purchase. Cheaper scopes with lots of power and not so great glass.
For most of my applications ,I like a top end of 10 -14x . Start low and turn up as needed.

The NX8 power range has been on my mind for my mulit-use rigs , however.

 

[Utahcaller]

The last couple years I’ve been using the Nightforce SHV 3x10-42mm. With a regular duplex. I bought 2 one for my .22-250 Ackley, and one for my .17 Tactical. Will probably buy another one for a .20 Tactical I’m thinking of building. I really like it, tracks very well. Great glass and takes a beating.

Good Hunting Chad

 

[borkon]

A 3x9 will handle anything I need out to 400 yards.
My favorite is an older B&L mounted on a 22_250.

 

[Polock]

Best is what you think it is. If you feel you need a 20x scope to see a coyote well enough to shoot if at any reasonable range then what you need s a 20x scope. I got a 4 1/2-14 when I got my 6.5x06. I imagined shooting at long range. Well the longest range I ever ended up shooting at was 500yds at paper target's. And the only power I ever needed was 8x! Today the rifle wears a 3-9x scope which I found adequate to 500yds and the scope is a lot smaller! My own feeling about scope's is that many people handicap themselves with a lot more scope than they really need.

 

[K22-hornet]

Field of view can be important, as can 'brightness' (low light performance), for those last stands of the day.

Looking and comparing scopes in the store can be deceiving, ask to take them outside at dusk for a better idea on what to expect for low light. The scopes are not all created equal in that regard.

For the same cost, I'd rather have a higher quality 3x9, than a lower quality 6x24, especially for coyotes.

 

[Polock]

I respect your opinion, it is a nice rig.

"How you hunt and where you hunt will have a lot to do with what glass your rifle will wear."(AWS)

"What Features",

Rock solid dialing, I have a BDC on my open country scope it will get me to 500 yards , never have to touch the scope and yes I do take it to the range and check my holds. The only time my rifle gets dialed is sighting it in. As far as always being in the thick stuff, it is my favorite kind of hunting, up close and personal is a rush. That said I will hunt open country but if I have to take over a 300 yards shot I figure I screwed up the stand and would rather pass on it and come back another time and do it right. I can hold on fur to 300 yrds and even a duplex works fine out there.

High end glass, predators are big, I can see higher end optic for GS and PD's halfway across the county, coyotes are big you can see them out there quite a ways with lesser glass. and like I said glass has come a long way, even very low end scopes like a($90) Weaver 1-4x24mm scope I tested had glass we would have died for 50 yrs ago and the cheap little Konus($139) 1.5-6x44 on my AR is bright and clear.

Weaver 1-4x24

Konus Pro 1.5-6x44

My goto guns have proven optics on them, scopes from Burris, Sightron, Leupold, Meopta work well. They just aren't over the top expensive.

From the write ups here and other sites a newbie would get the impression that you can't harvest a coyote unless you have a high-end rifle and at least $1500. worth of scope on it. Most called coyotes are killed under 300 yards and a Savage Axis and a Leupold Freedom 3-9 will get the job done reliably. My old Rem 600 in 223 with a Weaver K-4 killed a lot of predators from WI to MT until the barrel was toast with nary a hiccup, with your thinking I never should have gotten out of Ozaukee County without it failing.

A scope is just a sighting device as long as it will keep the crosshairs in the same place it will kill critters.

Last PM convention I shot this in the Egg Shoot, Champions division and made it to the third round, 50+ year old B&L Balvar 8 and on the way back to camp from the shoot stopped and killed a coyote with it. I drove nearly a thousand miles and entered a competition with the scope and killed coyotes. I bought two of these scopes for $60/2. Heck it doesn't even have turrets.

Drove from WA to WI and relied on a Weaver V-3, absolutely reliable.

The list could go on and on about drive back and forth across the country and relying on under $300 scopes to get the job done and they do.

I loaded some ammo for a guy that had one of those old scopes. Really nice looking through it but his adjustment's on the rings were messed up nd I wore myself out trying to find a new set of rings for it. Just the adjustment's being on the rings would keep me from ever getting one of them.

 

[derbyacresbob]

With optics, more money buys you more time, as in the ability to see better in low light conditions.

Depending on how and where a person hunts, one scope might work better than another.

Here in the wide open West, the day gets bright quickly, and stays brighter later, than, say, Central Wisconsin, in the tall timber under a heavy overcast.

For magnification, 4x12 or 4x14, seems to be all I need.

I agree!

With 12 power I can shoot much tighter groups when sighting in at 100 yards. With my old eyes a 1" dot doesn't look very big at 100 yards with a 9 power scope.

When I use a rifle it is in wide open ground with very little cover. I have my scope set on 6 to 8 power when calling coyotes.