Vortex Optics Review: One Local User Gives His Feedback
Article by Tanner VanPelt, North 40 Employee & Avid Outdoorsman
I have spent a fair amount of time in Sandpoint, ID but mostly indoors at our Ponderay store location downtown, City Beach and on Lake Pend Oreille- always in awe of the mountain ranges.
I can't help but imagine the peaks rising above the last glacier, and my imagination drifts off to a scene of a crack quickly making its way up an ice dam with the pressure behind it suddenly exploding, sending its content to the Pacific similar to something straight out of the animated movie "Ice Age."
Exploring the Cabinet and Selkirk Mountains
In April, I was finally able to spend some time off the lake and out of town with avid hunter and N40 customer, Mike Lindgren, in the Cabinet and Selkirk Mountains that he calls home.
These two Idaho Panhandle mountain ranges create an impressive back drop to the area, but each has its own unique features and habitat that sustain some of North America's most coveted big game species including elk, moose, and bear. While Mike can find himself working up hill through thick timber in search of elk, he can also be in a different mountain range the next day on a wide open, high mountain basin. The mountains offer local hunters many opportunities to get out and find an area that best matches their experience level.
Check out our selection of Vortex optics online here.
At well over 6 feet, and working hard at his day job, Mike is not afraid to take the challenges that lead to a successful hunt. But a hunt starts long before the hunting season opens. There's equipment check, target practicing, reloading, cleaning, staying in shape, and glassing lots and lots of land to be better prepared when the season does open.
What are the advantages of summer scouting for fall hunts?
Whether it's the off season, or in the heat of a stalk, it's very clear optics are the one piece of equipment Mike uses year around. The last thing you need on a hunt is for the optics you've been using in your preparation to fail you in the field. The old adage, "If you're serious, buy the best gear you can afford," is certainly true to a point, there are meticulously designed, precision engineered optics for hunters of all levels and budgets backed by an unconditional, very important promise to "just work".
See why Mike, and other hunters who understand what it means to use great optics, choose Vortex Optics in this month's Tested by Locals.
Why do I choose Vortex Optics over other brands?
Exceptional quality and value.
What does quality mean in an optic?
I want rugged as in "I hiked for 3 hours, finally crested the ridge and now I can start my hunt" or " I'm flying to Alaska for my once in a lifetime Dall Sheep hunt and want to take the best gear there is". I want repeat-ability as in "I don't want to have to bang on my scope to make my cross-hairs move after I make my adjustment", or "Is the measurement in the cross-hair REALLY accurate? Above all I want clarity because let's face it, you can't shoot what you can't see!
Wondering which Vortex optics we carry?
Everyone has heard the saying, "If you are serious, buy the best gear you can afford"; and this is certainly true to a point. Nobody wants to think about their optic quitting during a hunt or on the range with friends all around. But, where is the line drawn where you are just paying excess for the name? My advice is to look at the warranty. Everything human made will, in time, break. Where do you stand if the broken product has an expired warranty or not covered by the "Lifetime" Warranty? Up a creek somewhere without a paddle, that's where!
Vortex Optics has the best warranty in the industry; if it breaks, they repair or replace free of charge for as long as that optic is in your possession!