Not a mis spelt.

Can our German friends (or indeed anyone else with nocturnal habits)throw some light on scopes for observing and shooting boar under a moon.

My 9.3 currently wears a Swarovski 1.5-6x42 with a good heavy crosshair in a 4a configuration. Does this cut the mustard or is it really necessary to go to a 8x56 with/without illumination? If necessary I can go to a Zeiss with a no1 post reticle but illumination is a lot of dosh.

Dear 1894,

I�m not German, nor do I hunt boar. However, I have some experience of hunting in the last light before night. Beaver is usually hunted in dusk or in the darkness, and having used a Zeiss/Jena 1,5-6x42, I would prefer a 8x56, as the smaller one isn�t quite efficient at the latest hour. The #1 reticle would be the best one, although the #4 also would work well.

Good optics are essential in boar hunting, as you must be able to distinguish between hog and sow. It�s rather bad ethics to shoot the sow away from the piglets. To avoid that, the scope must be good enough - go with the best 8x56 you can get.

Best regards,

Fritz

Hallo 1894

Your question is the same as you would ask whether you have to use a 9,3 or is a 5,6 also ok. Both can work fine, but in critical situation the 9,3 gives a bit more power.

Normally the 42 Swarovsky can work ok as long as you have good moon and not to bad background and far distance. Especially the variable one is not too bad.

If you use a crosshair 4 or use 1 is as you are used to. Some prefer the 4, some 1. So a discussion about makes no sense. Use what you prefer and you are used to.

The illumination enables to pick up the target quicker. It gives you not even a bit more light, but you have not to estimate where your dark cross is on the dark body. You see at once that you are at the right place or not. Thats all. Caused by this you can concentrate more on the boar and his moves and not always where is the (invisible) center. That may be helpful in such exiting seconds.

For myself I use a 2,5-10x48 Zeiss crosshair 40 (normal 4 with illuminated dot).

Normal the boar is only during the mating season at the bunch.
At the rest of the time he goes his way lonely without the trouble of the bunches.
And to distinguish a single boar from a single sow in the night is really difficult or unable even with the binocular.

So your 42 can be OK.

Best regards

1894,

First save a lot of money and then order a Zeiss 3-12X56. Will be a deadly yet extremely specialized thing.
I saw the new 3-12X56 from Schmidt & Bender, another make of very high quality : they managed to have it pretty cheap for this kind of stuff, shorter and lighter.

I love to hunt pigs under a full moon just after the harvest, when a lost of grain falls to the ground leaving a feast for them. On the yellow dried wheat stalks that lay down flat you get light reflecting off them like of snow under a full moon, subsequently you can see very well.
Go for a 50 or 56mm objective if you can it will gather a lot more light. A dot or illuminated reticle is also handy for better distinguishing your pont of aim, but variable intensity is necessary so as not to interfere with your night vision.

If you hunt by moon light(half moon or better) the scope being used is not so critical. But if you hunt by star light only then the scope becomes very critical as does it needing either a heavy reticle or illumination device.

1894
I hunt roebuck and boar with the same type of scope. I use a Swarowski 3-12X50 reticle 4 with illuminated dot. Works fine during dusk or dawn. You will get what you pay for.

A lot of dosh is one thing that good hunting will compensate for. I don't regret that I bought two of these scopes one second, in fact I have to get one for my new rifle. I had friends who thought it was bs with this scopes but they went home before me because everything was black in their "el cheapo" scopes

You will not only be able to hunt longer but also pissing of your friends which comes with the package

Sometimes yo can find them slighly used for a good price, I got the phone call writing this post, Mission complete

GO FOR IT

/ JOHAN

Having done a lot of boar hunting this past year, most of it at night, I use a Shepherd 3x10x40 scope set at 5x. The crosshairs are not very thick, but I can still see them well enough. I have found it impossible to tell if it is a boar or a sow, even as close as 50 yards, unless the sow is surrounded by piglets.