New Binoculars, spotting scope, or both...

[TaperPin]

Totally agree. I throw my scope and window mount in the car everytime we leave just to stop and glass. We live in a big Mule Deer and Elk wintering range so there's always animals to look at. With a digiscoping setup the kids can sit in the front seat with me and see what I see on the phone screen. They love it.

I use this mount with a smallrig fluid head. I just got an Aziak Front Country ballhead to try with it too. I purchased both vortex window mounts and a vanguard window mount and sent them all back in favor of this combo, it just works, has better adjustment and has no slop unlike the other options.

Amazon.com

The digiscoping setup is a great idea.

 

[iflyskyhigh]

It’s cool you’re going about all this in a well thought out way and getting a setup that allows a lot easier use. As the others have said, once you get over the hump it’s fun - and the more fun someone has the more they’ll do it, and the better you get at picking up animals. That’s pretty cool.

I consider a window mount essential to fully use and enjoy a spotting scope - cheap or expensive, everyone should have one. It’s not ideal for a lot of things, but when the car is stopped nothing is easier for a quick peak at a small area. You’ll literally be glassing for fun in areas that otherwise would be passed up simply because it’s too much work to drag out the tripod. Friends and family can easily look at ducks, boats, coyotes, or whatever, and it’s using a scope in situations it otherwise wouldn’t be, and that’s pretty cool.

I’d also suggest a stable table top scope mount for the same reason - it allows a spotter to be used at times when it otherwise wouldn’t be. Sitting on a public picnic table and picking up a bear crossing a hillside miles away is fun for everyone that gets a look at it. Maybe it’s resting on the hood, roof of a car, or just on a bench at the range. Using optics more in any way possible, makes people better at it - kids growing up around optics may have hundreds of hours looking at weird things by the time they’re adults, and that’s pretty cool.

Thanks man, I really appreciate the words or encouragement! Everyone on here has so nice and helpful. Again, I appreciate all the thoughtful words and guidance.

I'm really excited to get back out there after be out of it for a few years. Not that we are planning our hunts we have that feeling back and realized how much we have missed it over the past several years.

Even though the biggest thing I've ever shot was a coyote (which I decided not eat) I feel like every time we go out we learn something new and get a little closer. My best friend has killed a couple deer with family from a tree stand in Minnesota, but he's never shot anything out west either. The meat he has given me has been amazing, and the thought of filling a freezer is still the thing that keeps me going after all these years of no success. We're smart, avid outdoorsmen and I know we'll get there.

I don't have a window mount, but I will for sure look into it. I do have a plethora of very nice tripods from my photography days and my more recent shooting hobbies. I'm still looking at one nice tripod to carry with me on the hunts, but that's an entirely different rabbit hole.

 

[iflyskyhigh]

Totally agree. I throw my scope and window mount in the car everytime we leave just to stop and glass. We live in a big Mule Deer and Elk wintering range so there's always animals to look at. With a digiscoping setup the kids can sit in the front seat with me and see what I see on the phone screen. They love it.

I use this mount with a smallrig fluid head. I just got an Aziak Front Country ballhead to try with it too. I purchased both vortex window mounts and a vanguard window mount and sent them all back in favor of this combo, it just works, has better adjustment and has no slop unlike the other options.

Amazon.com

I really like the manfrotto stuff. I have a couple tripods of theirs. top quality stuff.

 

[Jake Larsen]

Just looking around for the Sig 8K. Lots of OOS and No Longer Available. Wonder if something new is coming with Shot Show?

Probably a good time to just lurk and wait for all the latest and greatest to be released. I’m sure there will be lots of good late model stuff available over the next couple months as people upgrade.

You’re on the right track there. I’d wait until after SHOT. You’ll get a good deal on something. Unless you’re a super long range guy pushing the absolute limits, any of these models will do everything you need it to.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Needcoffee]

Agreed. After the shot show demo models are available. Hit up the online retailers at that point. See what they have. I have picked up quality optics that way.