MEOPTA OPTIKA LR 10X42 HD RANGEFINDING BINOCULAR

A RIFLEMAN’S OPTICS

- Patrick Meitin

Studies conducted by various military agencies have long demonstrated the human eye is a poor instrument for determining accurate ranges. The practice leaves a shooter better equipped to estimate range at most viable big-game hunting yardages, but changing terrain quickly complicates matters. When I was a big-game outfitter and my clients’ success depended on accurate range estimates (before laser rangefinders), I became pretty good at eyeballing range estimates. Still, shooting across wide-open spaces, like canyons or steep topography, made it easy to make mistakes.

The bigger problem, even after the first handheld civilian laser rangefinders appeared, is that when a hunter badly needed a range, meaning when a behemoth bull elk or mule deer buck stood at a range beyond, say, 400 yards, early units typically proved worthless on anything short of a metal barn door.