I'm hunting leopard and lioness in Dande next year and am considering switching to an illuminated reticle scope.For those of you who have used one, which would you recommend?

I've done it with and without. Got leopards both ways, but I was most impressed with the illuminated red dot on my Zeiss. Stood out nicely against the yellow cat. The illuminated scope will be making the trip over in July for a repeat performance.

4 shots on 4 different leopard
1 miss without lite reticle
3 dead when they hit the ground with lite reticle

don't go without one

I highly recommmend an illuminated reticle.

WELL worth the extra money...

I would have liked to have had one last year...

I have one now that is a 2.5x10x44 with a 30mm tube -Nikon Monarch X - very nice scope...hope to put it on Spots this year.

It will be a good PG scope as well with reticle off...

I am in the same boat and I will be buying one. I am looking at the new Leupold VX-R scope. It has a bunch of great things for it and come in a variety of sizes. One push of a button and you are ready to rock and for the price tag it can't be beat.

You will find the illuminated reticle very helpful on both Buff and Ele in a 1.5-5x as well. Since you will shoot your Leopard at around 25 yards, that is plenty of magnification and very good on the Buff and Ele.

Purchased a Swar 1-6x24 Z6i at the Harrisburg, PA Show. My friend and I were both amazed at the adjustable small red "pin" dot in the reticle. Have not put it on my gun yet--but look forward to "its" future hunts. NYCameraland.com has a demo on sale for $14??.
Suggested price is around $2200. Wished I seen the deal before I bought mine!

My Blaser 375 has a zeiss 2.5-10x50 illuminated dot reticle. Didn't need it on plains game hunts in SA in 09 or Botswana in 10 but I put that scope on my 338 barrel and plan on using it on leopard in Zambia this year. My M70 416 rem has a swarovski Z6 1-6x24 illuminated reticle and hope to use it on buffalo.
Bill

I shoot a German #4 Leupold VXIII 2.5 to 10 30mm tube 50mmm bell. the switch is 360 degree and I would never advise any leopard hunter to hunt with out anilluminated.

The results: 1 giant cat with spots!!!

I've shot two, both with the Leupold illuminated cross found on the duplex reticle in the 3.5X10 VX III. Both died convincingly and being able to clearly see that red cross in the center of the duplex was added insurance for the shot.

What power do you guys use when you are bait hunting? I have a chance to buy a 4.5-14x50mm illuminated german #4 and wonder if this is still good or if i should have a scope that could go lower on the bottom end? The price is right and have to decide in the next day or 2

I bought a Kahles 1.5-6 with the illuminated circle dot. I found this reticle to be too "busy". Sent it back to Kahles and for about $150 they switched it to a crosshair and illuminated dot. I love it. The new reticle has about a 1 MOA dot which works well and draws your eye without taking up too much real estate.

I used two Leupold illum reticles on my last trip and they worked great. I did get them on loan from Leupold, so it didn't cost me anything, but they are worth it if you buy.

I use a Schmidt&Bender 1.5-6x42 with illuminated dot and a Zeiss 2.5-10x50 with Illuminated cross.
Both superb scopes and would use ether for Leopard but will be using the S&B for my Leopard hunt this season as its on the most suitable barrel.

quote:

Originally posted by bwana dogo:
I'm hunting leopard and lioness in Dande next year and am considering switching to an illuminated reticle scope.For those of you who have used one, which would you recommend?

If you are seriously considering an illuminated reticle, make sure you get a scope where the reticle illumination can be adjusted way down. There are way too many "wannabe" products out there working on the basis that if illumination is good, more illumination is better. Nothing could be further from the truth. Too much reticle illumination will come with the risk of reducing your ability to see your target while you stare at the brightly illuminated dot/cross hairs/circles - what ever.

The best scopes with illuminated reticles come out of Europe, simply because night hunting is tradition in those countries. The very best scopes (Zeiss, Swaro, S&B etc) allow you to preset the lighting level you want and allow you to switch to that particular lighting level without having to adjust again, that saves time and minimizes the chance of negatively impairing your night vision when the cat shows up. Lighting switches must be absolutely silent, and illumination should automatically switch off after a while (1-2 hours - to save battery when you forget to turn off the illumination).

Everybody have their own preferences for reticles, I personally prefer a reticle which will also give me good night time performance should my illuminated reticle system fail (all systems fail from time to time). So something like a German #4 is very practical. For illumination I prefer just a dot, simply to have less illumination shining in my eyes, although a small cross hair also does the trick. For night time hunting, I try to stay away from too fancy reticles: circles, Christmas trees - you name it.

- mike

I make my living by hunting at night, (Jackal and caracal), and can unconditionally recommend the Leupold 4.5 -14 ir. The illuminated cross at its minimum is so faint it's hardly noticeable, but can be cranked up to positively ridiculously bright. Battery life is measured in weeks if you forget to switch off, and many months if used only at night. More expensive scopes are available, but having used a few, I doubt that you would notice any difference from a blind at similar magnifications. I have also read the claim that the illumination reduces the sight picture, but if that is true, then I have bionic eyes, as one can clearly identify and shoot a jackal at 300m at night with a good lamp and faint illumination of the reticle. The "torch effect" also discussed here previously is non existent at low illumination levels

Bwana Dogo, MHO has it right and this is the area to pay particular attention to. I have had a Zeiss IR for about 10 years and it has allowed me to make shots otherwise impossible.

As to dialing down the brightness, last year while hunting leopard I had it on full power and it was just too much. I dialed the intensity down to lower and it was perfect. This is the key to any IR in my opinion.

I just purchased a new model Leupold VX-R with an illuminated reticle for my trip to Zim this year. After talking to many who have used them it seemed like the right thing to do for cats in low light conditions. Hope it brings me good luck.

I initially bought a S&B with the circle crosshair illuminated reticle and found too much illumination wiped out the target. I switched to a reticle with a small illuminated dot and found that perfect. I would like to try a Trijicon post. That seems to be a good system without wiping out the bank account.

LJS and others. All the scopes mentioned above are good quality scopes and I am sure will do the job very well. But they ALL take batteries and that can ALWAYS be a fly in the ointment if it fails. The Trijicon series works just as well or better than those mentioned, good quality, clear lenses with good coatings, most cost less and NO BATTERY involved. Shot a Leopard in Moz las year with one and it was absolutely perfect. If shooting after dark the tritium post is great and if an additional light is turned on to illuminate the target area it's totally assume.

IMHO you can pay a lot more and still not get the total package that the Trijicon can provide. This scope also most likely permits the fastest target acquisition in daylight conditions and you are able to shoot with both eyes open. A great thing when fast shooting is required to possibly save your a$$.

Larry Sellers
SCI Life Member

What Larry Sellers said. What I also find with my Trijicon is that it is also very useful in full daylight when looking at an animals standing back in the shadows.

Mark

I got my first illuminated reticule this past year. While I didn't hunt leopard with it, I did shoot a number of deer. IIRC, the total was 5 deer. I was most impressed with the scope. I remember thinking that the scope would be perfect for leopards. Mine is a Swarovski. The ability to adjust the brightness is essential.

I would caution you about one thing. On my scope, it is easy to turn it on just by carrying the rifle on your shoulder. Needless to say, that will wear the battery down. I would always check.

Leupold with the German #4 with fine ILL dot is my favorite.

Another thought.

You can have all the illuminated reticles out there, but if the glass isn't good enough to see the target in the ambient light, seeing the cross-hairs or dot won't do you any good.

Last year, when in the market for a leopard scope, I tried out Leupold, S&B, Leica, Swarovski, Trijicon and Valdada among others. I also looked at both 30mm and 1" scopes and objectives from 20mm to 56mm. I tested the scopes at 5 minute intervals as day faded to dark, looking at a "leopard" tree in my back yard. I had a car tag on the tree and reading the numbers was the criteria (artificial as it may be. I tried to nail my cat to a branch, but he saw the hammer in my hand and hid out under my truck).

My conclusion was that the problem with a low-light leopard is two fold. You gotta see the leopard and you gotta see the reticle.

Hunting where lights are permissible, of course, is a whole different issue, of course, but my experiments led me to buy a Swarovski cross-hairs with illuminated dot for about $1.3K on sale from www.CameraLandNY.com . While the S&B and some others were as good, nothing cheaper came close.