Do you carry a spotter? Why? When do you use it? For what?

[Stache Attack]

If you’re picky bring a spotter. If you have big area that you can save your soles by packing a spotter do it. If you bought just to have and already questioning then I would return it.

 

[justin davis]

Really depends on the hunt. If you’re looking for something specific antler wise a spotter is valuable. Some hunts I don’t need a spotter. Other hunts I do

 

[Hnthrdr]

Used it this year to confirm that my buddy wanted to make a 1.5 mile trek over to a buck. And also confirm that other bucks weren’t worth the trouble, ATC gets taken with on all rifle hunts, and gets used < 10% of the time glassing, binos off a tripod are king, but a spotter can be extremely useful especially if you are trying to target big/ mature animals

 

[StupidLightweight]

In open country, I often bring a Nikon ED50 spotter with fixed 27X wide-angle lens and a Leupold Alpine tripod. Together, the weight is around 3 to 3.5 pounds. I don't always use it, but I love it for closer looks at many things, not just antlers. When I don't bring it to save weight, I almost always miss not having it.

 

[TaperPin]

I’m a big believer in investigating small high quality spots as the absolute best use of time. That works for fishing or hunting. 80% of our time should be spent on 20% of the hillside, if not 90%. As such, many of these small pockets are just outside the reach of binoculars. You can either walk over there, use a spotting scope, or shrug your shoulders and ignore it. If high quality pockets are constantly on your radar, it’s painful to see a single really good small bench or portion of a ridge and not be able to look at it close enough to see if anything is there. It’s not scanning all day, or even needing a tripod, not that those don’t have a place, we’re talking situations that call out for just a quick look.

The first such spot that paid off big time was a large very steep ridge with few places that would actually be a bedding spot, but there were two very small points with a few scraggly trees over a mile away, well outside binocular range. Definitely not worth walking closer to, with much better hunting easier to get to, but it only took two minutes to rest the spotting scope on something just to look at those two small points. Those two minutes turned up a better deer than had been seen for a couple years. If only that one deer had been found in my lifetime it would justify always carrying a spotter, but that was way back in my early twenties and it’s paid off many times since.

How you hunt changes if there is always the option of looking a little further than binoculars can see. It’s not as pronounced, but much like the difference between hunters with and without binoculars.

What is used for my favorite hunting and preferences won’t be right for others, but across Wyoming I’ve felt a fixed 30x to be the ideal compromise between ease of use, field of view, and ability to see details. It’s simple to rest it on a pack and pick up what you’re looking for. You can’t even google an image of anyone using a spotter without a tripod today, but it’s very useful. Many top quality vintage optical surveying pieces built for extreme accuracy did not zoom or have higher magnification than that.

 

[BlacktailTracker]

I’m a big believer in investigating small high quality spots as the absolute best use of time. That works for fishing or hunting. 80% of our time should be spent on 20% of the hillside, if not 90%. As such, many of these small pockets are just outside the reach of binoculars. You can either walk over there, use a spotting scope, or shrug your shoulders and ignore it. If high quality pockets are constantly on your radar, it’s painful to see a single really good small bench or portion of a ridge and not be able to look at it close enough to see if anything is there. It’s not scanning all day, or even needing a tripod, not that those don’t have a place, we’re talking situations that call out for just a quick look.

The first such spot that paid off big time was a large very steep ridge with few places that would actually be a bedding spot, but there were two very small points with a few scraggly trees over a mile away, well outside binocular range. Definitely not worth walking closer to, with much better hunting easier to get to, but it only took two minutes to rest the spotting scope on something just to look at those two small points. Those two minutes turned up a better deer than had been seen for a couple years. If only that one deer had been found in my lifetime it would justify always carrying a spotter, but that was way back in my early twenties and it’s paid off many times since.

How you hunt changes if there is always the option of looking a little further than binoculars can see. It’s not as pronounced, but much like the difference between hunters with and without binoculars.

What is used for my favorite hunting and preferences won’t be right for others, but across Wyoming I’ve felt a fixed 30x to be the ideal compromise between ease of use, field of view, and ability to see details. It’s simple to rest it on a pack and pick up what you’re looking for. You can’t even google an image of anyone using a spotter without a tripod today, but it’s very useful. Many top quality vintage optical surveying pieces built for extreme accuracy did not zoom or have higher magnification than that.

Thanks for the input.

 

[waspocrew]

I carry one everywhere. Mostly use it to verify animals I’m seeing at long distance with my binos, and for digiscoping. I legitimately glass with it maybe 5% of the time.

^^ This.

I have mine in my pack nearly 100% of the time. Rarely glass with it, but to check out animals we've spotted with binos way out there.

 

[TaperPin]

Thanks for the input.

Using AI, it appears there is only one image on the entire internet that shows someone using a spotter without a tripod - it took an entire data center to ramp up to 100%, lights of an entire town dimmed, dogs barked, children cried and car alarms can still be heard off in the distance.

Here is the actual photo of a birder looking at the world record blue dilly goof hawk.

 

[nm.otter]

across Wyoming I’ve felt a fixed 30x to be the ideal compromise between ease of use, field of view, and ability to see details. It’s simple to rest it on a pack and pick up what you’re looking for.

I can see more with my 15x56 binos than I expected before owning them, and they're far easier on the eyes than a spotter. Still hoping for a lightweight fixed 30-35x wide angle spotter (perhaps two).

 

[noisy]

I plan to be the last guy in the mountains without a spotter, a suppressor, or an InReach.

 

[Ross]

No….my binos fill the need 99% of the time. If I had a highly coveted tag and was looking to verify a 400 inch bull or 200 deer, maybe. Otherwise have not had a need in 46 seasons.

 

[dirtytough]

It depends on the terrain you are hunting and whether trophy hunting or just going out to kill the first legal thing.

I pack a BTX 95 and the ATX eye piece. I’m old. I’m out of shape. And this year I packed them into the Colorado high country. I looked over 70 bucks before I killed one. I would have covered twice the miles to verify certain bucks if I didn’t have the spotter.

 

[BlacktailTracker]

^^ This.

I have mine in my pack nearly 100% of the time. Rarely glass with it, but to check out animals we've spotted with binos way out there.

Makes sense that's kinda what I want to use it for.