Glassing System Recommendations

[Jdog]

Time for a new western hunt glassing system…

I have ran a set Swaro 10x42 SLCs for 14 yrs. Alongside the binos I have ran a Swaro 20-60x65 spotter on a Manfrotto w a basic head setup that is also 14 yrs old. Love the Swaro quality & engineering. Kinda clueless on tripods & heads—so many out there now.

I’ve never used binos off a tripod so I plan to start doing so and have settled on Swaro 15x56 SLCs vs a spotter.

Also plan to start shooting off the tripod when applicable. So that’s in tha mix as well.

Though I’m 6’8”, most glassing will take place sitting.

Two questions…
- Those that don’t carry a spotter and using higher mag binos, is this the only glass you carry on a hunt?

- What tripod & head config would you recommend for the 15 Swaros glassing and using as a shooting platform w a rifle?

Any and all input is welcomed.

Thank you.

 

[flagstaff]

I only carry a spotter and my 15’s. That said, I do also have my 8 power range finder with me when I am moving in for the stalk.

As far as tripod head, get a pan or fluid head. I personally have both Jim White or Outdoorsman’s pan heads, but there are other pan heads out there. Stay away from a ball grip type tripod head as you won’t like it when using your spotter.

 

[Sully_44]

Depends on the type of hunting your doing. Are you just trying to find any animal? Just hunting there mag binos and chest binos will work. Do you want to target a specific age class and you’re a little more of a trophy hunter? You’ll want all 3. Personally, I carry a 10x42 on my chest, a higher mag bino in my bag and a spotter in my bag. When I’m sitting down to glass I start with the chest binning the tripod so I have a huge field of view. I check all the obvious spots first, then I switch to the bigger binos and do the bulk of the glassing session with those. Once animals are found I switch to the spotter to get a closer look and see if that’s an animal I’d like to chase. If it’s not, I’m back to the binos. As far as heads go, you’ll want some sort of ball function if you want to shoot off of it. A I’ll makes an ultra light panning ball head so it’s decently comfortable to glass off of and great to shoot with. Tricer makes a head that is a pan/tilt head with a ball at the base to shoot with. Looks really nice. I just ordered Wiser precision’s new pan/tilt ball head. We’ll see if it works as well as it seemed at the Western Hunt Expo. If you’re only going to glass off the tripod, get a good pan/tilt head. If you do want to shoot a little, you’ll want something with a ball feature.

 

[hereinaz]

I run 10x LRF binos on my chest and 15 in my pack.

How far will you be shooting?

Inverted leg tripods are best. Ball heads are required for good shooting. That’s the rub for glassing. The best I have found is the MH motorcycle handle version from Leofoto. I also run the Leofoto tripod.

 

[Sully_44]

I run 10x LRF binos on my chest and 15 in my pack.

How far will you be shooting?

Inverted leg tripods are best. Ball heads are required for good shooting. That’s the rub for glassing. The best I have found is the MH motorcycle handle version from Leofoto. I also run the Leofoto tripod.

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Dude, what’s the adjustable stock your using on that one gun?

 

[Sierra Hunter]

Higher mag binos don’t replace the spotter unless you just want to find animals. Otherwise it’s there to supplement

 

[RockAndSage]

It's something you might consider having some flexibility with, depending on what you're hunting and where. Think of it as a tool box, where you want to be able to have the right set of tools for a given job.

For mule deer and when I'm on foot, it's 8s on the chest for the very first checks of an area before setting up the tripod. Because of that, and the limited amount of time on them, you can get away with not having the absolute best glass here, if you're balancing a budget around, or just getting started. From there though, 90% of my work is done with high-mag binos from tripod - it just seems to allow far better gridding and detailed study, while also having better field-of-view in catching ear flicks, antler movement, etc. Plus, I can do it nearly all day, whereas with a spotter, the eye strain of using one eye is limiting. Because of this, by far my most expensive and valued glass are the high-power binos. I only use a lightweight spotter to double-check or assess a particular animal, and because you're not in that glass all day, it doesn't need to be at the extreme of quality. However, if you have a lot of shadows and shade you're looking into, or distance at low-light, you get much better results with higher quality glass. This is my personal recipe for mule deer, on foot. In the high desert/juniper.

In some mule deer zones around me, and with antelope hunting, there can be a big advantage to truck scouting with very a high-quality, high-power spotter on a heavy, stable tripod. With mule deer, it's places where you can get eyes on rimrock 3+ miles from the 2-track, or even a full mountain range away, for example (NV has over 50 separate mountain ranges). Same with antelope - find a high spot, and glass the flats for a good buck. With those situations, I don't use the high-power binos at all, and put the 8s on for the stalk.

For dense timber, or with elk, it might be an entirely different story.

 

[hereinaz]

Dude, what’s the adjustable stock your using on that one gun?

It’s a McMillan Sentry stock that takes AR grip and buffers tube.

PM if interested.

 

[fbhandler]

For open country, I’m using the NL 14s on my chest while moving, then on a tripod when stopped. Carrying a large or small spotter depending on how big the country and how much zoom I need. For a tripod, I use the promaster 525 or 528 depending on spotter and wiser nighthawk head. Been really happy with this set up so far, can use either tripod for shooting if needed.

 

[Alpine4x4]

Look into the front country ball head by Aziak. It can lock into a pan head with a thumbs crew then unlock into a ballhead for full shooting adjustability.

I'm like the above poster. 10s for the first sweep, 15s for a deep dive, spotter for final judgment. Big spotter for truck glassing.