thinkin of a new spottin scope

[knschoenborn]

I'm thinking of buying myself a spotting scope for mule deer hu nting. What power do you think is best?

 

[Chef]

Have you ever used one to hunt with?
They can be tiring in comparison to a nice set of binoculars. I also went the spotting scope way myself at first but now am looking for a nice set of binos.

Used to get headeaches from squinting one eye then having to change eyes when changing directions in panning.

Hope this helps. Rent a spotter for a hunt and first see how you like it before making the jump. Spotters do have their place, like judging animals with higher magnification.

Just my advice, curious to see what others here have to say.

Chef
"I Love Animals...They're Delicious!"

 

[JimNv]

Yeah I've been chewing around the idea of getting a new scope as well. I am leaning in the direction that Chef advises...spotting binos. Looking at deer country for a long time sure strains the one eye ball. Hopefully this post will pull up some ideas.

 

[cpugsie]

I agree with Chef. I can't use a spotter very long. My one eye gets weird on me. I do have a Leupold 12-45x60 that works great for the price. It's nice to use when you want to get a closer look but I use my 15x56 Swarovskis for the majority of the time. You can see so much with the 15's that you need to be careful how far away you are looking. You can't always get there from where you are glassing from because of terrain or time. Good luck!

 

[cpugsie]

One idea is to have one guy go out with 10's and the spotter and the other guy go out with the 15's. My son uses the 10's and I have him do the closer glassing while I put on the 15's and glass the far hill sides. Share the load!

 

[dryflyelk]

Read this:
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/
on the home page there is a great article about "big eyes".
I had a spotting scope and just sold it to get the 15x56 minox binos. I'd highly recommend that route. Get a good tripod to go with it and you're set.
Give Doug a call over at cameraland and he'll hook you up. There's nobody better at Optics and service than Doug.

 

[DirtyTough]

It depends on what kind of hunting you are doing. I like 20-60X80. Or around there. If you just put a patch on your closed eye it is no problem using a spotter for a long time. Also before you purchase one of the bigeyes 15 is not the same as 40. I just don't see how I could get away with only having a max of 15 power. I don't want to walk an extra mile or two just to decide the buck is not a shooter. It all depends on the kind of hunting you do. I have a Swarovski and really like it. Good luck on your search.

 

[Wanted]

Spotting bino's do have their place in hunting, but can't replace what a spotter can do. It's finding bits and pieces where a spotter will pay for itself. Say for instance, you spot a gray object in the sage a long ways away. With the spotter, you can zoom on it and determine that instant if its a rock or deer. With the bino's you have to keep looking at it until the object moves or actually walk over to it to see what it is. If you have a problem squinting, try using your dominant eye or get an eyepatch.

 

[AZbowhntr]

I think everyone is pretty much on the same page here. There is nothing wrong with a spotting scope but I don't think I would want to glass with it all day. Find the game with your 10X, 12X, or 15X and then pull out the spotting scope to judge. Here is a perfect example from a couple weekends ago hunting on the San Carlos. We glassed up a nice little buck about a mile away and pulled out the Swaro spotting scope to check it out. And decided not to go after him and waist our afternoon.