What do you need in a hunting scope?

 Humans have been hunting with rifles for about 500 years now, and iron sights were obviously the only option until the mid 19th century, when the earliest scopes were developed. It took another 100 years for scopes to really enter the mainstream, and many of us (myself included) probably grew up deer hunting with a bolt action .30-06 with a trusty old 3-9x scope on top. That rifle was maybe shot several times to confirm zero before season opener, then shot a few more times at deer if you were lucky. After that, it was maybe cleaned and then back to the safe/closet/case under the bed until next year.

Let's be clear: there's nothing wrong with that setup, and no doubt millions of deer have been shot with such a setup. But, if you're hunting in the mountains, the plains, cut corn fields, etc, then the old 3-9 can leave a little to be desired. I do a hunting rifle video every fall, and for a few years now my go-to has been the suppressed 16" Sig Cross in .308. It's a lightweight rifle, and even with all the stuff I've put on it, it remains fairly manageable. 

The author's go-to hunting rifle setup.

So with a more modern setup, what kind of scope would optimize hunting performance? I would submit that there are a few crucial categories: glass, reticle, durability, and weight. For the glass, you obviously need to be able to see what you're shooting at, whether it's a doe walking under your tree stand or a big buck grazing in the field 300 yards away. If you've done much hunting, you'll know that deer are usually most active at dawn and dusk, when there isn't a whole lot of daylight. Clear glass is extremely beneficial at these times, especially if you're in the woods where it gets dark even quicker.

Hand in hand with the glass comes the reticle. The classic second focal plane duplex has been a favorite for decades because of how easy it is to see at any magnification level. But what if we want to shoot a little further out, thanks to more accurate rifles and laser rangefinders? An FFP reticle is my and many other precision shooters' preference, but pick the wrong one and it can be hard to use the reticle up close for that tree stand shot.

Durability is also important, especially as you head farther out into the backcountry. Walking 10yds from the truck to a box blind will often let you get away with very cheap equipment, but hiking out into the mountains, climbing trees, or busting brush will have much harsher demands. Here too weight becomes a factor, as the saying goes "ounces equal pounds, and pounds equal pain."

Tract Optics was kind enough to send one of their Toric UHD 2.5-15 scopes over for review just before hunting season. I shot two bucks and two does with it, and my brother-in-law also used it to take his first deer as well. Let's take a look and see how the Toric stacks up as a hunting scope using the categories we just discussed, shall we?

One of the 5 deer taken this year with the Toric.

The Tract Toric 2.5-15x44 is a Japanese-made optic with a 30mm tube and 44mm objective. Mine is an FFP with the Eagleman MRAD reticle, and it's a nice graphite gray color. Starting with the glass, the Toric comes out with a bang. The Schott glass is phenomenal, and I was extremely impressed with the image quality. There was no noticeable chromatic aberration (and I used this quite a bit in the snow, where it's pretty obvious if present), and the view was bright and clear. I was able to use this until the very end of hunting hours, something that I can't say for some of the cheaper scopes I've used. In fact, three of the deer taken with this thing were in very low light, right at dusk, and I really couldn't ask for better performance.

As for the reticle, thanks to some good illumination settings I found it to be usable even at low magnification. The illumination was not only good for shooting at last light (as several of the deer were shot with the illumination on), but also was bright enough for a shot at 3 or 4 power in mid-morning on a doe at about 30 yards. It's a simple T-shaped mil reticle with a floating center dot, easy to pick up and very usable. 

Eagleman Reticle at 15x

One of my few minor gripes with this scope is that they don't offer a full tree reticle, as that is my preference, but at the end of the day that's all that is: my preference. I will say that with the advent of LRFs, a tree reticle becomes more handy, as the laser is slaved to your zero. This means that you need to be at zero to get an accurate range, and if you need to take a quick shot in the wind, nothing beats a Christmas Tree mil reticle. But, I know there are plenty of people who find a tree reticle too busy, and I think they'll like this reticle quite a bit.

The glass and reticle combo are great for hunting, not always the easiest combo to pull off in an FFP optic. I've used scopes with an insufficiently bright illumination setting which basically renders the optic unusable on the lower end of magnification, as the reticle just can't be seen. The magnification range too is just about perfect in my book, low enough for close range shots with a wide field of view, and high enough to stretch the legs on these modern setups. If they could add a tree reticle option as well, I think this would make a fantastic SPR/DMR/mid range precision optic.

On the durability front I've also had no issues. Fortunately I haven't dropped it out of a tree stand (yet), but it's covered a number of miles, bounced around in vehicles, and gone up and down a few trees. One of the big features I look for in a hard-use scope is locking turrets, which the Toric fortunately has. Or rather, the elevation turret locks (and has a zero stop), while the windage turret is capped. This is my preference and the ideal setup for a hard use scope, in my opinion. I've never lost zero, and part of that comes down to using a good set of rings/mount; I'm using the excellent RPM Bravo with an integrated bubble level.

Weight is respectable but not portly at 28oz. There are certainly lighter scopes out there, and there are also heavier ones. I like a hunting scope to be under 30oz and wasn't looking for an ultralight setup, so I'm pleased with the Toric. Length is also very normal; I don't see a need for a super short scope on most setups, and there are typically eyebox/usability penalties when you use them.

Toric Spec Sheet

Before we finish we'll also cover the ergonomics and controls, definitely important in a hunting scope but not my main priorities. Eye relief is good at about 4 inches, and I never had an issue getting behind the glass. The magnification dial is probably the smoothest I've ever used and is super easy to manipulate, even without a throw lever.. Parallax is similarly smooth, and the brightness control on it is also good to go (this one goes to 11!).

We already mentioned the locking turrets, which are good but not great. If you're looking for that glass-rod-breaking turret sound/feel, you'll be disappointed. Personally, though, I'm not much of a turret snob and as long as I can feel the clicks (and they accurately move the reticle), I'm not too worried about it. I do wish that the elevation turret was a little bit shorter, as I found that it was blocking the bottom of my Impact 4000. But, unless you're running a top mounted dot or LRF, turret height really doesn't matter.

The Tract Toric poses a great value as well, coming in just under $1100. As we saw, it checks all the boxes that I'm looking for in a hunting scope, with excellent glass, a good magnification range/reticle/illumination, solid durability, and reasonable weight. Tract isn't a super well-known brand (probably at least in part due to their direct-to-consumer business plan), but they are absolutely worth a look. What do you look for in a hunting scope? Comment down below and let me know.

A happy young man with his first deer!