Longer range spotters

[TimberHunter]

Please, if you don’t use your spotters on a regular basis at 1.5-3+ miles away, please don’t comment. I’ve read enough “XXX brand/model is best because I looked through it once at a big box store”


Currently use a new razor 55 and gen 1 razor 85. They do just fine for the money. I couldn’t tell much of a difference between the 85 and a swaro ATS 65

But with me glassing further on a regular basis, I wanted to see what you guys are using? Would like to stay 85mm and under, ideally 50/60mm due to hiking often


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[huntnful]

Depends what you’re actually trying to see at those distances. But a Kowa 664 would suit your hiking needs better, and a Kowa 884 would suit your glassing needs better.

I glassed a buck at 2 miles last weekend with the 664 spotter and could tell he was a buck and how big he was for sure.

 

[Diced]

Kowa 66

 

[Spiral Horn]

Own both a Kowa 66A and 88A. Both are exceptional in their own right. But if the majority of the time will be spent on high magnification, extreme range viewing the 88A wins, hands-down. The 66A is bright and crisp and much more portable than the 88A, and very capable spotter. But when getting into that 50x-60x magnification range I certainly notice a difference in the fine details extractable from long-range items of interest. IME very few spotters can hang with a Kowa 88A in this regard. Also, the Kowa focus system really shines at fine-focusing distant objects at high magnification.

My Meopta Meostar S2 82mm is also an exceptional performer, and has a 20x-70x eyepiece. While the 70x might sound alluring, I notice the image quality drops off a bit at the very top end of the zoom range. It’s very crisp out to about 60-63x. It provides a superb image and is very underrated spotter - also one of the most robustly built optics available. But I personally prefer the Kowa image, handling and focus.

 

[mighteywhitehunter]

My personal opinion if you are "glassing" that far i would move to a Big Eyes or BTX setup to reduce eye fatigue. I have had the BTX 85 for about 5 years and it makes long distance glassing a pleasure because you arent pirate eyeing it for hours on end. The bummer with true long distance glassing is that you have to have the conditions and terrain to allow it.