Elk Hunting with Alpen Optics and Jay Houston
 Editor's Note: Jay Houston a 20-year resident of Colorado who recently moved to Lake St. Louis, Missouri, has written four books on elk hunting: "Elk Hunting 101: A Pocket Book Guide to Elk Hunting;" "Elk Hunting 201;" and "Elk Hunting 301;" and has a new book that will be released in the spring. He also has a DVD titled "The Elk Hunter Series Vol. I." You can visit his webpage Elk Camp.com. Alpen Optics talked to Houston about the importance of binoculars and riflescopes when hunting elk since many outdoorsmen will be starting their elk hunts in 2 months or so.
Houston: The two things that you don't want to skimp on if you're going to hunt elk are quality binoculars and boots. You're hunting in big country, you've got to see a long way, you need to be able to see clearly and in low-light conditions, and then, once you spot an elk, you've got to have the tough yet comfortable foot gear required to get you to a place where you can take that elk. Most hunters are spot-and-stalk hunters who spend a lot of time looking through a pair of binoculars or a spotting scope. This reason is why I tell elk hunters to buy the best pair of binoculars they can without robbing their children's college funds.
In years past, I used some of the most-expensive binoculars on the market. But then four years ago, I discovered Alpen binoculars. A friend of mine, who works for Inside Archery magazine told me, "Jay, you need to look at the Alpen binoculars." I did, and I couldn't believe how good the lenses were in the Alpen binoculars as compared to the higher-priced binocular brands most hunters know. Although I use a spotting scope, most of my time hunting is spent looking through binoculars.
 The two biggest problems associated with binoculars are that binoculars fog-up, and the hunters get headaches from eye strain, looking through a cheap set of binoculars. I had an old army armorer explain to me many years ago how to determine quality in optics and how lenses and binoculars are ground. He said that binocular lenses are ground from the center outwards, and at some point in less-expensive optics, they quit grinding the lens. So when your eyes are trying to look through the really-clear spot in the center of the lens, you can see fine. However, at the same times your eyes are concentrating on the center of the lens, your eyes also see the edges of the lens that aren't ground as finely in inexpensive optics as the center portion of the lens is. The lenses on inexpensive binoculars not being ground to the same quality as the lenses on more-expensive binoculars cause eye strain and headaches.
However, most hunters buy binoculars by purchasing a pair of $100 binoculars in a sporting-goods store, walk out the door with them and look through those binoculars for a minute or two minutes. Then they say, "Okay, these binoculars are great, and they're only $100. I'll buy these binoculars, and save myself some money and not have to buy those more-expensive binoculars." But once they get out to elk country, they'll put those binoculars up to their eyes and look for elk with them for as little as one minute to often as much as 10 minutes before they take them down. And before the day's over, they'll get mind-splitting headaches from the amount of eye strain they're encountering, trying to look through these "cheapo" binoculars.
I have a pair of Alpen Rainier binoculars, and I love them in the 10x42s. I think 10x42s are the right power for elk hunting. The Rainiers are about 10 ounces heavier than the Alpen Apex binoculars. However, I've learned that that little bit of extra weight make the binoculars much steadier for me to hold than lighter binoculars. I don't notice as much movement and wobbling with the Rainiers as I have had with the Apex binoculars. The Apex binoculars are less expensive and lighter, and you'll think that you want the lightest binoculars you can have when you'll be doing a lot of walking, covering a lot of country and using your binoculars all day long. However, I've found that lighter binoculars aren't as stable or as easy to hold and brace as the Rainiers are.
 I also wear the Alpen binocular harness system. Once I bring the binoculars up from my chest, instead of keeping my elbows out to the side of my body like most people do, I bring my elbows into my chest. Then I use my elbows as a brace to help hold the binoculars steady. With the binocular harness pulling down into my hands and forcing my elbows tight against my chest, I have a much-more-solid, stable platform to hold the binoculars than if I have my elbows out. I don't feel nearly as fatigued after holding the binoculars for a long time as you'll feel if you don't brace the binoculars like I've described. Using this system, I can continuously look through the binoculars without eye strain for 8 to 10 minutes. And because of the way that the lenses are ground in the Alpen binoculars, I never get the kind of headaches I did when I used less-expensive binoculars. I've compared both the Apex and the Rainier binoculars to binoculars that cost twice as much or more than these binoculars, and I can see no difference.
I know I have good vision. I was an F-4 weapons system operator on an F-4 fighter jet, and I'm accustomed to having to use my eyes and having to be able to see clearly, quickly and accurately. I'll put my Alpen binoculars up against any of the more-expensive-made optics on the market today. Alpen binoculars are crystal-clear, and they're really bright in low-light conditions. These features of Alpen binoculars are critical because you're most likely to see elk either early in the morning before the light's really good or late in the afternoon just before dark. That last 10 or 15 minutes of shooting light is usually when the elk will step out of the woods into an opening, and that's when you've got to be able to see the elk standing up against a tree line. You must have a pair of quality binoculars that will separate an animal from its background. And, cheap optics just don't have the horsepower to do that. But the Alpen Apex and the Alpen Rainier are crystal-clear, they don't fog, and they help me see the animals I'm trying to take.
The same is true of Alpen's riflescopes. If you're hunting in cold weather, you have an opportunity to take an elk, you bring your scope up to your eye to prepare for the shot, you let out a breath of air just before you're ready to squeeze the trigger, and your riflescope fogs, then you're in trouble. With other companies' riflescopes, you probably won't be able to see well enough to make the shot. But you won't have that problem with the Alpen riflescopes.
Question: What else do you like about the Alpen binoculars?
Houston: They're tough. They can take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. No one deliberately drops a pair of binoculars, but sooner or later, everyone drops his or her binoculars. I've dropped my binoculars out of my truck before when I've been resting on the edge of the window, spotting game. And when I've dropped my binoculars, I've shuddered and said, "Oh, no, I've messed-up my binoculars." But when I've picked my Alpens up, the only difference that I can see is they're dirtier from the ground than they've been when I've been resting them on the window of my truck. Even when these binoculars have hit on gravel, they haven't been knocked out of alignment. I have "accidentally" hit trees with them. Since I depend on quality binoculars to make a portion of my living, I've got to have a good pair of binoculars. And for me, you can't beat the Alpen Rainier . I've used the Alpen binoculars while writing three of the four books I've written on elk hunting, and I have no intention of ever changing the binoculars I use. I love my Alpens.
|
