Spotting scope for out West

[Chasing elk]

I plan on taking my first out of state hunt next year. I will have 6 preference points for Antelope in Wyoming.

I am going to attempt to draw a tag. Future hunts include Wyoming Elk hunts, mule deer hunts, and more antelope hunts.

I want to buy a nice spotting scope that will last years. Buy once, cry once. I was looking at Kowa spotting scopes.

What are your thoughts on them? Which spotting scope would you go with? To be able to see 1,000 yards or more.

 

[Dimperatrice]

Well man I don’t have any experience with Kowa or really anything else since I just bought my first spotter (Vortex Razor 27-60 x 85). Bought it used off a buddy who just bought a swaro and I gotta say it’s not a bad starting point for me. Used it on a spring bear hunt a few weeks back and was honestly really happy with it. I know eventually I’ll look to upgrade but not for a while.

 

[duf duf]

Kowas are great scopes. I would say figure out which one fits your hunting style the best. Whether it's a light weight compact spotter or a larger objective. Larger objectives are going to gather light better and at the end of the day give a better glassing experience while a smaller more packable scope would be more convenient for backcountry style hunts. I personally would land on a 66 mainly for backpacking but also performs very well and incredibly versatile.

 

[elsb0048]

I plan on taking my first out of state hunt next year. I will have 6 preference points for Antelope in Wyoming.

I am going to attempt to draw a tag. Future hunts include Wyoming Elk hunts, mule deer hunts, and more antelope hunts.

I want to buy a nice spotting scope that will last years. Buy once, cry once. I was looking at Kowa spotting scopes.

What are your thoughts on them? Which spotting scope would you go with? To be able to see 1,000 yards or more.

Honestly in your shoes if I was looking to buy once cry once on a high dollar spotter and never owned a spotter before I might try to borrow or rent one for a single hunt first. Maybe rent a kowa 66.

I used my friends swarovski ats 80 for a 4 day trip and was shocked at how hard it was for me to use. Woulda regretted if I bought one like that even though they're great for many things. Turns out my tastes run to more compact straight spotters. Would be worth a $200-400 rental to make sure I spend $3k correctly

 

[Matt5266]

Id go middle ground objective wise for an all around spotter. Something in the 65mm range. Swaro or Kowa Prominar