Binos or Spotter

[Mtaylor]

Hey guys I work on a large farm and as I’m driving around I see deer coyotes ect. I carry my Vortex Diamond back 10x42 in my truck all the time but sometimes there’s hills 1 mile away I would like to glass without driving over there. Would a pair of 15 binos be better or a small spotter? I was thinking of mounting it onto the window of my truck when glassing.

This optic would also get transitioned into August bear hunts, and later season deer/elk hunts (which was the reason why I was thinking of sticking with a smaller spotter.)

 

[rcb2000]

Whats your budget? Most searches on this forum will get you a "save your money and buy better Bino's answer"
That said, if you only have limited funds, there could be other temporary options.

 

[Mtaylor]

Preferably less than $1000.
My thought was to go less expensive then upgrade later, is that the wrong idea?

 

[Chad717]

I have swaro 15-56s and 20-60-80 spotter and the spotter only gets pulled out to video or really dissect horns for inches. Binos are much more valuable for most hunting.

 

[Spiral Horn]

Here’s a thread from a couple months back covering basically the same thing:

Upgrade Binos or buy a spotter??

Looking for some opinion from "Optics Folks". I currently own Vortex Diamondback HD 12x50s that I've used for a couple years, they've served me well besides fogging frequently. Now I'm doing more high country deer and elk hunts on top of my PNW forest elk hunting. I do not own a spotting scope...

rokslide.com

 

[rcb2000]

I’ll say this.
I went on an archery Utah hunt a few years back and the only bino’s that I had were some vortex diamondback 10 x 402s. I borrowed a buddies spotting scope, which honestly you could probably buy for $300 on eBay right now.
I also had a cheap tripod from vortex that cost $100 I think.

I had the time of my life and never felt upset by the glass that I had, I was too busy enjoying myself in the mountains. I took a bunch of notes from my hunt , and one of the things I wrote down was this “a spotting scope is worth its weigh it gold”. From what I recall this was because many times when I would spot what I knew to be deer in the distance, I couldn’t tell even what sex they were, or if they were a good buck using my binoculars, but even the cheap spotting scope could help identify them.

I think you could go to one of three routes and have a great hunt regardless.
1. Use $1000 to buy a nice pair of binoculars, put them on a tripod.
2. By a spotting scope within the budget. I just bought an Athlon Aries spotting scope for $600 but also was looking at a maven spotting scope that came in at 800 I believe.
3. You could go to rent Guns N Gear, and rent an incredible spotting scope for your hunt for a fraction of the price and continue to save up. That’s what I did on a rifle hunt last year and got to experience a Swarovski spotting scope, which otherwise would’ve sat in my closet for the rest of the year.

Hope this helps and doesn’t make it more difficult

 

[Mtaylor]

Good advice rcb2000. What is the glass clarity like from $1000 binos to $2000? I went to sportsman’s warehouse last night and looked through Zeus’s Conquest 10x40’s and they were awesome! I will have to go back and check out the swarovskis for fun

 

[chaser_2332]

My 15x swaros are my go to 9.5 out of 10 time when it comes to glass. Even when i pull a spotter out i usually think to myself i could have seen this just as good through my binos. The image with a good set of binos combined with both eyes open provide a much better glassing session for me.

 

[rcb2000]

Good advice rcb2000. What is the glass clarity like from $1000 binos to $2000? I went to sportsman’s warehouse last night and looked through Zeus’s Conquest 10x40’s and they were awesome! I will have to go back and check out the swarovskis for fun

I rented a swaro spotter, and was blown away, it’s like the first time you saw a high def tv vs the one at your house.

 

[6.5x284]

Since you mentioned driving around a lot, maybe look at a pair of the sig zulu6 hdx. Optically they are much better than the first Gen. I was blown away how stable the 16x were with stabilization on. I’ll be getting a pair for the truck. They aren’t for every application but you’d be able to stay on a vibrating tractor and still have no movement. May be a good option for what you want and even the 16 wouldn’t need a tripod. As a guy with 8 and 12 NL, and 15 SLCs I’ll be using these on quite a few occasions once I can snag a 16.

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[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Stretch your budget a bit and grab a Kowa 55x as you can find them NIB for about $1300 several times a year. Grab a window mount and use it for your current needs. Then grab a mid-tier tripod and head of choice and it'll rock for bear hunts. Grab an adapter for your current binoculars and you can use them for glassing as well (not the best binos but will work in typical bear woods).

At a later date grab better binoculars for glassing for elk, mule deer, etc. Better in this case is clarity as well as more magnification.

Build an optics arsenal.

 

[Chad717]

Since you mentioned driving around a lot, maybe look at a pair of the sig zulu6 hdx. Optically they are much better than the first Gen. I was blown away how stable the 16x were with stabilization on. I’ll be getting a pair for the truck. They aren’t for every application but you’d be able to stay on a vibrating tractor and still have no movement. May be a good option for what you want and even the 16 wouldn’t need a tripod. As a guy with 8 and 12 NL, and 15 SLCs I’ll be using these on quite a few occasions once I can snag a 16.

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6.5-284 I was getting ready to order a set of 12 NL and I already have the 15 SLC’s do you think those 12s are better than the 15’s on a tripod or would I still keep the 15’s?

 

[6.5x284]

6.5-284 I was getting ready to order a set of 12 NL and I already have the 15 SLC’s do you think those 12s are better than the 15’s on a tripod or would I still keep the 15’s?

Personally I think the 12x NL are better than the 15x SLC. Objects are slightly smaller in the image but so much clearer. I spent lots of days glassing side by side and now my 15x are just for shooting matches really. I think you'd need to bump to 18x to justify going away from the NL 12x personally. I found a stud mountain mule deer at 1.2 miles in bad light (looking into sun) with my 12x. I could see horns clearly, and spotter confirmed stud. Through my 15x on the same deer and it honestly was harder to tell he had antlers because it wasn't as clear and the sun effected it more. I have a spot though that I glass one basin at around 5 miles and if elk are out I can still find them in the 15x. I haven't tried with the 12x, I could see that extreme example favoring 15 and bigger.

 

[Gone4Days]

I had 15x swaros and a spotter. Never used the spotter and got tired of carrying it. Sold the spotter.

 

[wingmaster]

3. You could go to rent Guns N Gear, and rent an incredible spotting scope for your hunt for a fraction of the price and continue to save up. That’s what I did on a rifle hunt last year and got to experience a Swarovski spotting scope, which otherwise would’ve sat in my closet for the rest of the year.

I've been doing this for a couple of years now, I know I want the best glass out there and am willing to wait for it.

And I had a good experience with Rent Guns N Gear, for some people it might even make sense to rent every hunting season but I like to glass up things year round haha

 

[darrenchou]

I think the spotter needs tripod. Binos> 10x may need a tripod too.

 

[GSMLookoutfarms]

Good binos