{"id":351,"date":"2017-12-14T07:47:28","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T07:47:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tma65.com\/blog\/?p=351"},"modified":"2026-05-21T11:37:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T11:37:54","slug":"why-the-best-binoculars-for-hunting-deer-are-8x","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/why-the-best-binoculars-for-hunting-deer-are-8x\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Best Binoculars for Hunting Deer are 8x"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_83 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\"><div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\"><p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p><span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/why-the-best-binoculars-for-hunting-deer-are-8x\/#Why_the_Best_Binoculars_for_Hunting_Deer_are_8x\" >Why the Best Binoculars for Hunting Deer are 8x<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/why-the-best-binoculars-for-hunting-deer-are-8x\/#Higher_the_Power_the_Less_We_See\" >Higher the Power, the Less We See<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/why-the-best-binoculars-for-hunting-deer-are-8x\/#But_Find_the_Right_Balance\" >But, Find the Right Balance<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/why-the-best-binoculars-for-hunting-deer-are-8x\/#Depth_of_Field\" >Depth of Field<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/why-the-best-binoculars-for-hunting-deer-are-8x\/#Light_Gathering_Ability\" >Light Gathering Ability<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div><h2 style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_the_Best_Binoculars_for_Hunting_Deer_are_8x\"><\/span>Why the Best Binoculars for Hunting Deer are 8x<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Why the Best Binoculars for <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tractoptics.com\/all-about-hog-hunting\/\" title=\"All About Hog Hunting\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"664\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hunting<\/a> Deer are 8x. Bigger is better, right? Well, sometimes. But in the story of <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tractoptics.com\/the-phases-of-a-deer-hunter\/\" title=\"The Phases of a Deer Hunter\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"1219\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">optics and the eastern deer hunter<\/a>, it\u2019s quite the contrary. See, out east, or just this side of the Mississippi River, deer hunters are constantly finding themselves among the heavily wooded forests from Appalachia to the Adirondacks. Whether your choosing a <a href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/choosing-a-riflescope-for-deer-hunting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">riflescope for deer hunting<\/a>\u00a0or binoculars, higher maginfication doesn&#8217;t mean better results. In these are grounds,\u00a0an 8x magnification works best.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Higher_the_Power_the_Less_We_See\"><\/span>Higher the Power, the Less We See<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Think of optics as an equilateral\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/defining-the-optical-triangle-of-a-binocular\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">triangle<\/a>\u00a0where you have magnification on top, eye relief on the bottom left and field of view on the bottom right. When you go higher in one of these specifications, it alternately has an inverse effect on the other two. So, a higher magnification means a shorter eye relief and more narrow field of view. In the hardwoods on the right side of the country, field of view is pretty important when more often than not, it\u2019s the flick of a tail or the white of a tine that first catches our attention.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"645\" class=\"wp-image-352\" src=\"https:\/\/tma65.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/inner73-1024x645.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/inner73-1024x645.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/inner73-300x189.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/inner73-768x484.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/inner73-1536x968.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/inner73-476x300.jpg 476w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/inner73-150x95.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/inner73.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><em>In the dense deer woods, an <a title=\"8x binoculars\" href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/tag\/8x-binoculars\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">8x binocular<\/a> provides a wider field of view that allows you to cover more ground, more quickly.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"But_Find_the_Right_Balance\"><\/span>But, Find the Right Balance<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Let\u2019s say you find a <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/what-you-need-for-an-air-rifle-competition\/\">binocular<\/a> with an incredibly wide field of view, much greater than comparable products. Take a close look at the other specifications because chances are, that design is sacrificing one of the other key features. I have seen binos with an incredibly wide field of view, but the eye relief was so short that I practically had to press them into my eye sockets in order to see anything. The discomfort itself would not allow me to use the binocular for very long, essentially make the wide <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tractoptics.com\/choosing-the-best-riflescope-for-deer-hunting\/\" title=\"Choosing the Best Rifle Scope for Deer Hunting\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"1223\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">field of view<\/a> a moot point. To sum it up, finding the right balance is the key when choosing a binocular that you can use it in a variety of conditions for extensive periods of time.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" class=\"wp-image-353\" src=\"https:\/\/tma65.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/inner74-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/inner74-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/inner74-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/inner74-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/inner74-534x300.jpg 534w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/inner74-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/inner74.jpg 1366w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><em>The best <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"hunting\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"296\">hunting<\/a> binocular is well balanced in the three attributes above, including magnification, eye relief and field of view.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Depth_of_Field\"><\/span>Depth of Field<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">In good light the naked eye produces a sharp, clear image, depending on your eyesight, from about six inches almost to the horizon. And not on a particular object that sits way out on the edge of the earth, but an obvious definition of space. When we look through a binocular, these parameters change significantly &#8211; the point at which everything is in focus and is equally sharp is pushed out by a factor equal to the magnification.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Our eyes are somewhat forgiving when it comes to focus and in fact can themselves alter the focus of the system within narrow limits. The zone within which the eye and brain can extract enough information to form a satisfying impression of the object is called the zone of acceptable focus, or the depth of field. Much like field of view, depth of field is greater on lower magnification <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/binoculars\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"binoculars\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"141\">binoculars<\/a>. And the best <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tractoptics.com\/jls-deer-hunting-gear\/\" title=\"JL\u2019s Deer Hunting Gear\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"1267\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">binoculars for deer hunting<\/a>, meaning one the hardwoods hunter is going to use a lot, should be comfortable to use in all lighting conditions with little straining of the eyes. This <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tractoptics.com\/binoculars-for-turkey-hunting\/\" title=\"Binoculars for Turkey Hunting\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"663\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">binocular<\/a> is the one that comes closest to approximating the natural depth of focused attention of the human eye at any given distance.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Light_Gathering_Ability\"><\/span>Light Gathering Ability<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">The human eye is designed to gather or reject light based on our immediate lighting conditions. Your pupils can open five to seven millimeters at twilight while shrinking to almost two millimeters during the brightest part of the day. However, the light gathering ability of a binocular does not change, which is why knowing the difference between an 8x or a 10x is so important when choosing the best one for the part of the country in which you hunt.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">A quality 8x <a title=\"3 Reasons to Give Binoculars This Christmas\" href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/3-reasons-to-give-binoculars-this-christmas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">binocular should give<\/a> deer hunters an average exit pupil &#8211; the actual image in the eyepiece as it leaves the binocular to enter your eye &#8211; of just over five millimeters. A more technical definition of\u00a0<em>exit pupil<\/em>\u00a0is the diameter of the shaft of light (expressed in millimeters) that exits a binocular\u2019s eyepiece and enters through the eye\u2019s entrance pupil. Exit pupil is calculated by dividing a binocular\u2019s objective size by its magnification. For example, 42mm\/8x = 5.25mm or 42mm\/10x = 4.2mm. This goes to show that at dusk and dawn, or in a dense forest, the 8x is your best bet to gather the last remaining light.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">The following video explains what the numbers\u00a0mean &#8211; tips to consider when choosing the best <a title=\"Best Binoculars for Hunting Out West\" href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/best-binoculars-for-hunting-out-west\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">binocular for deer hunting<\/a>.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><figure style=\"width: 960px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Why the Best Binoculars for Hunting Deer are 8x\" src=\"https:\/\/embedwistia-a.akamaihd.net\/deliveries\/423a7f7f73838d235b6fefcf98c4542543c78503.jpg?origin_v2=1&#038;image_crop_resized=960x540\" alt=\"Why the Best Binoculars for Hunting Deer are 8x\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Why the <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/videosview\/hunting-the-midwest-why-binoculars\/\">Best Binoculars for Hunting<\/a> Deer are 8x<\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/><\/figure><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">If you have further questions as to why 8xs are the best binoculars for hunting deer, don\u2019t hesitate to contact us at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/support@tractoptics.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">support@tractoptics.com<\/a>\u00a0or check out our\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tractoptics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook\u00a0<\/a>page where we post frequent tips. We love talking <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tractoptics.com\/5-reasons-to-own-a-spotting-scope\/\" title=\"5 Reasons to Own a Spotting Scope\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"1193\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">optics and always enjoy hearing from the hunting<\/a> community.<\/p><p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why the Best Binoculars for Hunting Deer are 8x | TRACT design and engineer performance-grade optics without the added retail costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12222,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2252,2254,2258,2259,2274],"tags":[2400,2403,2405,2406,2408,2409,2474,2475,2483,2493,2495,2496,2497,2498,2499,2500,2501,2511,2512,2797,3351],"class_list":["post-351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-binoculars","category-binoculars-for-hunting","category-hunting","category-hunting-rifle-scope","category-video","tag-best-binoculars","tag-best-binoculars-for-bird-watching","tag-best-binoculars-for-hunting","tag-best-binoculars-for-hunting-out-west","tag-best-binoculars-for-mule-deer-hunting","tag-best-binoculars-for-western-hunting","tag-binocular-magnification-chart","tag-binocular-outlet","tag-binocular-rifle-scope","tag-binoculars","tag-binoculars-10x-vs-12x","tag-binoculars-12x","tag-binoculars-8-or-10-magnification","tag-binoculars-8-vs-10","tag-binoculars-8x-or-10x","tag-binoculars-8x-vs-10x","tag-binoculars-8x42-vs-10x42","tag-binoculars-for-hunting","tag-binoculars-for-hunting-out-west","tag-hunting","tag-wistia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11503,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351\/revisions\/11503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}