Spotting Scope or High Power Bino?

[fatrascal]

Blue72, i actually just got finished helping to pack an elk out of that spot today. It was two miles 1 way and 4,400' elevation gain. I realize that in your post with the beach pictures you said that you can easily glass the point at 4-5 miles away. Maybe on the sandy beach I could do that with 12x or 15x but I could never adequately glass brush looking for deer at that distance. I could not even judge the bull elk antlers very well at 2 miles. Sure I knew they were less than 300" bulls but if they were 340ish I'm not sure I could tell positively. Yes you have stated several times that a meat hunter does not need to see everything a trophy hunter needs to see and I will have to agree with that. As a trophy hunter I do need to see points. As a muley lover I need to be able to find them mixed in with brush. Unfortunately a meat hunter found those bulls and I got recruited to help pack one of them out, lol. (Just joking. I feel fortunate to be able to help pack out a bull) The hunter could not believe that i glassed those bulls from the road. But you and I know that good glass can go a long ways. Before I had the 30x BTX I used to glass game at that distance and at that same spot with 10x but I could not tell how big a deer or elk were. So for me I want to see points and judge score. Fatrascal

 

[Blue72]

Blue72, i actually just got finished helping to pack an elk out of that spot today. It was two miles 1 way and 4,400' elevation gain. I realize that in your post with the beach pictures you said that you can easily glass the point at 4-5 miles away. Maybe on the sandy beach I could do that with 12x or 15x but I could never adequately glass brush looking for deer at that distance. I could not even judge the bull elk antlers very well at 2 miles. Sure I knew they were less than 300" bulls but if they were 340ish I'm not sure I could tell positively. Yes you have stated several times that a meat hunter does not need to see everything a trophy hunter needs to see and I will have to agree with that. As a trophy hunter I do need to see points. As a muley lover I need to be able to find them mixed in with brush. Unfortunately a meat hunter found those bulls and I got recruited to help pack one of them out, lol. (Just joking. I feel fortunate to be able to help pack out a bull) The hunter could not believe that i glassed those bulls from the road. But you and I know that good glass can go a long ways. Before I had the 30x BTX I used to glass game at that distance and at that same spot with 10x but I could not tell how big a deer or elk were. So for me I want to see points and judge score. Fatrascal

Congrats on the beautiful animal

 

[fatrascal]

Blue72, thankyou sir. Love seeing your opinions and posts even though we don't necessarily agree. You add great info and insight. Fatrascal.

 

[Blue72]

Blue72, thankyou sir. Love seeing your opinions and posts even though we don't necessarily agree. You add great info and insight. Fatrascal.

I always said Optics are like ice cream. We all have our favorite flavors and think it’s the best

 

[fatrascal]

Blue72, very wise words. Fatrascal

 

[dtrkyman]

No question for me, high powered Binocular over a spotter, Now I am contemplating making my own bracket to hold a double spotter.

 

[Wy_elk_hunter]

What I'm hunting makes all the difference in that decision.

That being said, I find that I'm out with my 12's and a spotting scope more often than any other combination.

It wasn't that way until I ponied up to go with a top end spotting scope. I was more frequently sticking with 8's and 15's. There's some great mid-tier stuff but unfortunately, you get what you pay for with glass.

Agree 100% with you….

 

[Mhopper5]

The answer to the original question is both- for all the reasons stated.

The real question is which one will you buy first?

 

[Ripnbst]

I nearly dropped some serious money on a spotter prior to a hunt this year. I decided instead to drop the money on 15x binos which I feel like on more hunts, in more situations, would be useful over the spotter. I already have a spotter but I was considering upgrading it. So for me, I bought a cheap spotter and higher end binos. Eventually I will pony up and get a better spotter but for me the higher powered binos made more sense to get first.

 

[TheGDog]

What I've said bout this question, when it's come up before. Especially for us solo backpack hunters. Is to honestly think about the habitat type where you'll be finding yourself in.

And I say this because dependent upon what kinda terrain you're in... some spotter that can reach out with magnification to these crazy distances... might prove less useful than you think.

For what good does it do you to see and spot a game animal... IF.... because of physics.. because of the terrain type your in... there's no way you could traverse the space between where you currently are... over to where you've spotted them... within the confines of a single days time? And even if you were to double-down and commit to traversing that distance. Across more than one day. What's to say that animal is still going to be anywhere near around where you had seen them previously? I mean, afterall, they are THAT much more agile than you. And can certainly cover much more distance in that terrain than you can.

Whereas.. anything I should be able to spot in some 15's? There's a much higher likelihood that I should be able to make a play for it within the confines of a single days time.

Both tools are going to help you spot movement when they are mounted on a Tripod. That's their 1st goal. The bino helps you see possible movement over a significantly better amount of FOV. Two FOV's vs 1 is a no brainer there. More data input each time you pan one way or the other. Win-win.

Just so happens the spotter has another talent of also being a little better able to provide the level of magnification and clarity necessary in order to identify a piece-part of a non-moving animal that you might be seeing thru a tiny opening in the cover. Certainly that could be of benefit in some scenarios the hunters finds himself in. But the frequency of that use case where that ability becomes a noted asset... well.. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that's likely highly dependent on the terrain layout and habitat type the hunter is presented with.

 

[JW@TRACT]

What I've said bout this question, when it's come up before. Especially for us solo backpack hunters. Is to honestly think about the habitat type where you'll be finding yourself in.

And I say this because dependent upon what kinda terrain you're in... some spotter that can reach out with magnification to these crazy distances... might prove less useful than you think.

That's a well thought-out viewpoint. Packing and moving are some valid concerns I hadn't put much thought into.

 

[Jason277]

What about the Kaibab 18s ?

 

[Nolan_]

does anybody here leave the spotter behind on a high country mule deer hunt and just use 15s?

 

[Blue72]

 

[Mykolaivka887]

does anybody here leave the spotter behind on a high country mule deer hunt and just use 15s?

No .....

 

[Blue72]

does anybody here leave the spotter behind on a high country mule deer hunt and just use 15s?

yes…

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

does anybody here leave the spotter behind on a high country mule deer hunt and just use 15s?

Counting inches: bring the spotter
Confirming legality: potentially leave the spotter (glassing distance comes into play)

 

[BBob]

does anybody here leave the spotter behind on a high country mule deer hunt and just use 15s?

No

 

[TheGDog]

Counting inches: bring the spotter
Confirming legality: potentially leave the spotter (glassing distance comes into play)

Good set of 15s? You can confirm legality for an amount of distance where it'd take you all the day to traverse the space in-between.

Only thing ya *might* not be able to do with 15s is determine if that spike which has bent-over tips is barely legal or not. After 200yds or so... small little 1/2" 5/8" details like that where same color same background?... becomes darn hard to tell. But that's a rare scenario. (Was describing a last-day of season opportunity where I juust couldn't quite confirm to where I felt confident it'd be legal. Pretty sure it wasn't, but I wanted it to be legal soo bad I kept watching in hopes that I might catch a glimpse as just the right angle to see as legal, but no dice.)

 

[Nolan_]

Good set of 15s? You can confirm legality for an amount of distance where it'd take you all the day to traverse the space in-between.

Only thing ya *might* not be able to do with 15s is determine if that spike which has bent-over tips is barely legal or not. After 200yds or so... small little 1/2" 5/8" details like that where same color same background?... becomes darn hard to tell. But that's a rare scenario. (Was describing a last-day of season opportunity where I juust couldn't quite confirm to where I felt confident it'd be legal. Pretty sure it wasn't, but I wanted it to be legal soo bad I kept watching in hopes that I might catch a glimpse as just the right angle to see as legal, but no dice.)

this is what I'm debating in my head... Are 15's enough to cover what I can reasonably get to in a day