Mini Razor vs 65mm glassing distance

[ejacob]

I can't decide between the mini razor and the 65mm razor. I am looking for personal experiences for how far you all are able to see deer antlers with either. Not necessarily counting inches but being able to get an idea of the general frame size and whether or not to try and get a closer look.

 

[CMcCormick1805]

I’ve used both and landed on the Mini Razor. It’s decent out to a mile to evaluate frame anything more is a bit rough. My 65mm spotter was a mid-quality Leupold. It worked great but degraded bad after 40x.

When it came to weight and pack ability the Razor won me over for my style of hunting.

With that being said I’d still take a Swaro 65 if it was in my price range.

For reference the elk is at 1.5 miles and the deer are just over a mile.

 

[LaHunter]

What is your prior experience with using spotting scopes in hunting conditions? I had a Gen 1 65mm Razor for a few years using it for mule deer hunting. In ideal atmospheric conditions out west at high elevation with good sunlight, it was pretty darn good. As conditions got worse (bad sun angle, low light, misting, background, etc) it was not nearly as good. All that to say, the 65 will be better than the smaller one and atmospheric conditions and lighting play a big role in what you see through the optic. It’s hard to put a distance on how far you can see antlers

 

[270-300]

About 3 miles with 15x56

 

[Skerhunter]

The gen1 razor 65mm was not worth the money for most hunting conditions. Low light and your range is severely limited. The 85mm was a noticeable improvement, but I would still save up for something nicer (Binos or spotter).

 

[CMcCormick1805]

What is your prior experience with using spotting scopes in hunting conditions? I had a Gen 1 65mm Razor for a few years using it for mule deer hunting. In ideal atmospheric conditions out west at high elevation with good sunlight, it was pretty darn good. As conditions got worse (bad sun angle, low light, misting, background, etc) it was not nearly as good. All that to say, the 65 will be better than the smaller one and atmospheric conditions and lighting play a big role in what you see through the optic. It’s hard to put a distance on how far you can see antlers

That’s true. I will say low light with the mini-razor is a drawback. It’s unusable for digi scoping until shooting light hits. You can make out animals with your eye in low light but antlers is tough at most distances.