Posts: 252
Threads: 28
Joined: Nov 2011
ok, let's say you're sitting in your favorite deer stand. Just after sunset in the twilight, a large body deer steps out at about 100-120 yards away. You pick up your Grendel to look through the scope and see if it may be that trophy buck you have on game camera. Daylight is dim and fadding fast ! Are you glad you bought that Zeiss Conquest 4.5-14x50 or would you rather have your other Grendel Rifle with the Vortex Viper PST 4-16x50 ? Just wondering which would be the better choice in low light conditions.........:confused:
After owning a PST and no experience with the Zeiss, I'd pick the Zeiss. PST that I had did not live up to expectations. If you like Vortex, buy the Razor series. I had one of those too. It was night and day difference. PST reticle fell and then had black spots inside. I would recommend the Bushnell Tactical Elite or SWFA Super Sniper series above those listed.
I didn't think the Zeiss was as good as the 30mm diameter Swaraovski or Leupold for that matter. I returned the Zeiss.
I think the Zeiss would get my vote. ... But..IMHO....your better off with a set of good 8-10x binoclears to see the points on a trophy buck and and keep the scope you have..even 4x is enough at 100-125 yards. To score the buck your gonna turn that new scope up to 16x then find him in your field of view, then maybe turn it down to 10x cause its too dark out there, then count points ,then maybe turn that scope down to 6x to open up the field of view enough to shoot. If your using a good set of 8 or 10x field glasses, all you gotta do when you see the buck is decide shoot/no shoot drop binoclears (strap around your neck) put crosshairs on that dark center of mass and shoot. And if that large dark body that walked out at dusk was not a deer, but another hunter, its better if you didn't point that scoped rifle at him.
That's the first I've heard of a Viper PST going TU like that, but no scope is immune from failure. Zeiss has one of the highest warranty-related return rates of any respectable scope maker out there, at about 19% according to my buddy who owns a European optics distributor company. They have arguably the best glass, but they are not known for holding up well.
+1 for the glassing with a fine set of binos, then making the shot. As for me, I'll be doing any low-light hunting with NODs and an IR pointer outside the US. It is basically necessary in season when you are at certain latitudes, where the sun comes up for 4 hours in the southern hemisphere, and it's overcast 95% of the 9-month winter.
