Vortex Spotter

[WyoBowhunter21]

I am in the market to get a new spotter and need some help. I was looking at getting the vortex viper or the diamondback. Anyone have these? How are they? I will be using it to occasionally phone scope but mainly just size up some open country mulies.

 

[Snipershirt]

I've got the viper HD 15-45x65, angled...great scope but heavier than I want. It's hardly been used as I've stuck with my older leupold gold spotter. If you decide you want to go that direction shoot me a PM and ill give you a good deal on the viper I have.

 

[ElkNut1]

Of the two mentioned the Viper HD is the better unit. I've used both & there is quite a difference in glass quality. If on a budget & funds are tight you can get by with the DiamondBack, it's a good spotter for the price.

ElkNut1

 

[boom]

i love my 65mm spotter. it is a Viper HD. the main reason i got it is that the scope comes with a fine focus knob. i used a Leupold for years, and i never got past how i could mess up the focus when i got excited. shakey fingers i guess.

it is a tad heavy, but it is pretty easy for me to get my brother to carry it. i wont take it on a backpack trip..yet. just have had the need. in the wide open spaces of the AZ desert, the thing is a boot saver.

 

[luke moffat]

Not to detract from the thread but being as you are wanting a "new" spotter suggests you already have one currently. With that said what kind of binos do you have....I firmly believe that good binos find more animals than any spotter. The jump in quality from what you have to a Diamondback likely is not that great and I would bet your $$$ may be better suited upgrading your binos and keeping your current spotter. Or selling your current spotter and binos and getting a really great set of binos. A spotting scope is nice, but for most of my hunting unless its dall sheep I think binos are king!

 

[WyoBowhunter21]

What about the regular viper? It's on sale right now for a way good price.

 

[WyoBowhunter21]

Luke I actually have some meopta 10x42 HDs. I think they are good. But my current spotter is an old bushnell.

 

[jarheadhunter]

wyobowhunter

If I was you I would look at the Vortex Razor 13-33x50MM spotter. You can get them for the same price as the Viper HD and the glass is much better. Not only that, but the weight and size savings are huge.

 

[Hardstalk]

What about the regular viper? It's on sale right now for a way good price.

The non hd has been discontinued in the viper line. Some stores are discounting heavily to get rid of them.

 

[Snipershirt]

wyobowhunter

If I was you I would look at the Vortex Razor 13-33x50MM spotter. You can get them for the same price as the Viper HD and the glass is much better. Not only that, but the weight and size savings are huge.

Up here, the Razor HD is about $150-$200 more than the Viper HD however given the Razor is half the weight/size I'd say the extra $$$ would be well spent.

 

[Snipershirt]

Not to detract from the thread but being as you are wanting a "new" spotter suggests you already have one currently. With that said what kind of binos do you have....I firmly believe that good binos find more animals than any spotter. The jump in quality from what you have to a Diamondback likely is not that great and I would bet your $$$ may be better suited upgrading your binos and keeping your current spotter. Or selling your current spotter and binos and getting a really great set of binos. A spotting scope is nice, but for most of my hunting unless its dall sheep I think binos are king!

Actually the direction I'm going in.

 

[luke moffat]

Luke I actually have some meopta 10x42 HDs. I think they are good. But my current spotter is an old bushnell.

Yep sounds like you got the binos covered for sure...no need to upgrade there....spotter is the next optics to upgrade certainly.

 

[WyoBowhunter21]

Luke,
Any opinion on a good spoter under $400. My bushnell is alright for quick checks but anymore than five minutes and I have a headache.

 

[luke moffat]

To be honest at the risk of sounding snobbish you got great binos, if only spending $400 on a spotter I'd say save the money and just use your binos on a tripod. There are decent spotters to be had out there for that price range but you'll just end up wanting for more soon IME. A $600-$700 price range would get you into territory that might warrant an optical upgrade just my opinion.

 

[Rizzy]

The Viper HD will put you on the next level of glassing. I was in a similar situation as you last season, with a pair of Ziess conquest 10x42 HD and an MD50 spotter. I used my ziess 90% of the time, the spotter didn't offer much of a jump in performance against the ziess. I got a Viper from Elknut and learned how to look through it with both eyes open. This is a game changer, my zeiss binoculars now stay in the truck most of the time when hunting areas I have not been too much or at all. I have switched back to using my 8x42 Monarchs because they are half the weight and work better in low light. I use my spotter 80% of the time now, on 15X I scan a hillside same as I would with binoculars but with more magnification. The 15X with good glass efficiently opens up a lot of distant country that was not as available with 10X binos.