Mule Deer -Higher Power Selection Help

Joined
Jan 28, 2023
Messages
2
Hi All,

Firstly, it's been about 5 years I've wanted to get into hunting, and last year I finally got out and absolutely loved it. I live in Vancouver BC area (west coast), and, I am hunting whitetail and mulies. I didn't get very high in Elevation, but this coming season I've got some spots early season where I'll be higher up, with lots of areas to glass over.

Right now I'm running 12x50 vipers with no tripod (looking to change that this year from all the reading I've been doing).

I'm not looking to hunt exclusively trophy deer, just legal bucks.

I didn't learn about how people use higher power binos until a few weeks ago, so, now I'm unsure whether to go for a spotter or higher power binos. I feel like since my binos are already on the higher side, I should look for a spotter to make sure I don't have so much overlap.

1) what do you guys suggest given what I'm trying to accomplish?

2) what would you suggest as options to buy? Prices in CAD FYI. $1000 options and $1500 options?

I've read a lot of great stuff about Athlon ares g2 uhd or the cronus G2 UhD, seems to beat out maven in glass quality and low light performance.

Any extra information you guys can provide would be fantastic, or questions you have let me know.

Cheers
 

elkguide

WKR
Joined
Jan 26, 2016
Messages
4,606
Location
Vermont
Have to disagree with your assessment of Athlon vs Maven. Have both and Maven is a much better optic.
I use my binoculars about 95% of the time and my spotter the rest. I always recommend upgrading binos.
 

kota

FNG
Joined
Aug 26, 2014
Messages
83
If you haven’t spent much time glassing and aren’t super familiar with an area it’s hard to know what you need. I would start with a tripod for your vipers and then let your preseason scouting guide you. If you just need a little more, big binos are really nice. If you need a lot more, it has to be a spotter.

I always prefer using 2 eyes vs 1 because I suck at glassing with a spotter, but even big binos start to fall short for me at a mile or a little more. Picking deer parts out of the brush and counting antler points takes magnification, for me at least!
 
OP
W
Joined
Jan 28, 2023
Messages
2
Grab a tripod and head and use your existing Vipers. Learn how to properly glass. Go from there.
That makes sense, I think that's good advice. What technique do you use for glossing?

I agree with you on this one. I use pretty much this same set up elk hunting
What binos and tripod are you running?

Have to disagree with your assessment of Athlon vs Maven. Have both and Maven is a much better optic.
I use my binoculars about 95% of the time and my spotter the rest. I always recommend upgrading binos.
That's fair, I'll never get a pair beside each other to compare. It's from the backwoods pursuit review of 14 binos some other reviews. Which ones do you have? How are you comparing them?

If you haven’t spent much time glassing and aren’t super familiar with an area it’s hard to know what you need. I would start with a tripod for your vipers and then let your preseason scouting guide you. If you just need a little more, big binos are really nice. If you need a lot more, it has to be a spotter.

I always prefer using 2 eyes vs 1 because I suck at glassing with a spotter, but even big binos start to fall short for me at a mile or a little more. Picking deer parts out of the brush and counting antler points takes magnification, for me at least!

Great advice, thanks!
 

45-70govt

FNG
Joined
Jul 20, 2020
Messages
7
just adding a tripod alone will make a huge difference. Also dont get suckered into buying some lightweight tripod from a hunting optic brand. There are way cheaper options with the same quality out there in the photography world
 
Joined
Dec 27, 2022
Messages
30
If you get a chance to look at Sig’s image stabilizing bino’s you’ll be surprised. My buddy has the 10x and 16x. He leaves his swaros at home these days. The image stabilizing is a game changer. I’m running the Zeiss LRF binos but if I spot something and want to get a better look I grab his 16x. I’m waiting for someone to come out with an image stabilized LRF bino. We often use a Kowa spotter but if you have the 16x along is not necessary for a lot of the areas we go into. Even on a tripod wind can make things shaky.
 
Joined
Oct 8, 2019
Messages
2,956
That makes sense, I think that's good advice. What technique do you use for glossing?


What binos and tripod are you running?


That's fair, I'll never get a pair beside each other to compare. It's from the backwoods pursuit review of 14 binos some other reviews. Which ones do you have? How are you comparing them?



Great advice, thanks!
Sorry for the delay.

Binoculars: Swarovski SLC 10s and 15s. I bring along the one that makes the most sense.
Tripod: Slik CF 635 and Manfrotto 290 XTRA CF. I bring along the one that makes the most sense.
Head: Jim White 2.0 for everything.
Spotting Scope: Kowa 554 and Swarovski STX 65/95. I bring along the one that makes the most sense.
 

Nick992

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Sep 28, 2022
Messages
115
Location
NC
Another vote to keep your current glass and get a tri-pod. Anything over 8x should be on a stand, and even 8x can be sketchy with both elbows on your chest or knees.
Technique is as (or maybe more) important than glass quality
 

WCB

WKR
Joined
Jun 12, 2019
Messages
3,249
Get a good tripod and head. Learn how to use it. I use 12x binos and for the type of hunting you are talking about (not counting inches), binos work within any reasonable distance (a couple miles at least). I also have spotters but most the time it stays in the truck.

Also, IMO I would spend $1000-$1500 on better binos as I do not believe there is a spotter in that price range that is worth looking through compared to binos in that price range.
 
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