Vortex viper spotting scopes

[playmakersix]

How would you guys say these spotters fare for the price? I've never owned a spotting scope or even looked through one. Getting geared up for some high country mule deer hunting and had a spotting scope and binos at the top of my list of needs. Any advice on how to decide what I should go with or pros and cons to angled vs straight would be great. I have been deer hunting for a while but am a noob to this style of hunting where you glass and get deep back in the back country.

 

[Clinch]

I cant speak for the spotters because I haven't looked through the Viper line of spotters. I went right for the Razors and got the 85 mm and the 50 mm. Before I got the Razor spotters, I had a little Nikon that served me very well for 15 years. It was not top quality glass but it saved me a lot of steps. I have had a pair of Viper 10-42s for 5-6 years now and while there have been people around me with better glass, they haven't out glassed me. Not once have they seen something I couldn't or didn't because their glass was better. I think Vortex hits that functional limit between top quality glass and price where to me double the price does not justify a 10% increase in view. I hope to upgrade to the Razor 10-42s one day soon, but only because then I figure I'm done for a good long while. Having said that, I have no doubt one of the Viper spotters would serve you very well.

 

[Firehawk]

I really like my non HD vortex viper spotting scope. Works well and the image is quite good enough. It is not the Razor HD 85 which I have used, but it is good glass at a reasonable price.

 

[280AI]

I have a viper HD 15-45x65 and I love it. Maybe not as bright as the razor, but it's really really close for half the price.

 

[PathFinder]

I had the Viper HD. It was highly unimpressive. They are ok, but I'd spend money elsewhere. Build quality is awful (the body screws together in the middle, and is made of some kind of ABS plastic). Forget high magnification at dark as well, it just can't hack it. You'll be much better off pooling all of your money in a sweet pair of 15x binos, and perhaps a doubler. Or, a 12x pair of binos and a doubler or tripler. "Spotting" scopes are fairly worthless for spotting game; they lack a 3d image, have a small FOV compared to binoculars, and aren't comfortable to glass behind for long periods of time. They are great for judging from long distance. Binos are awesome for picking game out of a big landscape, which is what muley hunting is all about. Glassing through a pair of 15s or 12s on a tripod is an awesome experience after using a spotting scope for a while! I promise you'll spot more game, and enjoy glassing lots more.

 

[playmakersix]

All good info guys thanks. I'll have to take a lot of these ideas into consideration before I make a purchas.

 

[ReddingArcher]

I have the non hd viper spotter and while it's pretty decent for the money it doesn't get put in the pack anymore. I just don't find its worth the weight or space it takes up. I'd rather set my binos up on my tripod to glass from.

 

[boom]

Just did a comparo

My 65mm Viper HD
Razor 85mm HD
Leica Televid non APO 62mm

Summary. My vipers were the dimmest. They got dimmer as you zoom up. You notice it the most. Edge to edge pretty close. I was surprised it hung tough w the better glass. I put all three at the same power and read a label cut from my camp chair. I could read "made in China" with all three. 70 yards. Even the finest font was readable.

So. You give up some brightness.
Saying they are good enough is fair. The role of my spotter is to only evaluate something I already found with my binos. However, it is surprising how many blind spots I get with the vipers.

Ftr, the older Leica were the brightest and clearest.