My son-in-law hunts everything you can possibly hunt! And I DO mean everything that central Utah has to offer.

Thank goodness he doesn't feel it necessary to display his conquests on the walls of his home, lol!

I love to watch the birds that come to my feeder, but I hadn't thought about getting a scope to see them closer. Maybe I'll "look" into that!

I'm not a hunter or much of a bird watcher, but that sounds super cool, Nappy. I think I'd love that!

First part of the week I was desperately trying to finish a B-day present for my DS. This present was for her B-day Sept '06!!!! Yep, I was kind of late. Then the grand kids came in and of course they always upset life, in a good way. Then Thanksgiving day my DS was sick, Mom is pretty much unable to stand to help anymore, my youngest daughter woke up late and put the turkey in to late so she got to my house late. So instead of having lunch at 1 we had it at 2 which put my brother late cause he was to leave at 2. So we had 2 less people to help clean up.

Youngest granddaughter had her 3 year old birthday 11/14 so we celebrated it right after we had lunch. That makes the kids a little more hyper. I crawled into bed exhausted that night. So next day was a little more relaxing but we still had 2 precious little girls here with us and we live in a bi-level so we are constantly going up and down stairs. So after a good McDonalds breakfast this morning we said goodbye and I got back to bed. I'm tired just reading about how tired I am!

Holy smokes! You're not even sposed to smell it!



And it explodes? No wonder she's sick.

Cin - I never thought of getting a scope to look at wildlife, but I bet it does the trick. Hey, if it makes you happy! I got a camcorder and use the zoom. Dh was skeptical till he tried it - it's 34x optical, 10x digi.

He got some cool footage of gators without risking a limb. You can see the reds of their eyes.
The waterfoul at the bridge are awesome. The heron and water turkey are my faves. He says there's a kingfisher hanging around too now.

Well color me freakin' green! What a good idea!

I've got three or four pairs of different strength binoculars and there's times when I drag them out one after another, trying to get a look at something, and usually having it move or disappear entirely before I can get a close up view of it, because I can't find the ones I am needing at that second.

I never thought of using a scope. Now you have me searching the net! Got any pointers as to what I should look for?

LOL, let's hijack this thread once and for all!

As I was telling a couple others via PM, I really love this little close-focus scope, it is fantastic for hummy viewing:

http://www.opticsplanet.net/brunton-...cope-7x40.html

You can get a great, crisp image at only a little over a foot away for window feeders, etc. It's also great to have along at museums, zoos, or arena shows/sports. It's a 40mm objective lens, so it pulls in a lot of light and works pretty darn well even in twilight. It's also small enough to stuff in a pocket but steadies pretty well for using handheld. I also like it because it has a mount plate, can rotate for left or right-hand focus, and is super easy to use in a hurry.

As far as serious scopes, nothing comes close to a Swarovski Optik, but those suckers require a 30-year mortgage for most of us. I studied long and hard, tested many including Zeiss, Steiner, Simmons, Nikon, Burris, Bushnell and all the usual suspects. Ultimately, when it came down to it, I wanted bang for buck and decided on Leupold Golden Ring for its size, weight, ease of use, waterproof, and above all, fantastic clarity. It's really a joy to use and it comes with a lifetime warranty; it's also made right in Oregon.

If I wanted to go with something on the slightly lower end , I think I would have settled on the Nikon Prostaff or the Burris Landmark. The big drawback on the Landmark is that it's like hauling the Hubble telescope around!

Stick with fully-multicoated lenses, long eye-relief, BAK-4 glass, you won't go wrong. It's really about comfort for your own use and be sure to take a test drive on anything that feels expensive to you!

Brain, I use my camcorder that way too, but, it's not waterproof and it requires charging. The image is good but the optics offer enormously better images.

Well, I'm glad we switched the thread to...What every nerd/bird watcher wants for Christmas.

I was about to change it to a xmas shopping thread, anyway, but my looooong post was lost..

Next........

You Ka Rack me up, Salpal!!!

(closing blinds so Nappy can't look at me w/her new scope)

Here's a cheaper version~~~ (boy not included)

I am still tied up in AMN's basement.

Those socks must be really ripe by now..