What would you recommend for a $1000 spotting scope?

[alexnelon]

IMO there's no spotter in that price range that is worth buying new. $1,000 is kind of a dead zone.

Used Kowa if you can find one, or used Nikon for ~$400 and use it while you save up.

But also, good binos way before spotter.

 

[Alpine4x4]

Dont sleep on Athlon if you want to save some money. The Ares 65mm is a great little scope for the money and the Cronus 86mm is solid, especially if found used. Not Kowa/Swaro quality, but easily as good as the comparable Razor scopes.

That said I only have my scopes in the truck now. I went to a 10x Swaro on the chest and a 16x sig Zulu6 in the pack. The 16x gets me the info I need and is much lighter. The areas we hunt are steep valleys though so you dont really need the range of a spotter.

 

[MoeFaux]

I would agree with several points already made. My opinion, If u want a spotter get a gen 1 vortex razor 65 mm for $550-$600 and play with it. See if it scratches the itch or how much u actually use it/like it. Sell the vipers and upgrade yer binos to a better pair of tens. U will more than likely use those a lot more than the spotter. I have slowly upgraded my binos over the years, and as mentioned already, I’ve never wished I kept my lesser glass instead of the better glass I upgraded to.
There are deals on here a lot for used glass that can save u a ton over buying new.

Where abouts r u in Michigan. I have the gen 1 razor and some Slc 10’s and 8’s if yer not to far away and want to look through them sometime.

I used to have the razor 10’s and b 1.2 8’s. Really enjoyed the b 1.2’s but swapped those out for the b3 8’s for hunting around here. They r some great binos for hunting Michigan in a smaller size.

Sending PM.

 

[Bluefish]

Kowa. I got one a long while ago at the recommendation of a service rifle shooter and am glad I spent the money. This scope showed my why good glass is better. I had a cheap bushnell and at 60x is had less detail than the kowa at 27x. Mine isn’t even the expensive kowa, just one of the cheaper ones.

 

[NickyD]

I believe there is still great value in owning a budget to mid range spotting scope. I’d get a 65mm so you have a good idea if you want bigger or smaller when you go to upgrade.

Just understand that these optics will not perform well at the higher magnification range. But they are still very helpful to get a closer look at a potential animal or to determine sex or maturity.

A few people have mentioned it, and I agree that investing into a quality tripod would be most helpful. I’ve had cheap tripods and they are borderline useless compared to the top end tripods. A perfectly stable image really helps.

Personally, I’d take the $1,000 and split it evenly between a used spotter and a nice tripod/head