Eyesight problems

[jerm8352]

My dad is getting older and now wheres reading glasses but has no problem seeing far away. His problems are when he is looking through his rifle scope or bow sight. Without the glasses, the target is clear but the reticle is fuzzy, with the glasses, the opposite is true. Any one else have this issue or any insight into a fix? I keep trying to get him to go to the eye doctor but you know how that goes. Thanks for the help.

 

[VikingsGuy]

Not sure how bad his eyes are, so my experience may not fit, but I definitely have to use reading glasses but am fine at distances. I do not use corrective glasses when shooting. I use the diopter ring on the scope to set the reticle crystal clear against a blue/gray sky. When shooting I focus my sight on the reticle not the target. Most of my scopes now have side focus to correct for parallax and when adjusted right gives pretty clear view down range (but again it is better technique to focus on the reticle). For my non parallax correcting scopes they are pretty clear down range at their factory set distance (typically 100 or 150 yards) and fuzzy nearer or further, but that should be true with any vision. From all my rambling, I am wondering if your dad has his diopter ring set right, or if he would benefit from a side focus scope. (again, do not set the diopter ring to focus at target range, use to set clear reticle focus against a bland back drop).

 

[jerm8352]

Thanks. I never thought to mess with the diopter. I notice you are from the Twin Cities. My dad just moved very close to there.

 

[VikingsGuy]

Thanks. I never thought to mess with the diopter. I notice you are from the Twin Cities. My dad just moved very close to there.

PM if you want to connect on TC info.

 

[Bowhunter65]

I am 52, I have to wear my glasses now to see anything up close, like my pins on my bow or the cross hairs on a gun. What did help was lighted pins on my bow site.

 

[Laelkhunter]

The focus adjustment on a scope (turning the rear eyepiece) is to adjust the focus of the reticle, not the target. Have him adjust the eyepiece until the reticle is in focus, then he can adjust the parallax adjustment for the distance until the target is in focus. He will have to make the decision to adjust the focus of the reticle either with his glasses on or off, depending on the majority of how he shoots (with or without glasses). Depending on the quality of the scope, it could be the scope might not be in sharp focus at any distance other than the 100 yards where the factory usually sets the parallax. Have him look through one of your scopes (or a different one than his) to see if he notices any difference at objects at a variety of ranges from 50 yards to 200 or 300 yards.