Rifle Scopes Hunt with SHORT DOT OR MARK4?

[Asm1]

S&B SHORT DOT PMII vs Mark4 3.5X10X40

I have both and wonder which one will be the best for gathering that extra moment of visability in the twilight deer hunting at 50-200 yards. The 40mm may have an advantage over the 24mm in the moments of black out in the deep woods at dark/dusk?

I Can tell after this weekend,But I dont want to blow a good open day hunt wishing I would have used one over the other.
If one of you has done this already...Maybe experience will be my guide after this weekend ?

 

[35WLN]

Re: Hunt with SHORT DOT OR MARK4?

I love my short dot but I think in this comparison I would want the ability of 10x power. When S&B comes out with the 1-8 I think I will double duty it for 3gun and hunting and sell my 1-4 short dot.

 

[ccoker]

Re: Hunt with SHORT DOT OR MARK4?

take them out in low light into the night before you go hunting

I will be running a 1.5-6x42 S&B on my 6.8 hunting starting Sunday..
I think that is going to be a perfect combo!!!

sorry, just wired to go hunting

I would opt for the bigger scope if you need to get to 200 in very low light

 

[KM375]

Re: Hunt with SHORT DOT OR MARK4?

I think the 40mm bell will have a little advantage over the 24mm of the short dot in the light collection at dusk and dawn.

 

[JSTARSZ]

Re: Hunt with SHORT DOT OR MARK4?

In low light conditions I do like the larger aperture but in the distances that you are shooting I rarely get beyond a 3 or 4 magnification and within a 100 yards a 1-2x is fine. I have hunted with a Leupold CQT (1 x 3 dot) and also a Leupold Mk4 M1 3 x 10 - 40mm. I have no problem using both but the 40mm on the Mk4 is better in the lower light conditions. I would do a comparison the next couple of nights and see which picks up better but I would also do some test on how quick you can pick up objects with the Short Dot and Leupold. I would suspect you can pick up better with the Short Dot but the low light capability of the 40mm is a little better in the last 15 minutes of hunting.

 

[scotharr]

Re: Hunt with SHORT DOT OR MARK4?

Lower magnification is a big help to low-light performance. I suspect the short-dot will have better twilight performance because of this.

 

[tigerhawk]

Re: Hunt with SHORT DOT OR MARK4?

I would use the short dot. Out to 200 yards on deer, you do not need magnification as much as you need field of view. A 40mm objective with a magnification range that only goes down to 3x will not transmit as much light as a 24mm objective that goes down to 1x, because light transmission is not dependent only on objective diameter, but also on exit pupil, which is the relationship of that diameter to magnification. The short dot will give you a wider field, and also transmit more light.

 

[Jon A]

Re: Hunt with SHORT DOT OR MARK4?

The best glass in the world won't make up for such a small objective. I've done quite a bit of comparing 1-4's recently including in low light:

For actually seeing objects well in low light (the entire animal in really bad conditions or if you need to identify horns/no horns/how big, etc) they just aren't the best choice. When comparing these I brought out a 3-9X40 SS just for the heck of it. It KILLED them all, easily.

If you were hunting only the thick stuff and didn't expect anything over 50 yds or so it would be one thing, but if something is lurking in the shadows 200 yds away 1/2 hour after sundown on a gloomy day, the Leupold turned to 6-7X will give you the best chance of seeing it well enough to pull the trigger.

 

[One-Eyed Jack]

Re: Hunt with SHORT DOT OR MARK4?

The Leupold is the best scope for the job: the larger objective gathers more light (about 2.4x the Short Dot), and you can see more detail in dim light (its max "Twilight Factor" is about 20 compared to the Short Dot's 9.9). The S&B has better glass and coatings, but that's less than a 10% difference in light transmission and cannot make up for its smaller objective lens.

To make the image brighter, you actually need more magnification, not less. You lose image light (and therefore brightness) when the exit pupil is larger than your eye pupil at night, which is about 4 to 8mm in diameter(depends on age and other factors). At 1x, the Short Dot would have a great FOV and make it easy to achieve a good eye position, but you would lose image brightness and detail.