Hawke Vantage 3-9X50 Rifle Scope Review

Many of us reflect on our past hunting season as ways to evaluate what gear is working and which gear is not.  We also try to find the items that we want to change--either behaviors or gear--before the next hunting season to hopefully bring more success in the coming season.   One of the things I have unfortunately neglected was my wife's hunting gear...  I had taken my wife on a few hunts and noticed she had struggled over and over again to hit the target or animals she was shooting at.  There would be many times I would point out an animal to her, but she could never find it through her scope.  I attributed it all to the fact that she was still fairly new to hunting and it was just a skill that she would acquire over time.  As much as I told myself that she just needed to practice more, or that she was flinching when she pulled the trigger, I failed to check her gear like I would have done with my own equipment.   After an emotional hunt where she filled her deer tag but was disappointed in other missed deer, poor shot placement, and having to shoot the animal more than once, I decided I would grab her rifle and give it a shot... (pun intended)

My wife with her 2017 deer before her new scope

It didn't take me long to realize that I also struggled shooting her rifle with the scope that was currently on it.   I told my wife that I would check into scopes and see what I could get her to help her have more success.  She was disappointed in herself, and didn't even want to explore the option of switching scopes, as she had convinced herself that she was the problem.  Below is her take on the scope, I will let you hear my wife's take on this rifle scope first, and then I'll add my input.

I love my 30-30, but I have always seemed to struggle being successful with it. Last year, I had a particularly rough hunting season. Any time I saw what I was going for, I’d quickly lift my rifle to aim and take a shot....but I was not quick enough. I couldn’t ever seem to get the deer in my scope soon enough. This happened time and time again. I was hard on myself and got easily frustrated with my lack of success. How hard could it be to aim and get the animal in site? I blamed myself for not practicing enough...or not being focused enough. I had a list of reasons as to why it was my fault for not being successful.

It took a lot for me to finally get a deer to add to our freezer last season. I didn’t want a trophy deer, but I did want a healthy full-grown deer that would provide a decent amount of meals. It is essential to have game meat for my children, as they have health needs. I had missed many opportunities to get full-grown deer because of not being quick enough. On the last day of the season, I saw a small deer, and was able to take it....finally. But even then, it was still quite a struggle to harvest it. I’m grateful for even that small amount of meat, but it hasn’t been enough to last us this year.

I started feeling like maybe I wasn’t cut out for hunting like I used to be with my other guns. I felt like I couldn’t trust myself to be out in the field. The pressure to practice shooting more that I already was really weighed on me; I’m already busy with raising a family, working, etc. I started to think that maybe I’d take a few years off from hunting until I could take more time to practice shooting.

Kevin encouraged me to try out the Hawke Vantage 3-9X50 Rifle Scope. I kept laughing to myself, as I thought there was no way a scope would make that much of a difference for me. To me, a scope is a scope. I was willing to try, but was not proactive about it. I put it off because I didn’t want to experience the feelings of failure again. I finally got the courage to appease Kevin, and we headed up to the mountains. 

Kevin gave me a target to aim for. I pulled the gun up, and I shot it. 

Woah…

I pulled the gun up....AND SHOT! Quickly! I didn’t have to frantically look for my target. No! I simply pulled up my 30-30, saw the target, and shot. My target was right there in my line of site. BOLD AS CAN BE. No questions asked.

I had never experienced that solid and secure feeling before. When we realized I had hit the target spot on every time, I was shocked. The confidence I had to shoot took over. My plans to take time off from hunting disseminated, and I found myself craving being out there again.

I admit that I was originally reluctant to believe that a scope makes that much of a difference. I knew it had to be me or even the 30-30, as I seemed fine with my other guns. I drug my feet when Kevin asked me to try out the Hawke Vantage 3-9X50. But now, I cannot express enough how important it is to have a good quality scope. Being able to aim quicker is EVERYTHING. I do not want my children to experience the feelings I did when I had my old scope. I don’t want a low-quality scope to taint their memories toward such a great opportunity to learn about life through hunting. My children will use a Hawke Optics scope! They need to feel success…not just for the result of meat in the freezer, but also for their own confidence in themselves!

I have to say, watching my wife shoot consistently was not only impressive considering our previous experiences, but it was also reassuring to see her enjoy shooting again.  To give you an idea of her shooting, I had her shoot at a small aspen tree which was less that 3 inches wide at 60 yards away.  She shot three shots within 30 seconds and hit the tree with each shot! I don't know if I could have done that. :) Her confidence skyrocketed when she realized she could hit her target again!

I had to hold the tree up to get a picture to show where she hit it. 

Less than 3" wide

Now that you have heard her experience and can see what a difference the Hawke Vantage scope made for my wife, I'll share my take on it as well.

First off, this is a great quality scope for the price.  The Vantage 3-9x50 will cost you under $120.  As my wife mentioned, the clarity and quality are outstanding.  The warranty on all of the Hawke rife scopes gives you the assurance that if the quality and clarity are not up to par, you will be taken care of! When I got the scope, I got it in the 30/30 duplex reticle so that it fit our 30/30.  You can also get this scope in their Mil Dot Reticle.

30/30 Duplex Reticle

Mil Dot Reticle

I shot this rifle every other week for about 6 months while working on this review, and I have to say the Vantage 3-9x50 is undoubtedly consistent. Once it's mounted on the rifle and sighted in, I have not had to touch it or adjust it since.  It is light weight, simple, and effective.  The specs of the scope are shown below (be sure to enlarge the picture or visit the website if the font is difficult to read).

To sum up our experiences, switching to the Vantage 3-9x50 scope made a world of a difference.  It was unfortunate that I put my wife through a few years of poor quality scopes which tainted her hunting experience and made her question her abilities before I realized we needed to make the switch.  The most frustrating part for me was that the Hawke Vantage 3-9x50 was only $30 more than the cheaper and less effective scope that was on our 30/30.  I wish I would have gone with the Hawke Vantage 3-9x50 when I first got my wife into hunting, rather than waiting until now.  

Hawke Optics Enduranec 2.5-10X50 LR Dot IR Rifle Scope Review

With Idaho's hunt results out now, it is time to do all the necessary preparation to get ready for hunting season.  To ensure you make the best possible shot, like most hunters, you probably have things to do to make sure everything is set.  I got out recently to make sure my rifle was still sighted in for this next hunting season and was reminded about why I love this scope.  This past hunting season I have used the Hawke Optics 2.5-10X50 30mm Rifle scope on my 300 Win Mag, and LOVE IT! Here is my take on the scope. Before I get into the review, let me inform you that I have used this scope to a great extent including in the rain, wind, sun, snow, and it even rolled down a mountain with a log (not on purpose).  In all situations before and after all of this wear and testing, I will let you know how I feel this scope has performed!

When I first got the scope I was impressed with the size and weight of it compared to the scope I had on my rifle before.  The scope measures in at 13.4" long and weighes in at 22.5 ounces, which I feel is a great fit for my rifle.  It also comes with a 4" sunshade that you can choose to attach to the front of the scope--but of course that adds an additional 4" and a few more ounces. For my review, I used this scope multiple times with and without the sunshade to get a good feel for both.

When using the scope in the field, I loved how clear the optic was.  That is one thing I have to praise Hawke about--the quality of their glass has always been impressive!  This scope has the same amazing quality and clarity as all of their other products I have used.  It didn't matter if I was on the lowest zoom or if I was zoomed up to the 10 power; the clarity and lighting was always amazing.  The size, lighting, and overall view of the scope made looking through it such a breeze while hunting.  I have used a few scopes that were good, but when I cranked up the zoom the image clarity would get a bit fuzzy and blurred.  Hawke Optics puts a 16 layer multi-coated finish on their glass to maximize the clarity.  Attention to detail while hunting is an aspect that this scope is able to provide you in every situation.

LR Dot Reticle

The second thing I really like while using the scope in the field was the reticle.  On this scope, I chose the LR Dot reticle, which is for the long distance situations.  I absolutely love it because it takes a lot of the guess work out of things while in the field.  The reticle is set up so that if I sight in dead on at 100 yards, the lower aim points will be for 200, 300, 400, and 500 yards.  This is great for when I want to shoot at a wide range of distances without adjusting my scope in many of the unpredictable situations I encounter while hunting.  I was a bit skeptical that the lower aim points would be on, but after sighting in my scope, I can assure you that the reticle is set up perfectly for my rifle.

Another good thing is that you can download the Hawke Optic app, which will calculate where each aim point will hit based on your different load and caliber of rifle.  All you have to do is put in the following: 1) the info of the scope you have, 2) your caliber of rifle, 3) the load. This will tell you right were you will hit at each aim point according to the drop of your bullet.  One more plus about this scope is that it has a built in illumination that you can use to illuminate the etched reticles in the glass.  Of course, check to make sure this feature is legal in your state, but I can say it is a great feature for simply sighting in your rifle.  I take the battery out during hunting season so that it is not a temptation for me to use while hunting.
 
 Another great feature of the rifle is how easy it is to use.  The fast focus eyebell, the high torque zoom ring, and the no snag low profile fingertip turrets make using the scope super easy and convenient.  I love being able to focus the scope or zoom in with a easy adjustment while looking through the scope.  The scope designed so that you can make every adjustment while looking through the scope with ease.  Also, each end of the scope has screw-in metal flip-up covers.  This is awesome because you don't have to purchase any additional lens covers that add bulk to your scope.  Seems how I put this scope on my 300 win mag, I loved that the flip-up lens covers were very thin and didn't take away from my eye relief.  The eye relief on this scope is 4" which gives me some confidence that I shouldn't scope myself as long as I don't do anything stupid.  Even if you choose to attach the 4" sunshade I mentioned earlier, the sunshade also allows the screw-in lens cover to be attached to your scope.  These are great especially when hunting in the rain or snow, or just as a way to protect the glass.  I'll admit, I have used the 4" sunshade more to keep my scope dry than I have to keep the sun from creating a glare while hunting. 

I have heard that the only limitation to a a rifle is the scope you have on it, and the person pulling the trigger.  As I mentioned, I have tried a hand full of other scopes and even though I have liked some of them, I have never been as impressed or committed to any other scope as I am with the Endurance 2.5-10X50 Scope.  After using this scope for close to a year, I would have to say that this scope is a great addition to have on my rifle.  With Hawke, your products are covered under a Lifetime World-Wide Warranty, and the reputation of providing a quality product.  I will be honest, I don't know all of the details about how they build their products or all the science/engineering that goes into them, but I can attest that I have used some of their other products now for close to years and have been nothing but impressed with them.  I have put this scope through a lot of different conditions and situations, and it has performed flawlessly in every situation.  I have never had any problems with the scope fogging up, not functioning properly, or any other type of issue.  If you are in the market for a quality scope for a reasonable price you should do yourself a favor and at least check out the Hawke Optic rifle scopes.

Sunshield attachment

This scope comes in at $369.99 and is built to last. I'll admit, on a recent outing, I had my share of bad luck while cutting some firewood--I put my rifle with the scope leaning up against the down hill side of a tree.  Then, rolling down the hill at full speed, a log I cut caught my shoulder sling from behind the tree and took my rifle another 20 yards down the mountain with it... The event broke the stock of my gun... I ordered a new stock, replaced it, and without making any adjustments, my scope, it was STILL dead on.... That may be a bit of luck, but I can't help but be impressed when a scope gets thrown around, banged up, rolled over by a log, and STILL remains sighted in!  I definitely don't recommend going as far as throwing a log down a hill toward the scope to see if it stands up to the abuse, but I will attest to the durability and reliability of the Endurance 2.5-10X50 rifle scope!

A doe I shot last year with my Hawke Scope at 310 yards