Binoculars

My suggestion is to look carefully at the Leupold Yosemite 6x30 bincs. They work really well for hunting under 100 yds. You have to ask yourself what you are trying to accomplish with the binocs... looking for a flicking ear, identifying a white area at 200 yds.... maybe the 8x are better. But overall, I find that I used the 6x30's a lot simply because they are small, traditionally styled, and do well with gathering light.

The look at a more spendy pair. But I find that many people buy too high a powered binocs for their needs and as a result compromise on size or quality.
 
I had a pair of Vortex 6x binos. Maybe they are called vipers?
I dunno, but they are very nice. They cost about 250 or 300.

I used to use a pair of 6x German binos from WW2 so I could use the range finder. (Fyi, the small hash is 5' at 300 yards). The Vortex retired the german binos.
 
For woods/outdoors/hiking use, I like Bushnell Elite 7x26 binos. Very compact and lightweight, so they don't become a pain in the neck carrying them all day. Very good glass. A top choice among fussy birdwatchers, who nitpick optics. About $300. I love mine and I'm no birdwatcher.

A little bigger, a little heavier, a little more expensive but definitely the Mercedes Benz of compact binos are the Canon image stabilized 8x25.
 
My go to binos vary

with what kind of hunting I do.

For "sneaking and peeking" in thick cover 6 or 8 hours at a stretch, I use the Leopold 6X30 Yosemite. They are light weight, have a wide field of view, and also a deep field of view (no need to change the focus every 20 or 30 yards of distance). Cost me less than $100, IIRC. I have used them for 2 years.

For sitting in an elevated box stand, or viewing open vistas, I recently bought a $480 pair of the new Nikon ATB Monarch 7. They feature ED (extra low dispersion) glass, and extra wide field of view. They are 8X40's, and would be used for longer range viewing. I can't hold a 10 power glass steady enough to prevent blurring the view, especially at longer distances. I just bought them, so haven't used them in the field, yet. I expect them to be good at gathering light in early and late use, and to give me a good enough sharpness of image to count antler points and mass at long distance.
 
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