Spotting scopes with reticles are absolutely useful when it comes to shooting and target localization but the question is: Are you familiar with this kind of scopes? How well can you use a spotting scope with a reticle?
If you are curious about this subject and have the intention to become a competent user of spotting scopes with reticles, then you are in the right place, I will enlighten you with the best tips to master the art of using such material.
The first thing you need to know is focusing; as for the scope, it has a focusing knob somewhere to focus on your field of view but the reticle itself needs focusing to fit your vision, therefore, you will need a diopter wheel to do the job, such thing is usually purchased with the reticle eyepiece itself and it will only be done once in your life unless many people will use the same eyepiece. That’s why it is recommended to own two eyepieces, the one with the reticle that is used for shooting and the other one without that is used for localization of a herd or other activities.
Second, you must learn about scales on different types of reticles, you need to master the grids used on several common types such as the Mil Dot that has 4 dots with each one representing 1 Miliradian – the unit of measure in hunting; 1 Mrad is equal to 36 inches at 100 yards. For this reason, every manufacturer sends a manual with the reticle to allow the user to understand the grids used, you must read it carefully and understand the units of measure to make efficient results.
Third, adjusting your spotting scope is an important thing to learn. Whether you are mounting it on a tripod or on a rifle, your spotting scope must be adaptable to such material otherwise, you will need to make some changes, maybe create an extension to make it adjustable.
Finally, a spotting scope with a reticle is not actually the theory of relativity, it is just pieces of material engineered and put together by creative engineers to help you get the best optical performance with the sharpest precision. Therefore, don’t panic about using it, just learn the basics and the experience will help you become the most famous hunter.