Tripod for binos Y or N

[WVELK]

How many of you only take the binos for glassing? I will have a guide with a spotter. I doubt if I take a spotter. Therefore, is the tripod worth the weight to use while glassing with binos? I debate it every hunt. If you don’t have it, your arms get tired. If you do it is exta weight? And, light weight or not they all are an extra few pounds.

 

[cmahoney]

I take a tripod everywhere.


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[huntnful]

Tripod without a doubt

 

[WVELK]

Tripod without a doubt

Neither of you are helping LOL. That was my conclusion before I posted, but was looking for someone who said no tripod. Every time I don’t have one, my arms get super tired quick.

 

[huntnful]

Neither of you are helping LOL. That was my conclusion before I posted, but was looking for someone who said no tripod. Every time I don’t have one, my arms get super tired quick.

If you’re going for Dall they might be easier to spot freehand?

But there should be a lot of glassing involved and you may feel excluded quite a bit if your guide is behind a tripod and binos for long durations.

 

[RockAndSage]

Glassing without a tripod is like shooting off-hand. There's a time and place for it, like when you first get eyes on a spot and do an initial search, but after that it's all tripod for the most part. Most of the time when I'm on foot, if I'm using a spotter it's only to double-check something I'm seeing in higher-powered tripod binos.

 

[csrichardson97]

If my binos are with me, so is my tripod. Worth every bit of weight.

 

[atmat]

Tripod everywhere.

 

[easttex]

Tripod. You might also get in a situation where it can be used to shoot off of.

 

[skip189]

Switched to the tricer head and adapter last year for my binos and a sirui carbon fiber tripod. Use 12x42 binos and now leave the spotter in the truck. One of the best changes I have made. So much nicer to glass with a tripod.

 

[Nine Banger]

Y

 

[WVELK]

If you’re going for Dall they might be easier to spot freehand?

But there should be a lot of glassing involved and you may feel excluded quite a bit if your guide is behind a tripod and binos for long durations.

Yes, it is Dalls. I am a little ashamed to admit this, but glassing is the ONLY part of hunting that I truly hate. I have friends that love it better than any other part of hunting. I am not normally one to feel left out if I am not glassing, but those are hunts I have done time and time and time again like elk. I have very limited sight in one eye due to my optic nerve dying in that eye. Therefore, it is really hard for me to glass for long periods anyway.

 

[ReddingArcher]

I'd take the tripod for sure. If you can swing the weight of a spotter I would. It was nice to be able to watch sheep through my spotter, but I also like to glass and would have felt left out if I wasn't watching through mine and had to ask my guide to look through his.

 

[Shortschaf]

The Wiser Precision Ba7 sparrow works really well glassing from a trekking pole too.

Id do that no problem if I wanted to save weight. It won't be as stable, but it is stable enough for a guy who is covering ground but stopping to grid areas

 

[Blockcaver]

In your case I'd leave the tripod at home. You have a guide with optics, you are hunting Dalls, and you don't like the glassing process. Save yourself the weight and enjoy the hunt!

And by the way, I've got an archery grand slam (with an extra Bighorn) and never once had a pair of binoculars on a tripod. That said, I carried a spotting scope...had to to determine legality in BC.

Only guided hunt was for Dalls and I just took my Swarovski Swarovision 10x42 ELs. I did check with the guide and he had the same Swaro 20-60x65 HD spotting scope that I have so I did not take my tripod and scope.

 

[S.Clancy]

I don't always take a tripod, depends on the hunt. In your case I would prob leave it at home. You will have trekking poles and you can get pretty steady off one pole if you want to do some intensive glassing.

Caveat would be if it would help get you into more stable shooting positions, then the tripod would be worth it.

 

[blksno]

I take one everywhere. The advantages far outweigh the weight, and the weight can always be reduced.

I used to have 2. One for shooting matches with 40mm legs and one for hunting with 36mm legs. The benifit of the 40 was that it was heavy and had a wide platform on top for stability high or low. The benifit of the smaller, being that it was lighter, had a smaller profile when folded and stowed, and could still get plenty high to shoot or glass while standing.

I've since consolidated to one "do all" style tripod for both shooting matches and hunting scenarios...and the bonus is that I found a fluid head that accommodates arca, rather than manfroto plates. This means, I can attach everything from my binos, to a flat plate, to a camera, to a rifle....all with one fluid head.
This new one still has the 40mm legs for stability, but it ditched the excessively large top mounting point.

This top plate was great for matches, but prevents it from collapsing and fitting in a pack for hunting.

This one had the smaller 36mm legs so it was way better to use for hunting, but wasn't quite as stable in windy conditions when trying to use a camera or mount a rifle...but the smaller top plate made it easier to pack.

I've used the tripod for everything from a rifle support, to a camera support, to a bino support, to a seat back rest, to a rain canopy to a wind break.

The one I use now, is basically a mix of the two. This was Saturday at a local shooting match.

 

[justinspicher]

My tripod goes everywhere with me. I can glass (binos) shoot (tripod/bipod) and use the legs as trekking poles.

 

[kylem]

I use binos on a tripod a ton in the lower 48 for deer, elk, bear, and hopefully sheep when I draw my tag this year..... That being said last year hunting dalls in AK I never once put my binos on a tripod even though we had it for the spotting scope and honestly I never even thought about it. Pretty easy to spot a white sheep above timberline on a hillside from miles away freehanding binos.

 

[Mish-pop]

Y for sure.