Bushnell vs. Leupold

Easy ...

Better scope ... Leopold, hands down !! I like my VX II better than my Zeiss scopes.

But, don't shrug off the Bushnell (or Nikon) either. They're also great scopes. And great values. One reason Bushnell and nikon aren't received at as high a standard as Leopold is that both offer a much lower value based line up than Leopold does. But, the better scopes in either brand are great scopes.

By the way, the .270 is a great caliber for a pronghorn hunt, second only to my favorite antelope caliber, the .25-06. Prairie goats don't need much firepower to bring down. Sadly, I traded off my trusty quarter bore for something that I really didn't need as badly as I originally thought. Today, my Big Game arsenal consists of a .375H&H, 2 .30-06's, and a .280. Before heading west, get some range time at 300 yards. And learn all about bullet drop at distance.

Good luck. You'll have a blast. Where out West are you thinking about ??

I'm also looking at both nyguns. I have countless hours invested in this and here is what I have come down to.
I have held both, looked through both and tried both out, via generous friends.
The Leupold is a finer piece of craftsmanship. It also costs (very) considerably more.
The Bushy's I looked at (3200 / 4200) are certainly no slouches. They don't have the quality feel of the Leuopy's but the sight picture is excellent. I think you have to decide just what extremes you're going to put it through.
For my 2 cents, if the dollars didn't matter, I'd go Leupold, much as I'd go with a Mercedes over a Honda. Both will get the job done and get it done well. Just depends on what makes you warm and fuzzy.
But the dollars, to me, do matter and between the two we're talking about, the better Bushy's are damn fine scopes.
Let us know what you decide.

PandM said:

I'm also looking at both nyguns. I have countless hours invested in this and here is what I have come down to.
I have held both, looked through both and tried both out, via generous friends.
The Leupold is a finer piece of craftsmanship. It also costs (very) considerably more.
The Bushy's I looked at (3200 / 4200) are certainly no slouches. They don't have the quality feel of the Leuopy's but the sight picture is excellent. I think you have to decide just what extremes you're going to put it through.
For my 2 cents, if the dollars didn't matter, I'd go Leupold, much as I'd go with a Mercedes over a Honda. Both will get the job done and get it done well. Just depends on what makes you warm and fuzzy.
But the dollars, to me, do matter and between the two we're talking about, the better Bushy's are damn fine scopes.
Let us know what you decide.

Click to expand...

Pretty much how I feel.

But let me throw this out to you ... you're out west. Maybe on a $4000.00-7000.00 hunt. Wouldn't you want to have the "Best" ?? However, I'm not advocating one brand over another. But, that was my very own reasoning when I set up a Colorado Elk specific rifle a few years ago. Let's get the "Best". So, I skipped over my trusted Leopolds, and went with a Zeiss scope. But, in retrospect, I didn't decide on a better scope, I decided on a better brand name. There's a difference. You see, my VXII's and the VXIII's are better scopes (in my opinion) than the lower end Zeiss optics. If I go back to Colorado this year, I might bring my .280 with a Leopold scope instead of my .30-06 with Zeiss glass on top. So, look at the optics, and decide what's best for you. And after the dust settles, if you're comfortable with your choice, that's all that matters.

One more thing ... BINOCULARS !! The binocs you might use for New York hunting just don't measure up out West. For New york woods, I'd feel way too overpowered with anything over an 8X binoc. Out West, I'd feel way underpowered with anything under 10X. For Speed Goats, I'd lean toward a 12X. I like the Leica's and the Zeiss binoculars. But, Leopold, Nikon, and even a few Chinese companies make awesome stuff. If you're budget minded, look at the Tru-Glo line of binoculars.