Hunters--Backpacking Mulie Binos

My wife and I have been comparing Meoptas a lot to Zens and Hawkes this year. Our consensus is that the Chinese binoculars are slightly sharper optically--but we also KNOW that the Meoptas are incredibly rugged, having used them hard for several years. The jury is still out on the toughness of the Chinese binoculars.

Originally posted by m_freeman the application will be mulie hunting in open country, backpack hunting with *only one scouting optic* will have 3.5x9 zeiss conquest rifle scope --considerations in order are 1.weight, size for backpack hunting 2. low light, distance resolution good contrast 4. this is a mulie hunter not a birder so don't want to pay for what I dont need--cost   right now I am thinking a very high quality 8x 30 or 35  or maybe a high quality 7x  compact and use my rifle scope for distance details I am limited to 7mm-08 range anyway. Need a little help with this, thanks for any advice

10x(42 or50) bino's would be my choice. I think 12x would be nice too but it becomes more of a specialized tool.

I just ordered the ZR ED 10x42  came down to the deeply discounted Nikon Monarchs or the ZR ED figured if I can get true ED glass for about 1/2 price I'll bypass the deeply discounted Monarchs.---- will advise how they perform on my hunt and there is a store nearby that has zeiss conquest, brunton and steiner binos I'll have to make a stop and compare.

IMO, if getting the Zens, go with the ED2 version. The strap is improved (maybe not an issue if you're going to ditch it in favor of a "bino-bra" (love that, CFII!) and they made improvements to the prism coatings and focus knob...worth the extra $40.

JG, as a Monarch owner I am deeply, deeply offended. Well, not really. I will point out that for the $160 I paid for the 8x43 ATBs, I didn't get pissed off when my friend's 5-year-old smeared his fingerprints and powdered donut gunk all over the glass while I was out of the truck. With optics like the Zens around, it makes me curious how big boys like Nikon will respond. My guess is they will just ramp up their advertising buy and dish out more rebates rather than retool.

I also just returned from a Montana mule deer hunt using meopta's 10x binos, truthfully I wish I had had better glass, I guess I should have my eyes checked first to make sure they aren't the issue.

I wish I had even better resolution, but like I said before I will go to the eye doctor before I make my final judgement.