Hawke Endurance ED 15-45x60 Spotting Scope Review, By Joe Soto

[Justin Crossley]

Joe (MuleyFever) grew up a die-hard archery hunter pursuing whitetails in Wisconsin with family and friends. In 2000 an Alberta hunt for mule and pronghorn lit his desire to hunt out west as much as possible. In 2011 he decided it was time to move so he and his wife settled in Southern Utah. He now tries to hunt in multiple states each year and enjoys archery, muzzleloader, and rifle hunting to extend his seasons and opportunities. The majority of his hunting is backpacking solo, but Joe's wife enjoys hunting with him when she can as well. When not hunting, Joe is enjoying the outdoors by camping, hiking, and fishing with his wife and their dog.

Give Joe a warm Rokslide welcome and check out his first Rokslide review.

Hawke Endurance ED 15-45x60 Spotting Scope Review

 

[MuleyFever]

Thanks Justin. I will keep this thread updated as I get more use out of it. I don’t use a spotter where I archery hunt at home but I’ll have it in CO next month for a muzzy hunt and it will get used a bunch on my late season NV hunt.

 

[robby denning]

good to finally have a review up on something from Hawke.

 

[Fins_N_Tines]

Hows this stack up to the Athons?

 

[MuleyFever]

Hows this stack up to the Athons?

I have not tried the Athlon scopes but while researching I found that Doug commented on the 2 in the attached thread that the Hawke was right there with the Ares. It was one of the reasons I gave the Hawke a try.

Athlon Cronus 12-36x50 vs Vortex Razor HD 11-33x50

If you could have either of these scopes price not being a factor, which would you choose? Im liking the extra magnification and less weight of the Cronus but it’s very marginal. Also curious on people’s opinion of how much zoom is “enough” I was originally looking for something with a 45-48x...

www.rokslide.com

 

[V-TRAIN]

Great review, i actually just got one of their spotting scopes about 2 weeks ago.
It was older model, from their Nature Trek line, that they used to make with ED glass, it is a 16-48x65.
I think they stopped making it when they began making the 50mm, and also because of making 2 lines of scopes with ED glass really didn't make sense.

I think it is going to be exactly what I was wanting. I had a cheap spotter years ago (Stokes Sandpiper) sold it and got a Leica. The Leica was better for sure, but honestly i could do everything i needed with the cheaper scope, so I sold the Leica and started looking for a more budget friendly scope.

I have some Swaro EL binos, and some Hawke Frontier Ed binos, and I know that they offer great optics at a great price, so i figured I would get the Hawke spotter. I agree with your post, they are great for the money, and do everything i need.

 

[schaumburg]

Just ordered one of these after I left Glacier NP disappointed with the 10x magnification of my binos. Hoping for good things. I do like the glass on my small Hawke 10x32 Endurance EDs.

 

[MuleyFever]

Just ordered one of these after I left Glacier NP disappointed with the 10x magnification of my binos. Hoping for good things. I do like the glass on my small Hawke 10x32 Endurance EDs.

Be sure to let us know what you think.

 

[ItemB]

Good review, thinking I might order and give this spotter a try, anybody have a chance to compare this to the smaller maven s2?

 

[schaumburg]

I haven't had time to do much with the 15-45 yet, but I am happy with it so far. Viewing across a lake the other morning was it's first test. 5km distance as the crow flies, with pretty challenging conditions. "Seeing" was poor, to borrow an astronomy term. It was hazy, with mirage and reflections coming off the lake.

At lower magnification colors were good, and image was crisp. Once I got above 35X or so it was more susceptible to the mirage and haze, with the picture losing a little color accuracy. Closer in there wasn't nearly any color shift. I do believe that with more optimal air quality and less refraction in the air the scope would do better.

Build quality feels solid. Size is great for portability. Focus knob is smooth and the sunshade and eyepiece adjustment feels good. Having a removable eyepiece is nice for a scope in this price range. I might miss having a rotating collar rather than the fixed foot hhere, but using a 3 way head on my tripod I can work around it.

Overall I am happy. It is my first spotting scope, so take my opinions with a grain of salt. I wasn't ready to drop over 500 on a spotting scope yet, but needed something for better viewing of wildlife at a distance. This gets me that at a good price. My other current optics are Sony G Master lenses, Vortex Viper HD 10x50 and Hawke Endurance ED 10x32 binos. Happy to answer any questions. And thanks to Cameraland NY for the good service.

 

[MuleyFever]

Good review, thinking I might order and give this spotter a try, anybody have a chance to compare this to the smaller maven s2?

If you do be sure to call Doug at Cameraland.

 

[ItemB]

If you do be sure to call Doug at Cameraland.

For sure already been in contact with him

 

[eoden_usmc]

Got one of these for fathers day this year, love it so far. Only thing that is't the best is the soft case. Feels and looks flimsy and cheap, doesn't fit well either. For the price i don't think you can go wrong though!

 

[MuleyFever]

Got one of these for fathers day this year, love it so far. Only thing that is't the best is the soft case. Feels and looks flimsy and cheap, doesn't fit well either. For the price i don't think you can go wrong though!

Yeah I don’t think the case was made for it specifically with how it fits. It serves it’s purpose but is sloppy.

 

[schaumburg]

Got one of these for fathers day this year, love it so far. Only thing that is't the best is the soft case. Feels and looks flimsy and cheap, doesn't fit well either. For the price i don't think you can go wrong though!

I put a tripod plate on mine in the case and it helped. The case doesn't move around as much with it on. Doesn't fix the wonky end flaps though.

 

[BLJ]

In on this as well. I've got one coming from Doug at Cameraland as of this morning. I'll check in with some info later on.

 

[broens]

Hey, thanks for your detailed review!

I'm currently looking for a lightweight spotter and have narrowed it down to the Hawke Endurance ed 15-45 60 and the Opticron mm4 60mm. Has anyone compared the two? While the opticron is a bit more expensive, I can find more reviews, which are always very positive. It also features a rotating collar and you can find fixed eyepieces, but it is a tiny bit heavier.

 

[Blaser 264]

Thanks for the review

 

[MuleyFever]

I was able to use this spotter a lot last week mule deer hunting. I would say I am still happy with it as a budget scope. Its size allowed me to take it along without any hesitation on my hikes. As a 60mm scope it does suffer from low light and at its highest magnification. I think this is just something one has to accept if looking for a budget scope of this size. I would say that it does really well with about 70% of its magnification range. After that it loses some clarity and brightness. Again, in its price range I dont think you can get away from this. However, unless you are looking to score a deer from a ways off this scope still offers plenty of clarity to identify bucks and approximate size at longer range.

After using multiple 50-60mm spotters I think that they all work well for medium range glassing but suffer in lower light and at max magnification. In the budget, lighter weight and smaller size category I still feel this Hawke is a great option.

 

[Yakoun]

Thanks Joe, great write-up. So after using it a bit, do you still feel that this size of scope still has a place in your backpack for the hunting you do?