A lot of scopes come with sunshades now. Do you find them to be a help in the field to make shots in bright sunshine, or are they too much of a hindrance to use?
Scope Sunshades for Hunting
- Thread starter Kracken McGraw
- Start date
I have a Nikon Monarch3 that acts like that. Might have to try a shade on it.
farmerjohn
Gold $$ Contributor
I think a large part of this is an age thing, older I get more light I need so no shades, I've never had a Nightforce or a high-end Leupold flare up on me, John
Rick in Oregon
Gold $$ Contributor
For spending a week or more in the fields shooting squirrels, all my rat rifles wear shades and caps. As mentioned, dust, debris are kept out, and from sitting side by side with a friend without any shades on his Lupy during an extended shoot, my objective lens had about a quarter of the dust and crap his did at the end of each day......so it does indeed make a demonstrative difference.
Even the 2.5" length shade makes a difference. Never had flare be an issue, but the caps on the Lupy Aluma shades really keep the crap out when the rifle is being cleaned, including solvent aerosol spray from the brush exiting the muzzle.
In the end, it's most likely personal preference, but keeping expensive lenses clean and free of dust and dirt seems like a reasonable thing to avoid with both a shade and lens caps.
And on the lighter side, a shade can keep pesky little paws out of there too!
Couldn't resist, sorry.
Even the 2.5" length shade makes a difference. Never had flare be an issue, but the caps on the Lupy Aluma shades really keep the crap out when the rifle is being cleaned, including solvent aerosol spray from the brush exiting the muzzle.
In the end, it's most likely personal preference, but keeping expensive lenses clean and free of dust and dirt seems like a reasonable thing to avoid with both a shade and lens caps.
And on the lighter side, a shade can keep pesky little paws out of there too!
Couldn't resist, sorry.
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They do limit the time you can see Gets dark quicker. However in sun they work fine. Just my two cents Tommy Mc
I found this also to be quite true when hunting ground hogs on sunny days and facing the sun.
Something else I use is a hand towel that I toss over my hat and scope to shield my eyes from the glaring sun when facing it. That also help tremendously, perhaps even more than the sun shade on the scope.
For big game hunting in the east, I never found sun shades necessary.
Also I like the "see through" scope covers for big game hunting so I don't make a "pop" sound that can spook a nearby deer when opening the non see through kind of scope covers. This actually happened to me many years ago deer in the "big woods" of north central PA. I spooked a buck that was about 50 years away when I opened the scope covers. After that I used the see thru kind for all big game hunting in the east where shots can be at close range.
Nice Cooper Rick.. What caliber? l used a shade for the first time on my 30mm tube 6.5-20x50 Leupold in New Mexico quite recently shooting prairie dogs. l was amazed at the difference WITH and WITHOUT itFor spending a week or more in the fields shooting squirrels, all my rat rifles wear shades and caps. As mentioned, dust, debris are kept out, and from sitting side by side with a friend without any shades on his Lupy during an extended shoot, my objective lens had about a quarter of the dust and crap his did at the end of each day......so it does indeed make a demonstrative difference.
Even the 2.5" length shade makes a difference. Never had flare be an issue, but the caps on the Lupy Aluma shades really keep the crap out when the rifle is being cleaned, including solvent aerosol spray from the brush exiting the muzzle.
In the end, it's most likely personal preference, but keeping expensive lenses clean and free of dust and dirt seems like a reasonable thing to avoid with both a shade and lens caps.
And on the lighter side, a shade can keep pesky little paws out of there too!
Couldn't resist, sorry.
Rick in Oregon
Gold $$ Contributor
Thanks, that's "Rosa", my Cooper M21 in 223. Picked it up lightly used years ago at the Nosler shop for a pittance. It's the best shooting 223 I've ever owned and has worn that Leupy since new-to-me. Most of my rat rifles wear that same model LR scope, all with 2.5" shades, Alumna caps and the M1 elevation turret.
And to your comment about using a shade recently in NM, my side-by-side comparisons of friends that were "shade'less" on windy/dusty days here when shooting together and seeing the difference in the amount of wind-driven flotsam at the objective lens was startling. Made a believer out of me.
I had a guy who was really into optics tell me this isnt the case the light get gathered into the lense the same with the shade on or not. I had to try it myself and didnt really see any difference with a shade on or not. Still got too dark to see game at the same time. Also didnt make a difference night hunting for yotes. I keep my shades on all the time. However I would be curious what others thoughts are on light gathering with a shade vs no shade
Normally, I can see just as late with shades on all my Leupolds as without. Shades & Alumi flip-ups really does cut down on dust gathering on the lenses.
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