I’ve ruined a few scope lenses. The two Leupold VX II 3x9’s on top of my .270 and .338 are trashed. Years of deer and elk hunting in the intermountain northwest forests didn’t help. Scope covers are not for the woods. No cover releases fast or quiet enough to not interfere with that one shot everyone is looking for. You just have to be ready to wipe the lenses free of fog and rain. Stuffing the right hand sleeve of my jacket with ten or twelve cotton cloths cut especially to wipe scope lenses was a mandatory pre dawn ritual in camp. Wipe the lens, check it, wipe it again, and on and on to the ultimate result: A scratched lens. There is just no getting around it. Anti fog works a little for a while but it’s not the answer. Seeing through the scope at the right moment is way more important than preserving a scope for prosperity. You can get a lens replaced. You may never replace a fumbled shot at an animal.
A squirrel scope does not have the same environmental problems as the antlered game scope. No rain or fog, no freezing temperatures to fog an ocular lens. The enemy here is dust and dirt. There is no reason to ruin a colony varmint scope lens. Proper care will make it last like new indefinitely.My squirrel areas are a dust nightmare. Guns, scopes, binoculars, glasses, and range finder all covered with a fine layer of dirt. Here is what I do to maintain my optics.
The dirt has to come off somehow. It’s the how that makes the difference between scratched or not. If a dirty lens is rubbed with or without liquid lens cleaner the dirt is acting like an abrasive. With a pair of eye glasses this is taken care of with a trip under the faucet to flush off the dirt particles prior to cleaning. A trip under the faucet is not in the program for my rifles, so compressed air is used to purge the dirt away. A stop by the compressor on the way inside the house after a trip to the field makes short work of dust covered rifles and optics. I use eye glass cleaner and clean white cotton cloth to clean the inevitable smudge or finger print. Prior to cleaning the lens, a Q-Tip is run around the inside of the scope openings to remove any stuck on dirt from threads and scope tube recesses that could be transferred to the lens while wet cleaning and cause a scratch. There will always be a bit of lint from the cotton cloth. A camel hair artists brush is perfect for dusting this off; a trick from the camera bag. I do not wet clean the lenses unless they need to be cleaned. Same deal as cleaning a barrel to death. A visual check with a strong light or flash light will really show up any smudges.
Canned air is a great in the field fix for a dusty lens. A can and the artists brush are always in my shooting bag when blasting rodents or at the range. The can needs to be held vertically and shot in quick, short bursts to prevent expelling propellant with the air. Rap the brush a few times after using to knock out any dust collected in the bristles. A cigar tube or a long, narrow plastic parts bag are good container choices for the brush. It needs to stay clean.
I’m a big believer in threaded lens covers. When not in the field my scopes have them on. I have no idea how dust gets into a gun safe but it does. Gun cases are another less than clean living space for an uncovered scope. Better have those lenses covered when cleaning. A drop of copper remover or the spray floating in the air while using a bore brush will eat the coating off a lens faster than it can be wiped off. Oil or cleaner on the lens also necessitates repeated and unnecessary wet cleaning to remove.
This cleaning regimen has kept my target and varmint scope lenses and other optics in tip top shape.
Hold 'em & Squeeze 'em