Although I am pleased (as a proud owner of one) that Leica has come tops in this, I can't help thinking that birders are the better judge.
Why? Hunters only need to spot it, while birders need to look at tiny details too
EDIT: Just to clarify, I'm genuinely interested in opinions on this - not trying to start a volatile debate.
Hi Simon
I can think of a few reasons why some, perhaps many, hunters would need to see details. If I've got some of this wrong, no doubt someone will correct me.
You can't shoot everything all year round so hunters interested in observing and identifying birds and wildlife need decent bins for this.
On a shoot hunters see stuff that they are interested in identfying not shooting.
Shooting birds in Europe (ducks, geese, partridge, grouse etc) some can be shot, others are protected so you need to indentify species.
Those that can be shot can have different shooting seasons so you need to identify species.
Some hunters will have their own ideas about what it is reasonable or desirable to shoot, over and above any legal limits. So ID to species is necessary.
Are all deer shootable at the same time of year? Are some species difficult to tell apart? I don't know but this could lead to a requirement to identify to species.
If a hunter is looking for a trophy then likely he will want to count the tines on the antlers and make sure there are no broken ones.
There are probably other reasons for hunters wanting/needing/desiring good or top quality bins. After all they don't all go down to the shopping mall and buy Acme 20x60s for 25 USD do they?
Lee