Optic experts, spotter and bino advice needed

[barmar65]

cool do you miss eating freshly caught walleyes?

 

[sk1]

i still have them on occasion, their are some bigger reservoirs out here that have some......most of the time i go hit the perch out here though, most people are so interested in trout they don't bother the perch.....i can go out and come back with 30 perch 10 inches long in an hour or so....some people even think they are trash fish and throw them on the bank...silly utah.

 

[barmar65]

Sacrilege to throw perch away. The basis of all Wisconsin Friday night fish frys.

 

[Rizzy]

I'm now in kind of the same dilemma with spotters, I'm going back and forth between the ED50 and Viper HD. I notice that those of you who have already been through the evolution of spotting scopes have a 50mm and a 80mm. There must be something to this and makes me lean towards a 50ED for solo backpack hunts. It seems the 50 ED is the best in the 50mm class and the weight of it is really attractive. I'm concerned about the 13/30x zoom, will this be enough for this price point? The Viper HD is cheaper and sounds like it might be better glass, but heavy.

So it seems to be down to weight savings vs glass at this point.....

 

[HellsCanyon]

I'm now in kind of the same dilemma with spotters, I'm going back and forth between the ED50 and Viper HD. I notice that those of you who have already been through the evolution of spotting scopes have a 50mm and a 80mm. There must be something to this and makes me lean towards a 50ED for solo backpack hunts. It seems the 50 ED is the best in the 50mm class and the weight of it is really attractive. I'm concerned about the 13/30x zoom, will this be enough for this price point? The Viper HD is cheaper and sounds like it might be better glass, but heavy.

So it seems to be down to weight savings vs glass at this point.....

That is exactly what it comes down to. Check out my recent thread in this forum asking about binos and spotter advice (except it was Minox MD50 vs. Viper HD 65). Same story and I ended up going with the Viper HD. Being in better shape will help me carry that extra 1.5 lbs better and I didn't want to feel undergunned with a 30X scope. I still plan on getting the little Minox someday but felt the 65mm was a good all-around compromise scope and if I can't hack that extra weight then there's something else that needs to change!

Mike

 

[sk1]

I decided I'd rather take the punishment of weight and have the 82mm spotter, I just would rather carry the weight than get to a glassing point and be frustrated I can't quite see as far as I want to. It does take up a bit more pack room so keep that in mind as well, but for me I have decided it's the way to go.