I recently asked a question about which caliber to get for coyotes, I came to the conclusion I think I will get a Thomson Center

[Brenden S Richey]

I recently asked a question about which caliber to get for coyotes, I came to the conclusion I think I will get a Thomson Center Venter All-Weather in 22-250. Now, I need a scope for it. I have been looking at Hawke Optics scopes in the $200 range. Are Hawke Optics any good? Any other suggestions? Thank you!

[Brenden S Richey]

Thomson Center VENTURE All-Weather. Oops

[WA Mtnhunter]

Never heard of Hawke Optics

[FirstBubba]

If I'm spending $200+ on glass, I'm buying Leupold.

[buckhunter]

Are you hunting at night? Might want thicker crosshairs.

[Pray- hunt-work]

Leupold vortex or Nikon, in my opinion. In that order, however, vortex may deserve even more credit than I'm giving it.

[SD_Whitetail_Hntr]

Vortex is proving themselves quite quickly and their $200 range glass is a lot like every one of their price points, better than the price tag suggests. I've never heard of Hawke and that's saying quite a bit as much time as I spend browsing hunting gear. I have Nikon on my rifle and love it. Their Buckmaster scope is rock solid for the money. You can get into some basic Leupold for that money too and there's just no going wrong with Leupold.. ever..

[Safado]

I have never heard of Hawke Optics. A predator rifle should have an excellent scope especially if you want to use it for something smaller than a coyote because the shots can be long. I would go with a 4 x 12 or higher. Also a lot of your shots will be in low light conditions. I have a Nikon Monarch on my predator rig.

[M.A.T]

I've done a lot scope research, and have never heard of Hawke optics. That could be a bad thing, but who knows. As for other scopes, there's about a half of a dozen good ones out there that come to mind. So here they are: The Vortex Diamondback which runs about $200, which has excellent optical quality for the price, the Nikon Prostaff 5 is new, but reviews say it's very good with a lot of good features, and it costs about $230. If you looking for something a bit cheeper the regular Prosatff is also a solid choice. I have a regular Prostaff on my .30-06, and is tolerates recoil well. It cost $150. If you want to go Leupold(very good idea) you should step up to the $300 VX-2 rather than going with the cheaper $220 VX-1. The reason being is because Leupold's lower end scopes probaly aren't as good as something of the same price. So that means a $200 Leupold probaly isn't going to be as good as a $200 Nikon or Vortex. However, a $300 and up Leupold is probaly better than any other scope for the same price. And if you want side focus a Bushnell Legend Ultra HD is a good choice. With all these choices I'd probaly save up and get the Leupold VX-2, which will last at least one lifetime and has a lifetime warranty, meaning as long as that scope exsists it will be replaced or repaired free of charge.

[.30-06Hunter]

Go with Leupold or Redfield! One thing to look at with the Venture that I've noticed is for me the bolt handle is so small that I can't smoothly operate it without the scope interfering with my cycling of the action.

[DakotaMan]

The best $200 scope I've seen is the Vortex Diamondback. Take a look at it alongside all others in that price range. You will benefit from the graduated reticle for longer range varminting and that one is excellent to say nothing of the accuracy, clarity and larger field of view.

Don't know where you hunt coyotes but on the prairie you will benefit from at least a 4-16x and you should spend more than $200 for that or you will get crap (too much parallax to hit accurately at longer range). The Vortex Viper will be the lowest priced excellent scope you can buy in that magnification. I use 6-24x magnification for long range varminting myself so I can aim well at 500 yards. You can get a better scope than a Leupold VXII for less money (e.g. the Vortex Viper) and Leupold's outstanding VXIIIs will be well above your price point.

I use a 25-06 with 75g or 87g bullets for coyotes most of the time because it gives me much more range than a 22-250. Most 22-250s have a slow twist rate so they can't stabilize bullets that big (nor accelerate them that fast). Those little 40-55g bullets slow like throwing pepper into the wind making long range holdovers and leads quite difficult.