If you’re eager to maximize your accuracy and make more one-shot kills, these riflescopes with illuminated reticles will help.
by Scott Haugen
With daylight quickly waning, we had to decide. A big black bear had just emerged from the timber. It was grazing on grass near the dense tree line.
“To get a shot by dark, we have to drop into that draw, run about 500 yards, pop up over the top of that rise. Hopefully the bear will still be there,” I whispered to my wife, Tiffany. “Let’s move!” she winked.
We covered ground fast. Belly crawling to the top of the little ridge, we worked to control our breathing. The bear was still there, feeding mere feet from the tree line, less than 200 yards away. Less than five minutes of shooting light remained.
Because the trees were so thick and grizzly numbers were high in the area, I didn’t want to track and break down this bear in the dark. Though bears expire fast when punched through both lungs, we didn’t want to take any chances. We discussed a high shoulder shot, one Tiff felt confident making with her .300 Win. Mag.
The day was cloudy, and light was fading fast. Still, Tiffany made a perfect shot, dropping the bruin on the spot. A steady rest and good bullet were to thank for the instant kill. However, you can’t kill what you can’t see.
Tiffany was using a Trijicon AccuPoint with an amber illuminated fiber optic reticle. The illuminated dot at the center of the crosshairs left no doubt where the bullet would hit. We took three big bears on that hunt in the early 2000s, all with the same gun and scope.
At the time, I was hosting a hunting TV show. I was one of the first industry hunters to start shooting Trijicon AccuPoint scopes, though they’d been used in the military long before that. Hosting two TV shows and going on upwards of 60 big game hunts a year around the world, I quickly realized the value of not missing shots. Each miss cost the whole team time and money.
Of all the technological advancements I’ve seen in 50 years of big-game hunting, an illuminated reticle is at the top of the list of the most effective pieces of gear for optimizing shot accuracy. Put black crosshairs on the long hair of a black bear, and it can sometimes be impossible to see exactly where the point of impact will be. Even hunting deer and elk in heavy shadows, amid thick forest, and under low lighting conditions can lead to problematic situations for quick, precise target acquisition.
Throughout North America, Africa, and the South Pacific, I’ve shot hundreds of big game animals using illuminated reticles over the past five decades. Simply put, a bright dot makes target acquisition quick and shot placement very precise. I raised my two sons shooting rifles with illuminated scope reticles, and they’re among the best shots I’ve seen.
For over 20 years I exclusively used Trijicon’s battery-free illuminated reticles in the AccuPoint line. I like the fact that these scopes are always on and that there are no batteries to worry about. Adjusting the level of light transmission is simple and fast. I like the triangle reticle in the lower power scopes for hunting in brush country, as well as for dangerous game like Cape buffalo in Africa. The sharp edges and points of the triangle result in exact shot placement, and it’s easy to shoot with both eyes open so you know what’s happening outside the scope. Green and red are my preferred reticle colors, respectively.
A few years ago, I tried a Leupold scope with a battery-operated FireDot reticle. I love the clarity of the red dot in the duplex crosshair and how its brightness can be quickly adjusted with the push of a button. Illumination control is important as hunters deal with ever-changing lighting conditions and sometimes adjustments will have to be made every few minutes.
Leupold VX-6HD 3-18×44
My go-to Leupold scope is aVX-6HD 3-18×44 with a Customized Dial System (CDS) for the specific load I’m shooting. While this is a battery-operated scope, it automatically shuts off after five minutes at rest. This saves battery life. At first, I wasn’t sure this feature was necessary. However, hours of sitting and waiting for bears and other big-game animals with my rifle mounted in a tripod made me realize its importance.
My last hunt with this optic was a bear hunt. I sat for five hours. No bears showed. Motion Sensor Technology saved me five hours of battery life in just one hunt. I’ve accidentally left illumination on when traveling in the truck and in the gun safe. It’s a valuable feature I love. I’ve shot several animals with this scope, from cougars to elk, bears to sable, and roan in Africa. I’ll be using it on a moose hunt in Alaska this fall.
Zeiss V3
Though I’ve not hunted with their riflescopes, I’ve used Zeiss binoculars and spotting scopes in many places, amid a range of conditions over the decades. They’re among the best quality glass in the industry.
A friend has one of the new Zeiss V3 riflescopes and loves the clarity and control of the red, illuminated reticle. Select Zeiss V3 configurations are available with the SHRi #87 reticle, featuring a red illuminated, fine center dot with target coverage as small as 0.13 MOA. The actual dot size is model-dependent. The illumination is rheostat-controlled across 10 intensity levels, with off positions between every setting. The scope also features a three-hour timed auto-off function.
Burris Ballistic E3
Burris also offers rifle scopes with an illuminated reticle option. Again, I’ve not shot them but have heard good things from industry friends who have. The implementation of what’s known as Burris’ Ballistic E3 offers speed and accuracy advantages you’d expect from an illuminated reticle.
The Ballistic E3 is a rear focal plane reticle made for traditional, magnum and varmint loads. When crosshairs are set for zero at 100 yards, each line on the lower vertical crosshair will be calibrated for 200, 300 and 400 yards, respectively. This is a reference point for the average caliber. To find your exact bullet drop for this reticle, input your ballistic and environmental data into Burris’ ballistic calculator. Cascading dots also help adjust for a 10-mph crosswind for the average caliber. To find your exact windage holds for this reticle, input your ballistic and environmental data into their ballistic calculator.
If routinely hunting in windy habitats, there’s Burris’ Wind Ret-Illuminated reticle. Dial to the desired elevation and quickly hold for wind using the symmetrical MOA wind hold hash marks. An illuminated cross draws your attention quickly to the center point and makes shots in low light speedy and accurate.
If you’re new to big game hunting, or if you’re unfamiliar with illuminated riflescope reticles, you only need to know one thing: Commit to it. Get one of these scopes, use it on the range and on the hunt, and the results will make you wonder how you ever hunted without it. Not only do illuminated reticles make finding the kill zone on an animal faster and easier than with black, thin crosshairs, but they’ll extend your shooting time.
The Advantages of an Illuminated Reticle
On dark, overcast days when daylight is slow to come or quick to leave, an illuminated reticle will allow you to push through low light conditions and hunt more minutes in the day, and during the prime times. Rather than waiting 30 minutes for light conditions to be optimized before heading into the woods or having to call it quits with 20 minutes of legal shooting light remaining, an illuminated reticle will allow you to keep hunting because you’ll be able to see exactly where the crosshairs are situated on the target animal.
When I was a kid growing up in the rainy, gloomy Pacific Northwest, I hated delaying and aborting hunts. I had to pull the plug or wait becasue my reticle didn’t have illumination. That’s not the case anymore. I don’t head into those conditions without a scope with an illuminated reticle, whether it’s a post, dot, or crosshairs.
Over the past 50 years, I’ve been in a lot of hunting camps around the world. Bears are the most missed and crippled animals I’ve seen in North America. This is true even on close-range shots over baits. This could be for several reasons, but I guarantee the main excuse hunters will offer is that they just saw the bear in the scope and fired. They failed to properly position the reticle on the bear’s vitals because they couldn’t see the black crosshairs on the black hide. An illuminated reticle will fix this.
Of course, an illuminated reticle is just part of the equation when it comes to optimizing shooting accuracy. A steady rest and controlled breathing are also vital to precise shot placement, even with a glowing reticle.
Once you experience how consistent and lethal an illuminated reticle can be, you’ll be switching out all your rifle scopes. I know, because every single rifle I own has a scope featuring an illuminated reticle.
Note: For copies of Scott Haugen’s latest book, just out, Elk Hunting The West~The Experience, visit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HBPQFTMQ
