Swaro BTX users

[Roadgoat]

Useful if you can bring a big tripod. Otherwise, too hard to stabilize in the wind with a small tripod.

 

[pattimusprime22]

Typically hunt on the coast range of Oregon for Blacktail and Roosevelt. Mainly clear cuts and younger reprod. This year I will be hunting deer in the high desert of eastern Oregon. I don’t hunt big wide open country a lot but would like to try and get into that more and more.

I have an ATX and BTX with 65 obj. In my use on Oregon coast, I'm usually not glassing far enough to warrant using the BTX, so I just bring the ATX for weight savings and pretty much only pull out to get a closer look at something I've already found with chest binos. The BTX is much more pleasant to look through for any extended period of time as compared to the single eye in the ATX. I feel like I start to get eye fatigue with one eye glassing. I've considered picking up a set of 15s to use as a dedicated glassing setup for where I hunt.

Perhaps the areas you're hunting on Oregon coast differ from mine, but I feel like the fixed 30x/35x magnification is a bit more than I need.

(Take everything I said with a grain of salt cause I suck at hunting here)

 

[Mtys999]

I have the 85 and have been happy with it. I know I would get better performance out of a bigger objective, but the 85 is all I want to pack around. It’s already a boat anchor that is hard to fit in my pack, so I can’t imagine something bigger. It would also pair with the STX eyepiece if I can ever pick one up.

Side note, if I had to do it over I would probably look really hard at the 8.5x42s.

Im planning on upgrading my binos before my spotter. I’m set on the NLs but trying to decide on zoom. I’ve tried 8/10/12 and am leaning towards 10s. 12s seemed a little too shaky although I really wanted to like them more if that makes sense. I’m thinking 8s might be too little magnification for open areas out west but I do love the stability of them. Anything else I should consider before pulling the trigger?

 

[kota]

I think 10s are kind of the gold standard since they are all purpose. Enough oomph for distance, but not too much that they’re shaky or too narrow a field of view up close. With that in mind, going up or down in magnification is just getting a little more specialized, and depends on how you want to use them.

If you hunt on your feet in thicker cover a lot, 8s will gather more light, have a wider field of view, and will not be overpowering when trying to pick deer parts out of the cover while still hunting. Since the BTX is lower power than most spotters, and you can use both eyes, I glass with it a ton and usually start at 1/2 to 3/4 mile. I wouldn’t feel undergunned trying to cover that 1/2 to 3/4 mile with 8s on a tripod, and would appreciate the light gathering and wider field of view.

If you want to get on a glassing point and cover a bunch of open country from 1 spot, 10s will give you a little more range. You can spot deer with 10s on a tripod from a LONG ways away, so I think they pair a little better with a high power spotting scope you aren’t glassing with as much (mostly using to confirm what you see in the binos).

My 2 pennies at least.