Binoculars are under my right arm always out of the way, but on the ready! 

Using good pair of binoculars this bull was spotted from about 1400 yards away with a smaller bull.  

Years ago I would carry in my backpack my spotting scope and camera, which was a big SLR Minolta.   My binoculars were always on my side under my arm.

These days I carry only the binoculars and a small digital camera with me.   I feel that my binoculars can tell me what I need to know about horn configuration on an Pronghorn – Antelope, Deer, Elk or Exotic.  

Having been in the sporting goods business and doing trade shows for sporting goods manufacturers in the past, I have been able to test out just about every model and manufacturer of optics.  There are a great deal of great optics out there for you to look and find the pair that will be comfortable for you.

It is not how much you pay for optics, but how they feel, are they clear, will they gather enough light during low light conditions and will do the job for you.   I have never been one for compact binoculars for hard field use.  I might have a spare pair of compact binoculars in my backpack, just in case I get into a pinch.

I suppose I should explain myself on the issue of compacts.   This of course has nothing with cost, as many compacts are as much as larger binoculars.   My thoughts is in the size of the glass and how much light gathering do I really get when it is needed.  A vast majority of people buy compacts because of the size.   There have been many times while hunting and glassing into timber  or glassing during the early and late hours of the day that a pair of compacts could have never given me the view to see game, little along game with horns.   In my opinion the amount of glass you have determines a great deal in light gathering capabilities of the optics especially during low light conditions.

My two (2) favorite binoculars are the Bushnell Discoverer 10X42 (roof prism) and the Elite 12X50.  The 12X50 that I have is the Baush & Lomb model date about 5 years old and is of the Porro Prism.   

This particular model is now a roof prism and more streamline.  Almost all of the optics are marketed through Bushnell.  I would strongly urge anyone to check out this brand of optics with a great warranty.   A pair of binoculars should be clear, easy to use, comfortable to the eye with no distortion or eye strain, waterproof and within your budget.  There are a lot of very good binoculars that don’t cost thousands of dollars.  Recently I used a pair of the Trophy Model Roof Prism 10×42 Bushnell on a test and they worked very well.  What a bargain that they were with fully coated lens, BaK-4 prism and waterproof all for under $150.00 bucks. 

http://www.bushnell.com

A few years ago on a mule deer hunt above the John Day River, near Clarno.  I had my son and an old friend with me.   My old friend wanted to check out a spot before the end result area that I wanted to hunt.  This little side trip delayed us a little to long to catch the bucks that were held up in Dry Creek.   As we got there I could see deer moving out at about 800-1000 yards.  I told the boys “there are some dandy bucks going out over the ridge in the 30″ class.”   “What bucks” were the comments back from my son and friend.  The two of them could not see horns at all.   I told them that optics are everything!

Oh!  The 12X50 Elites do weight a bit, but I do feel that it is all worth it.  I can rely on them to function every-time that I pull them up to spot game.

As I said earlier, I do not hang my bino’s around my neck and never have.  I like to have them on my right side under my arm, as I am left handed.  Very easy to grab and pull up at any given moment.   I have always had them connected to a wide camera strap.  Having them in my front is an uncomfortable to me and I also feel that they can slow one down when in the “Blink” Mode.   I would suggest you to try this the next time you are hunting or scouting! 

340 Weatherby MK V Custom.

This is a story about a rifle that I have had since 1983. It is also a story from the starting of a New Year January 01, 2008.I have had the rifle since 1983 when I was managing a sporting goods store for Burns Bros., Inc. It was a great gig in those days to be able to be a Weatherby Dealer; know Roy Weatherby and Harry Bane. I was able to get Weatherby rifles for less that dealer cost and get hand selected wood and little extra done on my rifles. I wish that I had all of those Weatherby’s that went into my gun cabinet in the 80’s.The lone 340 Weatherby is the last rifle from those days that I have. In all reality, I not longer have it; I actually gave it to Frank Jr. about a year ago. 

The 340 Weatherby has been through a lot over the years, had a half a dozen scope put on it. Has probably shot over 2000-3000 rounds, with some of them loaded pretty warm. It has been taken on a motorcycle, quad, horse and my back. It was on a horse of mine that balked on a steep trail in the Snake River and rolled down the canyon. Neither the rifle nor the horse was damage badly. It has been abused most definitely to the max. You would think that the rifle would be worn out!

The rifle has never failed on a hunt. All of the elk that I have ever taken have been taken with the 340 rifle, which is many-many elk.  Elk have been shot in the Snake River canyon at a 900-1000 yards, along the John Day River at 900-1000 yards.  Oh! And it has taken a bull at 50 feet one time in open country. No bull has ever gotten away from the wrath of the 340.

340 Weatherby has always been a tough rifle to sight in. Always a one shot rifle, anymore than 3 rounds would cause the bullets to drift and you would have to wait for the #2 26″ contour barrel to cool down.   About three years ago, I finally went to the two piece Leupold bases with double dovetail rings. I had to do it with a 30/378 Weatherby that broke the one piece base.  I have to tell you that after doing that, the 340 Weatherby really preformed at the shooting range.

So on January 01, 2008 after Frankie got a replacement scope from Bushnell (4200 2.5X10 50MM 30MM Tube), I quickly mounted the scope on the rifle and we headed up toward Goat Mt., outside of Colton, OR. We have a favorite spot up on Gray’s Hill Road that we can shot up to 1000 yards.

The snow was deep of course since the last snow storm. Normally I would not want to sight-in a rifle on a day like this, but Frankie and his girlfriend Holly were persistence in that I go up and get it done. You know that Frankie can out shot me, well at least he is on the quick swing shots, but he does love the way I sight in a rifle.  I feel that it is never the rifles fault if one misses game after I have them sighted-in and all screws are checked.

Anyway it took a while to get to our spot; luckily no one took the spot as a parking spot, as everyone from Portland was up there playing in the snow. There was a great 55 gal drum at the top of the road to set up a shooting platform. Oh! Course I only had Barnes X bullets to shoot at paper.  Quickly sighted in the rifle at 25 yards to get it close. Moved out to 100 yards to tweak the rifle in, then to 150 yards and so on.  The final target was set at 400 yards… I had a slight wind coming from the back and a slight downhill line of sight to the 400 yard target. Oh! I also had the 30/378 and wanted to test it in these conditions at 400 yards. I quickly fire off 3 rounds from the 30/378. Then comes old trustworthy, the 340! The last three rounds that I had were 225gr. Barnes X, loaded to the max.

The 340 has never been fun to sight-in!   The real reason is that it knocks the daylight out of one.  I always have a headache after going to the range.  It is Magnaport with the parallel slots, which I had done to all of the big bore rifles bought or tested in the 80’s.  It doesn’t lift up from the sight pattern, but it does have a nasty recoil. The new process having the muzzle break is best in my opinion.  The 30/378 Weatherby shoots like a 243 and one can shoot it all day, if you can afford the ammo.  The new scope has the heavy European duplex crosshairs. Not a great target scope reticule, but great in timber.   At 400 yards I could not see the how the 30/378 did on paper as I did not bring a spotting scope with me on this trip.

Getting to the end of the story, I made the three last shots of the day from the 340 Weatherby….  I trekked down to the target to see the results. P. S. The snow was about 1-3 feet deep and I wished I had snow shoes. I was quite amazed at the results.  My 30/378 the comfortable shooter, the group was left to right a three inch group, with all shots level at 1/4 difference.  Not the best, but I will blame it on my shooting, not the rifles ability to perform…

Now comes old faithful, the bread and butter of all the Weatherby’s that I have had and that I still have.  I did take a little more time to set-up on these shots, as I really wanted to know if the rifle was set.  The three shot group was the size of a Quarter at 400 yards…. Hard to believe! The yardage was done with range finder!  Other than a sand bag, 55 gal drum, and shooting from one knee there were no other devices used to make this happen.  Much like a hunting condition and not a nice shooting range with heater.

I have always felt that the 340 Weatherby has been the best all around caliber in the Weatherby line.

Bwana