Last year I finally had set aside some money for a spotting scope (or so I thought). My main use was going to be at the archery range. It's hard to pick your arrow out of the target past 40 yards and call lines with binoculars. I would also like to take on my hunting trips to Colorado. My grandparents have a cabin next to the White River National Forest between Craig and Meeker. There are some great views from on top of the mountain that I wanted to explore with more magnification.
I had a set of Vortex Viper HD binoculars and decided to get the new Viper HD 65mm spotting scope. I ordered the straight model because I had used a Steiner 24x fixed power scope of my dads growing up. I paired it with a Flashpoint carbon fiber tripod from Adorama and a Vanguard SBH-100 ball head. The scope met all my expectations when I first looked around and out the backyard because you can only see a couple hundred yards. It happened to be a full moon that night and I wanted so see what I could see at night. Uh oh, first mistake, I immediately realized I should have ordered the angled model to view elevated objects. I contacted Vortex and they said if I returned it they would send me the angled model! I was just out some shipping charges (great customer service from Vortex).
The angled model worked well through the summer at the archery range. Over the summer I found a great deal on a pair of Swarovski SLC HD 8x42 binoculars that I was going to use for hunting. This was a big mistake because it made me realize my mistake on my Viper 10x50 HD's. They were clear, but did not have the field of view that the SLC's had. They also did not deliver the sharp images that the SLC's did (they were good, just not quite as good. If I would have understood the FOV better I may have been better with the 10x42's). During hunting season I only had a chance to use the spotting scope from the deck of my grandparents cabin. We have excellent views across the valley approximately 1.5 miles away where you can watch elk most the day. It kills the time after some morning hunts. The atmospheric conditions were bad due to the extremely dry conditions and fires out west of us. At highest magnfication and the long distances the images were not that crisp. Later in the week after some rains the conditions improved as did the scope performance, but at some late evenings watching some elk come into some ponds I realized I would like the 80mm objective.
I have begun my search for a new scope and sold the Viper HD.
I had a set of Vortex Viper HD binoculars and decided to get the new Viper HD 65mm spotting scope. I ordered the straight model because I had used a Steiner 24x fixed power scope of my dads growing up. I paired it with a Flashpoint carbon fiber tripod from Adorama and a Vanguard SBH-100 ball head. The scope met all my expectations when I first looked around and out the backyard because you can only see a couple hundred yards. It happened to be a full moon that night and I wanted so see what I could see at night. Uh oh, first mistake, I immediately realized I should have ordered the angled model to view elevated objects. I contacted Vortex and they said if I returned it they would send me the angled model! I was just out some shipping charges (great customer service from Vortex).
The angled model worked well through the summer at the archery range. Over the summer I found a great deal on a pair of Swarovski SLC HD 8x42 binoculars that I was going to use for hunting. This was a big mistake because it made me realize my mistake on my Viper 10x50 HD's. They were clear, but did not have the field of view that the SLC's had. They also did not deliver the sharp images that the SLC's did (they were good, just not quite as good. If I would have understood the FOV better I may have been better with the 10x42's). During hunting season I only had a chance to use the spotting scope from the deck of my grandparents cabin. We have excellent views across the valley approximately 1.5 miles away where you can watch elk most the day. It kills the time after some morning hunts. The atmospheric conditions were bad due to the extremely dry conditions and fires out west of us. At highest magnfication and the long distances the images were not that crisp. Later in the week after some rains the conditions improved as did the scope performance, but at some late evenings watching some elk come into some ponds I realized I would like the 80mm objective.
I have begun my search for a new scope and sold the Viper HD.
