Bitterroot, I agree with all of your comments. I also should clarify what I was saying about the best quality. I was referring to professional level photos (Moose Peterson) vs scouting quality photos that are digiscoped. It'll depends what our expected result is.
If I want to sell a print, I'm using a dedicated camera and lens. If I'm scouting or hunting I don't carry a DSLR, lenses, etc and a spoting scope.
Big glass and high dollar cameras are not necessary to take good pictures, they sure can help. Good wildlife photos can be taken with small focal lengths. Just like stalking an animal for a shot with a bow. We can stalk an animal with a camera.
