Spotting scope or new binos?

[Beckjhong]

Hey all. My current binos are Maven C1 10s. Also my only optic. I live in the west, and haven’t noticed being hindered by the mavens (but also haven’t looked through much aloha glass). I have an opportunity to either get better binos or add a spotting scope to the mix. I know the c1s are well reviewed—is there a subjective >10% increase in performance from something like a zeiss conquest or swaro, or do the mavens hang well enough that I should consider a spotter?

 

[akbrett]

depends what sort of hunting your doing. For me hunting in areas where you have to count brow tines or judge full curl rams a spotter is a must.i hunted with a pair of vortex diamondbacks for years and had no issues spotting game. i’d stay with the mavens and pick up a spotter

 

[Cannonball]

interested as well, I currently have BX-5 10x50 and an Athlon Chronus 12-36x50 small spotter but it seems like everyone in AZ just uses 15's

 

[TheGDog]

You can do ok with the lesser... BUT... from the moment you throw up the nicer glass (in my case some used ZEISS conquest) it's like your brain gets excited by the image being soo crisp! And, you can see better a significant distance farther away with the nicer binos on the tripod. BECAUSE that extra sharpness allows the image to be that much further away before it starts degrading.

 

[JGTWI]

Depending on your style of hunting, maybe 15x binos? I can’t stand to look through a spotting scope for any length of time.

 

[Cannonball]

Depending on your style of hunting, maybe 15x binos? I can’t stand to look through a spotting scope for any length of time.

I want to buy yours, but am a newbie to the site and cant PM yet

 

[wingmaster]

I've read every thread on Rokslide that deals with this question because I'm in the same situation, thinking of saving up for 15x binos or a 65mm spotter. If I could summarize what I learned from all that reading, it's that everyone is different and opinions are all over the place.

I'm personally leaning towards a spotter because birding and astronomy appeal to me if I were to get the most versatility out of my purchase, but I'm probably going to change my mind repeatedly.

 

[JGTWI]

I want to buy yours, but am a newbie to the site and cant PM yet

Hmm, I’m not sure the proper way to handle that. They are still for sale.

I don’t remember what the requirements are, but if you get your message count a little higher (in a meaningful way) you should be able to PM. Then we could figure things out from there.

 

[Altoonabcm157]

Unless you have huge amounts a wide open space Bino’s are the way to go. I have t been on a hunt that I could really take advantage of a spotter in long time.

 

[Sled]

Hey all. My current binos are Maven C1 10s. Also my only optic. I live in the west, and haven’t noticed being hindered by the mavens (but also haven’t looked through much aloha glass). I have an opportunity to either get better binos or add a spotting scope to the mix. I know the c1s are well reviewed—is there a subjective >10% increase in performance from something like a zeiss conquest or swaro, or do the mavens hang well enough that I should consider a spotter?

i think knowing the situations you'll be using them in might help with the decision. are you spotting over a few miles or just 1000 yards? backcountry hunt, from the truck or just a couple miles in? open slopes or dark timber?

 

[rclouse79]

I vote for new binos. I never noticed how gigantic spotters actually were until I thought about getting one. I am sure they have their place, but their price and size are not compatible with my hunting style.

 

[Beckjhong]

i think knowing the situations you'll be using them in might help with the decision. are you spotting over a few miles or just 1000 yards? backcountry hunt, from the truck or just a couple miles in? open slopes or dark timber?

A little of everything. I walk through dark timber the least, but glass open and wooded hillsides, sage, from the truck as well as hiking in. It’s been helpful comments here. As I am lucky to live in the west, I’m outside every day I’m off and am rarely without my binos. Leaning that direction.

 

[Sled]

When picking apart a slope over 1000 yards away I really appreciate a spotter. From the truck I like the bigger 85mm objectives. When hunting on foot I'll bring a little 50mm spotter (11-33). I'm fine with one eye and enjoy being able to turn up the magnification real quick, plus it weighs less than binos. A nice 8x or 10x set of binos will always be my primary set of glass. The spotter just gives me the extra magnification to answer any questions I may have about an animal or strange shapes I'm seeing under trees.

 

[TheGDog]

The spotter he's talking about... (if it's the Vortex Razor 11-33x50mm, which I also own) it's realistic max is like 22x...maybe 26x on a good day. You *can* go higher in mag, but with the heat waves and the image degradation/darkening, the higher magnification is there in name only. Plus if you're an eyeglass wearer unless you want to take off your glasses (something I DO NOT want to do in the back-country, that's just asking for shit to be dropped and broken) at max mag you have to press your eye right up on it to where your glasses touch it's objective lense.

Gridding a hillside is way faster and easier with high power binos. It makes use of the natural stereoscopic traits of your vision<->brain, plus... you're covering nearly twice the FOV at a whack. If you're a trophy kinda guy, and have all the time in the world to be picky, cool, I could understand it then I suppose. Also, if your level of health/fitness/injury is such that if you spot something extremely far away you have the ability to traverse the distance in-between... realistically... then cool, possibly consider the spotter... if it's OpenCountry. But if not? I feel pretty certain just about everyone else would be real happy with a high power bino instead. If they even needed anything more than 10x alpha glass.

In OpenCountry is surprising just how much you can see with 10x alpha glass and good positioning.

Last year when I was using the 10x Zeiss Conquest... there was a young buck that looked like *maybe* it just might have enough of a forking bump at it's top to potentially possibly be legal. (To possibly be able to "hang a ring on it") but I wasn't quite sure. Attempting to use my mid-tier 15x (Vortex Vultures) to more closely examine him... the imagine was larger, but with the slight reduction in clarity/sharpness.. and trying to inspect such a small detail... It didn't seem to provide me any real benefit, other than a larger version of the image. This particular evening the subjects were between 200yd and 700yd. In the end I was pretty sure that nub wasn't enough to be legal, so had to let him go. But it was awesome watching him and all his sisters with the Zeiss!

 

[Sled]

To clarify, if I were looking to "hang a ring on it" in the whitetail woods I'd be using binos and no spotter. In the west I like to pick the appropriate tool for my current situation. 8x30 for archery, 10x42 for scouting and rifle, big spotter and 10x42 from near the truck, smaller spotter from the backpack. I won't carry the 65mm spotters due to weight. I sometimes won't carry the 50mm due to weight or just not the right tool for the day. Heavy and large binos don't get far from the truck either. They have their place though. Typically it's in the truck or in your buddy's pack.

 

[TheGDog]

I feel you on that "Meh... maybe not for this trip." choice ya gotta make sometimes. Especially when there's no water available so ya gotta bring it all in yourself.

 

[lanemj]

I had a similar predicament recently and upgraded my binos to better glass in a 12 rather than a 10 and added a tripod. It was life changing. Go binos.