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Show Binoculars And Outdoor Sports By TED RESTING In 1894, Zeiss began manufacture of the first prism binoculars, but the significance of that epic event continues to elude many hunters. THOSE 83 intervening years haven't been time enough for the message to sink in: that the right pair of binoculars, properly used, can be one of the most valuable tools for the sportsman with a gun. "It is not that use of, and respect for, binoculars isn't wide-spread, because that is indeed the case," writes Shooting Editor Grits Gresham in Sports Afield. "The point is that use of binoculars by hunters should be almost universal." FOR MOST people the pairing of binoculars and hunting conjures up the image of a big-game hunter in our western wide-open spaces, and it's an accurate one as far as it goes. Sitting and searching is one of the most profitable uses of his time for the man after the mule deer, elk, antelope, sheep and goat. A TYPICAL tactic for the western guide is to ride or walk to vantage points along a ridge, then scan the valley below and the hillside beyond with binoculars. It is an extremely ex-tremely successful way to operate. The point is that these western wes-tern hunters are seaching for game with binoculars, as opposed op-posed to identifying animals already spotted andor evaluating a particular animal for trophy qualities. GLASSES are obviously valuable for the latter uses, but a point some non-western hunters miss is that they are also extremely useful for .finding game. It is a misconception to think that binoculars are of no use to the man who hunts deer in the woods, the thickets and the brush. With them he can look into and through thickets and brush to a degree which must be experienced to be believed. GEAR YOUR senses to respond re-spond to the sight of a leg, a rump patch, the twitch of an ear, the shine of an antler, a movement, a changing light pattern or a horizontal line where none should be in a vertical forest. Binoculars and birds make a happy combination, too. Use the glasses to check ponds for ducks, to pin down the exact field the geese are using, to identify ducks before they are in range or to follow the flight of a covey of chukars that flushed wild. IN EASTERN Washington, geese fly from the rivers and lakes to feed in the snow-covered snow-covered fields during the winter and friends of mine hunt them successfully with the aid of binoculars. The value of binoculars was driven home one morning when the hunters forgot the glasses. However, without them, they finally located a flock of birds a couple of miles away and made their long ride, creep and crawl. WHEN THEY rose from behind a terrace with guns at ready, their flock of "geese" had become a herd of sheep. So much for eyesight. |