Binoculars

[cutt down]

Vortex diamondback or nikon prostaff 7. Like them both

[Gooserbat]

A little more than your budget but cameraland has Athlon Cronus Gen 1 8.5x42 for $300.  They will pay the shipping if you call the store and ask.  I have a set of the 10x and your going to pay $750+ to equal these.

[Greg Massey]

Vortex diamondback 10 x 42 .. you can not bet Vortex customer service..

[fmf]

Like many others i like the vortex diamondbacks, but for me 42's are a truck size bino, i keep my atlas 8x42's in the truck. I hunt with diamondback 8x28's which are much more vest friendly imo.   You can get those for well under your budget too.

[BigSlam51]

Vortex diamondback 10×42

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[Pluffmud]

Cant go wrong with Vortex anything... I got the Vortex Crossfire in 12x50. Dangit I love those things. Excellent clarity and great focus. May be a little on the bigger/heavier side for turkey runnin n gunnin, but I got it for glassing the prairies and rivers for waterfowl, and low light conditions for whitetail. You can get the 10x42 on Amazon fo $149 and free shipping right now.

[GobbleNut]

Much of this decision should start out with the consideration of what he plans on using binoculars for.  If he will either now or eventually be hunting game in places where long-distance glassing will be involved, I would firmly state that you should go with a minimum 8X42 pair and 10X50's would be better.  12's can be beneficial in some cases, but for most applications, they are overkill.  Yes, the bigger bino's are heavier, but the complaints about differences in weight and overall size are overblown, in my opinion. The advantages of the bigger glass with better light-gathering capabilities and wider field-of-view more than make up for the weight and size difference.  Furthermore, it is a rare adult hunter that is not capable of carrying a binocular that is a little bigger and weighs slightly more than a smaller pair. 

In terms of brand and cost, my general comment is that the precision in the manufacturing process has improved to a degree that you can get a functional, durable, quality pair of binoculars for under $250 that are perfectly serviceable for just about anything.  Note: there are exceptions to this generality, but most folks are not going to deal with them in most of their hunting applications.

Durability and dust infiltration are key elements, in my opinion.  Really inexpensive binoculars are available, but most of those will get knocked out of alignment pretty quickly unless they are really "babied".  In addition, many of those brands are not well-sealed and will get dust infiltration in the internal lenses over time, as well as have a tendency to eventually start fogging up in adverse conditions.

Several brands have been mentioned already that you can probably get in your price range.  The one brand that I have used that is really inexpensive and still seems to meet the above qualifications for the price are Bushnell binoculars.  In my opinion, for the price, you can't beat them. 

I used them for years,...and have sat next to a guy that was using $2,000 Swarovski's that didn't see the animals that I could spot with those cheapo Bushnells.  Of course, knowing how to use binoculars and spot game with them is another story altogether.

[Greg Massey]

My opinion again, you can still do everything you want to do with a pair of 10 x 42 , NOT.. 8 x 42.. The 10 x 42 are just as good if not better overall than the heavier 10 x 50 or 12 x 50...  The quality of the Vortex are just a better binocular, than some of the others mention. I've own and have a nice pair of 10 x 50 Nikon and I've got a couple pair of Bushnell, but i would rather have the Vortex or Nikon over the Bushnell.. The 10 x 42 just take up less room, less weight and will cover everything your wanting to do with a pair of binoculars.

[TauntoHawk]

What kind of glassing does he plan on doing and is size/weight a factor?

Is it going to be a lot of glassing large fields and open areas, glassing from a car during scouting or is it going going to more important to have them compact enough to always want to carry them, identify objects in the woods, some open area glassing but not at vast distances?

I'd first settle on size then look at brands inside budget. The most common and often versatile is a 42mm lens and I will always recommend an 8x over 10x for anything but western hunting. But I'd say for a young man if he wants to carry them around his neck at all times even an 8x42 might be heavier and more bino than needed and looking at options in the 8x32 category or even in the subcompact category might prove more useful.


I like a little more optics for deer when judging a deers rack in full detail or picking apart a brushy hillside but for turkey telling a hen from a gobbler and a jake for Tom doesn't take as much optics. For that I use a high quality 8x42 glass but for turkey I always reach for a little 7x28 set from maven.

My wife and kids can all use the smaller set easily and they weight nothing so toting them around the turkey woods doesn't require a bulky chest harness.

I would give a good consideration the maven 7x28 their color and clarity is superb for their price range and light transmission is good although obviously limited by their small objective size.

https://mavenbuilt.com/products/c-2-7x28-10x28

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[Meleagris gallopavo]

He's mostly using them from the truck but he likes to get out and sneak around too.  I don't want something big and bulky but with enough magnification to get some decent details.  I use a 10x42x50 Vortex Diamondback myself and I glass birds from the truck and use a harness to carry it with me.  I don't pay much attention to the weight as I generally don't have far to go to set up.  Sometimes I move around to get in front of a bird but my mind is on the bird and not the burden of extra weight. 


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[OJR]

Leupold Timberline 8x42. $125.00
Best bang for the buck.

[EricWHill]

I like tasco binoculars very much. https://www.sportsmanfinder.com/blog/tasco-binoculars

[troutfisher13111]

Vortex 10 by 42. Great binos for the money!!!

Ditto


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[Crghss]

Leupold BX-1 McKenzie, haven't found anything I like better then these. $160 at Optic planet.

Take them everywhere. Turkey hunting, hiking, kayaking. They're great. For me 10x42 is the best combination. Not to heavy and best magnification without the jitters.

https://www.opticsplanet.com/leupold-bx-1-mckenzie-hd-10x42mm-binoculars.html?utm_source=cse&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=connexity&utm_term=16656173657738068872510090301008005&cnxclid=16656173657738068872510090301008005

[tracker#1]

Vortex...I work in retail and sell a lot of them with no complaints. Excellent customer base and super warranty.