Upgrading from Vortex to Swaro - Why?

[sodaksooner]

My brother has a set of 8 x 42 EL's that he stole(not really but only paid $500 for them) Yes it was legit. Old guy just wanted someone to use them. That said, optically they are light years above my 20 year old pair of Leupold Cascades. Mine are 10 x 42. All that said I had no issues picking out deer miles away last fall on our above timberline hunt, Spent all day most days on glass and had no issues with mine. Ive looked into some of the better glass, but like these cheap $300 binos. For the units we hunt elk, we are just looking for animals, and not necessarily field judging them. Elk pop for sure compared to mulies. We both picked up Vortex razor spotters for the deer hunt and they served us well for what they are.

 

[StupidLightweight]

The goal with anything is to use the best you can afford. From binoculars to boots, tents to trekking poles, the wise move is to "Buy once, cry once." Obviously, that's not aways possible.

When it comes to binos, I upgraded 10+ times on my optical journey, finally stopping when I had a Swaro 8x32 and 15x56. I was single and had the money, so I treated myself to the best hunting investment I've made. Now with kids and a wife, I couldn't possibly drop that kinda money today, but I would still rock top-quality glass, likely Maven's 8x30, a stellar unit that's not far off from my Swaros.

To me, the advantage of using the best binos isn't necessarily to gain clarity to spot more game but to enhance the viewing pleasure, which results in using my binos more and thus spotting more game.

 

[KHNC]

No purchasing a tier 1 Bino is not necessary to find game.

You also need a spotting scope and a tripod.

You Vortex 10x50's are fine. Pair it with a 80mm objective or bigger spotter and a good tripod and you will have a pair for success in Wyoming.

Do yourself a favor. Most Wyoming natives have an absolute hatred of outsiders. Lose the Y'all bit and other southern slang.

No one is going to care that you moved there from somewhere else. .

If you stay long term, don't ever compare Wyoming to wherever you came from. No one is going to care.

This also applies to surrounding states and Alaska.

I grew up in Wyoming and have been gone for 30 years with the military. I get treated like an outsider when I go home.

IDGAF if Y'ALL don't like outsiders and southern "slang". When i go west i talk as redneck as i possibly can , just to drive Y'ALL crazy!!! When Y'All come to the south , we will still treat you like a human and not like some POS non-resident like Y'ALL treat us out there. Carry on.

 

[cmahoney]

IDGAF if Y'ALL don't like outsiders and southern "slang". When i go west i talk as redneck as i possibly can , just to drive Y'ALL crazy!!! When Y'All come to the south , we will still treat you like a human and not like some POS non-resident like Y'ALL treat us out there. Carry on.

I’d have to disagree, I was called a Yankee quite a few times when I was stationed at Camp Lejeune.


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[KHNC]

I’d have to disagree, I was called a Yankee quite a few times when I was stationed at Camp Lejeune.


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What else did you get called at Camp Lejune? That was probably one of the better words im sure. When i was a boot in Texas, we got called all kinds of shit. Lol

 

[cmahoney]

What else did you get called at Camp Lejune? That was probably one of the better words im sure. When i was a boot in Texas, we got called all kinds of shit. Lol

The yankee stuff was from the locals, not Marines. I remember the bumper stickers too “go home yankee” and “welcome to the south now go home”.

Doesn’t bother me but there was definitely a culture in eastern NC of rejecting outsiders.


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[KHNC]

The yankee stuff was from the locals, not Marines. I remember the bumper stickers too “go home yankee” and “welcome to the south now go home”.

Doesn’t bother me but there was definitely a culture in eastern NC of rejecting outsiders.


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I mean, its all good , long as we dont have to do it how y'all do it up north.

 

[JGRaider]

IS NC considered the "South" ?

 

[cmahoney]

I mean, its all good , long as we dont have to do it how y'all do it up north.

Dude I don’t even know if I’m up north or a Yankee


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[WRO]

I don't care what anybody else says on this, but Gear does not KILL you more animals, you can buy all the latest and greatest and still may not kill anything.
Good hunters with shit equipment will outkill bad hunters with good equipment every day of the week.
You just need more experience and the only way to gain that is by getting out there & doing it, swiping your card is not going to notch your tag.

Yes and no, Killers kill, but as a generality all of the killers I know run good glass and gear, there are exceptions.

I’ve had a few times hunting late season elk its absolutely made a difference..

 

[rclouse79]

I have looked through a few pairs and have not been compelled to buy.

 

[JGRaider]

Yes and no, Killers kill, but as a generality all of the killers I know run good glass and gear, there are exceptions.

I’ve had a few times hunting late season elk its absolutely made a difference..

One of my main hunting buddy's has killed a couple thousand inches of big mule deer bucks with a Vari-XIIc and 20 yrd old SLC's.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

I own 8 and 12 power NL Pure and will say they are night and day better than the Viper.

But do you need them? Nope. My dad hunted (and so did I by default) with cheap Kmart binoculars his entire life and never thought twice. His scopes came from the same store.

I have them because it was in the budget and I value fine gear. They definitely help in dark timber and in those low light situations but if it’s a question if it’s worth it, I say use what you have. If struggling to locate animals, maybe a better use of your funds would be to hire a guide for a weekend.

These binoculars have absolutely not made me a better hunter. Only experience can do that.

I'm jealous of your 8x and 12x combo. I have 12x and want 8x.

 

[cmahoney]

IS NC considered the "South" ?

You must be a Yankee


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[berretsteve]

Vortex is really great glass, I have done my share of testing them out hunting in all kinds of conditions here in alaska. Ive compared and used my vortex side by side with Swaro's, nikon, minox, Kahles, leica, and zeiss. I have seen a difference in the very best Swaros, and Leica....a very little difference. I will go as far to say that my Vipers are 98% of what the swaro's and Leica are. Here is one thing that sold me on Vortex. My friends and I were out caribou hunting, in the flat tundra of alaska. we had 3 bulls spotted at a very very long distance. the ground was so flat that the bulls were skylined, so i was glassing them and able to look at them with the light grey/silver sky as the background. They were so far away i was getting the mirage affect and trying to judge trophy quality. the mirage affect was not helping and my buddy was asking if we should invest 2 miles into this stalk. I was saying the one bull had mass, he had something special about his bez and shovels, but i couldnt really tell. He took his brand new swaro 10x42 els off his neck and said try these, maybe you can tell how good he is. I thought ya, maybe I can tell better than my 8 power $400 vortex.......well, wrong. Bottom line was i came to the same conclusion using both binos, I could litterally see almost no difference, the magnification was a bit more with the swaros, but they were a 10 power vs my 8 power vipers. I came to the same decision, and that was, we needed to take a closer look. we did and took a great bull. I can not justify spending at least $1000 more for swaros over the Vortex Vipers.

 

[Eastonsgrandpa]

I'm jealous of your 8x and 12x combo. I have 12x and want 8x.

I'm jealous of your 8x and 12x combo. I have 12x and want 8x.

They are phenomenal. I’m actually at Scheels now waiting for the 14x52 to be brought out to me. I might have a problem.

 

[RobHazmat89]

I don't care what anybody else says on this, but Gear does not KILL you more animals, you can buy all the latest and greatest and still may not kill anything.
Good hunters with shit equipment will outkill bad hunters with good equipment every day of the week.
You just need more experience and the only way to gain that is by getting out there & doing it, swiping your card is not going to notch your tag.

This^

 

[PredatorSlayer]

The difference is looking through mud vs clear glass.

This is a dumb comment. I have owned most of the big named brands and several vortex. You pay a ton of money for very small incremental gains with glass.

 

[NiteQwill]

This is a dumb comment. I have owned most of the big named brands and several vortex. You pay a ton of money for very small incremental gains with glass.

NEGATIVE. Not everyone's eyes are the same, and given that some may have terrible eyesight to begin with, they may need every edge I can get. I'm sure you also believe Swaro BTXs are also incremental gains, too.

 

[JGRaider]

NEGATIVE. Not everyone's eyes are the same, and given that some may have terrible eyesight to begin with, they may need every edge I can get. I'm sure you also believe Swaro BTXs are also incremental gains, too.

If your eyes are that bad you need surgery, not Swarovski.