I often hunt in thick brush, from the timber if the Midwest, to brush of the mountain desert, boral pine forests of the Intermountain north, or the deep east Texas forest. The places I hunt have layers of vegetation. Not that hunting open areas isn’t productive or useful. I just rather enjoy seeing how close I can get to game in their territory, by either still hunting or tracking.
Now, many people think if you are going to use a pair of binoculars you are sitting on the side of a hill and observing things hundreds or thousands of yards away. I’ve done plenty of that as well and its effective. It is just not the only time to break out a set of binoculars.
The most useful part of the binocular in my opinion is their ability to quickly adjust focus. As I scan in the forest, I adjust the focus in and not over all vegetation. By doing so I can see clearly what is in front of the vegetation, then clearly see what is in the vegetation, and finally clearly see what is beyond the vegetation. By adjusting what is in focus I am also making more of my field of view blurry. This might seem counterproductive, but it is very helpful as I only must look at one layer at a time to see if anything is there.
The other thing all this detailed scanning will do is truly slow you down. Making you more quieter if you do it properly. I promise if you do these two things, a more detailed scan and move slower/quieter you will see many times more game, or bad guys if you are hunting those, then you did before.
Next time you are in forest bring your binoculars and see what you can see.
-Joseph
Outpost 95 