Fall hunting season is here! For some of us, there is still time to get gear together as rifle season won’t start until November (in some places), but then again, there’s not much time between now and November. That being said, if you’ve picked up a new rifle over the last year, and judging by the heavy NICS hit counts that are mentioned every month, quite a few of you have. If you are thinking about taking that rifle to the woods or just getting it prepped for use, consider these mil-dot optical options from Axeon Optics.
Up Close and Personal
No, this isn’t the Robert Redford movie, but the Axeon 1-6X24 LVPO optic. We’ve had a tough time finding a hunting rifle that this scope doesn’t do well on. First of all, most hunting is done within 300 yards, or at least it should be. 6X magnification on a larger game animal is more than enough glass to see the target and the field around the target at that distance. The glass on this optic is extremely clear. Even though the objective end of the scope is only 30mm, you’ll likely never miss a bigger objective glass element due to the exceptionally clear glass found in this lens.
The 1-6X24 Axeon Optics scope has a clear mil-dot style reticle with dot to dot subtensions measured at 1.66 MIL or 5.6 MOA at the 6X magnification setting. This scope also has a fixed parallax setting of 100 yards and comes with flip-up lens caps.
Mr. All Around, The 4-12X44 Etched Dot Reticle Scope
Do you remember the Who’s Who yearbook category of “All Around Athlete” or something like that? This was a spot reserved for a student-athlete that excelled in more than one sport and was just a good fella all-around. This particular optic, the 4-12X44 EDR scope is very good at a lot of tasks. Notably, this scope features a side adjust parallax knob and an etched mil-dot reticle-- actually, this reticle is set up with MOA subtensions-- as well as a weight-saving 1” tube and large light-gathering 44mm objective lens. If you’ve ever mounted a heavy scope on your lightweight rifle, you learned that you no longer have a light rifle. Choosing a 1” tube scope is a good way to shed a few extra ounces when packing a rifle in the backcountry. As you are likely already aware, ounces become pounds when you are busting brush with your own two feet. At 16X the subtensions between each dot are 2 MOA. Considering the ¼ MOA click values, this makes the two functions of the scope work very well together.
The Dog Soldier Scope
Also a great all-around optic, the Dog Soldier 4-16X50 scope is a heavy-duty and extremely capable hunting optic. Axeon Optics consulted with well-known predator hunter, Steve Criner, when designing this optic. Steve was primarily concerned with ease of use afield. He wanted a scope with low-profile covered turrets, big light-gathering objective lens, stout 30mm main tube, and side adjust parallax capability. So that is exactly what we built. The Dog Soldier 4-16X50 scope features a modified mil-dot style reticle. There is 1 mil (3.6” at 100 yards) center to center of each main dot. There is also a half mark between each dot which divides the mill spacing to ½ MIL. Like the scopes above this is also a second focal plane optic so ranging is best done at 16X magnification but can be done with a little math at lower magnification settings.
Hunting season is upon us now. Don’t wait around as these optics are likely to start selling out fast as shoppers are also looking to stay ahead of retail irregularities or further pandemic complications.