Help me improve my spotting scope set up

[Loper]

What are you hunting for? Are you counting points? That could impact a suggestion. Definitely suggest a tripod/head upgrade but not sure if a spotter upgrade would be worth it. I haven’t used your tripod setup in particular but this year I made a major upgrade to my tripod setup and realized low quality tripods don’t even support binos well compared to good ones

I’ve been hunting elk for the last 5 years. I’m not counting points.

What tripod/head did you have and what did you upgrade to?

 

[Marshfly]

Put a VA5 on the Summit. I like the summit legs actually. Light and quick to use. They work great with a Sirui VA-5. I had ZERO issues with that setup confidently and securely holding my Kowa 77 before I bought a heavier tripod. Worked fantastic.

Also, upgrade your binos. The first step is ALWAYS to upgrade your binos.

 

[NickyD]

I’ve been hunting elk for the last 5 years. I’m not counting points.

What tripod/head did you have and what did you upgrade to?

I don’t know the quality of your spotter, but hunting elk I would think it would be acceptable. They’re so big and contrast well against most backgrounds I rarely use a spotter when hunting elk. I’m also not counting points with elk as well.

I was using a benro tripod I got through maven (don’t remember the model) and have a cheap vortex tripod. It’s older and also don’t know the model. I thought both were acceptable for their respective purposes until I experienced a high quality tripod.

I upgraded to RRS 22ic with an anvil 30 head. I got it so I can confidently shoot off of it but i immediately realized how much better it was for optics. Wind doesn’t impact it at all even with my 85mm spotter. I don’t need to have to worry about getting the tripod setup perfectly to provide max stability. I’ve gone back and used my other tripods while scouting and only then did I realize the hardly noticeable movements. I think those movements lead to fatigue and not optimizing the quality of the optics. I don’t know if it’s enough to actually miss animals, but it definitely inspires confidence in my setup.

I definitely splurged on it knowing I was skipping over many other quality tripods and I’m sure there’s tripods 1/3 the price that would provide effective stability.