Just got back from Texas. Although we had an awesome time and we shot some hogs, I was in fact ill prepared with my scope.
So the question to the experts is what scope would you get for this task?

I used a win 94 Big bore in 356 win, so I figure small power, bigger than a 20mm and I would love a German #4 reticle.

Were you night hunting with a light, by moonlight only or hunting late day/early mornings?

I've taken them by moonliight only using Nikon Monarchs and Zeiss Conquests (my favorites) but have also used an Elite 3200, Nikon BuckMasters and a Burris FFII. A 40-42mm objective and good glass is all you really need, though I do have a Conquest 3-9x50 that I recently picked up, and it's really nice.

I've taken them with the aid of lights, and again, most good scopes will suffice. I find that 4-6x is what I generally use.

Reticle choice is a highly personal perference. The #20 Z-plex works very well for me, as does the Nikoplex.

Take a look at the better German scopes. In Germany they still hunt by moon light and most of their scopes are designed accordingly. Especially helpful are the 30mm scopes with large objective lenses, and heavy crosshairs.

I am a huge fan of the German No. 4 for hunting. That's what I have on my .30-06 and .375H&H. Some prefer the No. 8, which is the No. 4 with a heavy top piece also.

I think it was Kahles that made an 8x56 scope for many years that was a European favorite for night hunting. I agree with Bobby. Quality glass is the key. A Nikon Monarch or better is probably what you want to be looking at using.

LWD

I was hunting them at night with only moonlight. I am also open to illuminated reticles too. And yes german high end optics are great but nowhere near my economic grasp

My 3x9x40 Nikon Monarch just fine on moonlite nights, really good on full moon nights!
Ever think of a "red dot scope". I've got an EOTech on my AR that ought to work just fine for pigs...trying to bloody it for several trips w/o sucess.

I use a Leupold 3-9 with their heavy duplex reticle. I have 3 landscape lights at my feeder and can see the hogs without any difficulty from 70 yds away on no-moon nights. On full moon nights, I can shoot out to 100 yds w/o artificial illumination.

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Posted 21 December 2010 23:09 Hide Post
I was hunting them at night with only moonlight. I am also open to illuminated reticles too. And yes german high end optics are great but nowhere near my economic grasp

The illuminated reticles just do not work for me. Too much light bouncing around in the scope. On dark nights with the reticle power set on the lowest swetting I could not see past the barrel. Red, green didn't matter. However I am now using the Bushnell 3200 with the Firefly reticle. About 2 or 3 seconds of charge will give the reticle enough light to see well and does not reflect back into my eye. On moonlit nights you just need good quality glass and heavy reticle. Lots of fun!

thank you...

POP,

FWIW, I have shot a lot of hogs at night with my Monarch 3-9x40. I hunt at night a lot for predators as you know, and still feel that the Monarch's are in the "best bang for the buck" category for low light hunting.

My calling partner uses the illuminated Leupy's, but they are above my pay grade.

It was great to get to hunt with you again!!

Bob