Trijicon Huron Riflescope: Designed for Whitetail Hunting

The Trijicon Huron might be one of the best all-around scopes out there and certainly excels at its designed purpose: whitetail hunting.

February 23, 2024 By Brad Fitzpatrick

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In 2020, Trijicon launched a series of six new scopes that were designed for a variety of shooting and hunting applications. One of the six, the Huron, was the first Trijicon product designed specifically for those who target North America’s most popular big game animal: the whitetail deer.

“The Huron line was developed specifically with deer hunters in mind, though the scope is useful for a variety of applications,” says Trijicon product manager John Fink. An avid hunter himself, Fink and his team set out to create a mid-price scope offering the rugged durability and precision the brand’s military optics are known for.

I’ve seen few optics that defy the principle that scope quality directly relates to retail price, but the Trijicon Huron—with a price range of $650 to $699—is one of them. This optic uses the same lenses, tubes and other parts that have made the company’s optics a mainstay on military weapons.

Like its flagship AccuPoint riflescope, the Huron comes with premium multicoated, broadband, anti-scratch lenses, and like the AccuPoint, the Huron is subjected to the company’s durability testing, which includes immersing the scope in three meters of water, shock testing from minus 20 to 140 degrees, shock and vibration testing, zero testing, and drop testing.

While the Huron doesn’t come with the fiber-optic reticle that you’ll find in AccuPoint scopes, you’re getting the same durable Trijicon build and materials quality without illumination and the associated cost. Instead, what you get with the Huron are fiber-wire, second focal-plane reticles.

All four Huron models—1-4x24mm, 2.5-10x40mm, 3-12x40mm and 3-9x40mm—feature Trijicon’s BDC Hunter Holds reticle. It has three stadia lines on the lower vertical wire for elevation holds and two stadia lines on each side of the horizontal wire for wind holds.

Fink says the holdover points are designed to represent 300-, 400- and 500-yard points of impact with a 200-yard zero with most popular hunting rifles from .243 Win. to .300 Win. Mag. You’ll have to verify that your load corresponds to these figures, but with most rifles they’ll be close enough for a rapid reference point in the field.

Trijicon Huron simple capped turrets — Instead of exposed dials and zero stops, the Huron uses simple capped turrets, which is all you need for most situations.

The horizontal and lower vertical arms of the crosshair have a traditional duplex-style design, so there’s actually an additional hold point if needed. The top vertical arm of the crosshair is a single thin line that doesn’t interfere with the shooter’s field of view. The 3-9x40mm model is also available with either duplex or German No. 4 reticles.

The Huron reticles don’t clutter the shooter’s field of view like the “Christmas tree” reticles seen in many precision scopes. For the hunter who cares more about a clear field of view for making fast shots on game to moderate ranges, the Huron provides all that is required.

The Huron uses traditional capped turrets, which are fine for most big game hunting, and incorporating capped turrets instead of exposed dials also reduces weight and cost. I love being able to reset my zero by simply lifting the elevation turret, rotating it to “0” and dropping it.

The Huron lacks parallax adjustment, but as Fink told me, parallax adjustment isn’t particularly necessary on a hunting riflescope that’s designed for shooting at moderate ranges with a maximum magnification of 12X. What’s more, parallax adjustment, like illumination and exposed dials, adds weight and cost, and that’s not in keeping with the Huron’s sleek design and modest price. The Huron does, however, offer a fast-focus eyepiece.

I tested the scope by dunking it in water for 10 minutes, and there were no bubbles indicating escaping air—nor was there any fogging. I did not freeze it because I’d hunted with this optic for three days when the morning temperatures were around minus 15 degrees, and there were no issues.

I also took a piece of wool cloth and rubbed it over both ocular and objective lenses. There were no scratches, indicating the coatings are plenty tough.

The 3-9x40mm has a one-inch tube, but all the rest are 30mm, and all models’ tubes are machined from 6061 aircraft-grade aluminum.

The 2.5-10x40mm Huron I tested offered 70 m.o.a. of total travel, plenty for a field optic. Despite its smaller tube diameter the 3-9X still offers 40 m.o.a. of travel. All Hurons feature 1/4 m.o.a. clicks, and on all three rifles I used this scope on, the adjustments were accurate and predictable. However, my single dislike on this scope is that the clicks are not as crisp and positive as I’d like—although I had no issue getting the Huron zeroed.

Trijicon opted to outfit these scopes with a maximum objective of 40mm. Some look down their noses at objectives less than 50mm or 56mm, and while large objectives can increase exit pupil—the amount of light leaving the eyepiece to reach the eye—they don’t “gather” additional light.

Trijicon Huron Riflescope has a 40mm objective — The 40mm objective is plenty big in terms of providing a decent exit pupil, and the relatively small diameter means you can mount it low on a rifle.

For one thing, the human eye can’t make use of an exit pupil of larger than 7mm, and the Huron I tested had an exit pupil of 4mm to 14mm depending on power—enough to see clearly without straining the eyes.

The smaller objective lens does offer some advantages, primarily that you can mount it lower on the rifle. These scopes are also trim and lightweight, which I prefer on a light sporting rifle or lever gun. The test scope weighed in at 18.2 ounces, which is lighter than most optics with added features.

Is this the best all-around hunting scope for the price? That’s hard to say, but based on the Huron’s excellent build quality, top-quality components and versatility—coupled with a price that’s a bargain in the world of optics—I think it’s fair to say this scope offers hunters an exceptional value.