Angled vs Straight

[jrice87]

I'm looking at purchasing my first spotting scope. The majority of the use will be out in the field and on backpack hunts in mountainous terrain with some use being out of the truck. What configuration do you use or would you recommend for this style of usage?

 

[jbelz]

If majority of use is in the field I prefer an angled. If majority of use is in the truck I prefer a straight.

 

[SuperDUECE22]

What he said !

 

[ID_Matt]

I have had angled for the last several years but have decided I am going to straight. In my case, I use my 12X binos to spot and usually only the spotter for judging animals once I have found them. Having to adjust height on the tripod to accommodate the angled is a pain and usually means having to find the animal again.

 

[rm90]

I went down this loop hole and found myself going to straight type spotter quicker target acquisition

 

[HankMorgan]

I’m about to make the same decision as you. There is a great deal on the straight version of the spotter I want in the classifieds, but I think I want angled because I want to do a lot of showing my wife and kid whatever I happen to be looking at through the scope when we are camping. Wildlife observation is a favorite hobby of ours, and most of my hunts don’t actually require a spotter. If I were single, I’d probably have bought the straight one already.

 

[waspocrew]

Seems the consensus is the straight spotter is generally easier to acquire the target. For me, I just can't get comfortable looking through them. Angled has worked well for me.

 

[king402]

Straight helps with quicker acquisition
Angles is more comfortable to look through for long glassing

 

[huntnful]

Straight for sure. It is not IDEAL for long periods of continuous glassing, but no spotter really is. So where the straight really shines is swapping back and forth with your binos. Get an adaptor for you binos, and then mount the adaptor on your spotter so that it aligns perfectly with whatever was centered in your binos when you swap them out. It will save you a TON of time in the field getting quicker acquisitions of what you saw with your binos when you swap them for a better look.


In reality, and tons of field use, I would say I use a spotter for actually glassing, maybe 5% of the time. You do see some extra animals in that 2-4 mile range that would have been hard to glass with binos. But I have glassed a buck at 3.5 miles with a pair of 15's with his summer coat on and plenty of bulls beyond 4 miles.

Spotters are very glorified on TV and Youtube, but overrated for actual glassing in most circumstances IMO. But they are definitely irreplaceable for getting a better look at what you see with your binos.

 

[3Esski]

I'm usually sitting if I am glassing and like an angled scope, just more comfortable and it's lower than my chin usually so I can pull the binos out without the scope being in my way. they certainly don't seem to work as well for truck window mounted viewing though in my experience.

 

[repins05]

When I researched the forum etc a few years ago ….majority opinion was angled. I almost went with angled because of this. My friends were also saying angled. I agreed with what everyone was saying.

I took a step back….really thought about how I was currently glassing at the time and how I would integrate the use of a spotter. How would I use it where I hunt now. How often would I be using it. What am I using it for. Thought about how it would fit in my pack. Etc etc. I am not hunting the same terrain as many in this forum are.

I went against the grain and went angled. I have had no regrets.

 

[BluMtn]

Not in the poll, but I only use straight.