Binos and spotting scopes

[iccyman001]

Do we have any hardcore glassers on here?
After seeing and using expensive glass this weekend for my oryx hunt, it really opened my eyes to what some nice glass can do for you...


Does anyone on here glass a lot? Did you buy once cry once?
Or did you get by with some basic stuff?


I am really thinking about upgrading my binos.

 

[Ol' Arky]

I\'ve never used the expensive stuff but I do now use both Leopold scopes and binoculars... I looked at all of them and the gold ring series wasn\'t $400 to $600 better than the $300 to $400 price range to me... As a matter of fact I use a Redfield (owned and made to Leopold specs) scope on my muzzleloader and split use of Leopold in lower price range and Redfield 10x42 binoculars... I can see while hunting as early in the morning and as late in the afternoon as I want to.... I don\'t hunt in the rain anymore but get caught in the rain sometimes while I\'m in my enclosed box stand... They seem to work ok in the rain too...

If I was young and could have afforded them when I was young I\'m sure I would have had to try the high dollar scopes and binoculars.... :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[cohunter14]

Personally, I have never spent big bucks on binocs or a spotting scope. I got some Bushnell binocs on sale at Cabelas a few years back and they work great for me. This year I was able to pick out elk at over a mile and a half and have been able to see antelope past that. I have never felt that I was limited by them. If I had the money, sure I would love to have higher end glass, but I had other items higher on my priority list.

 

[elky McElkerson]

this is in my wheelhouse.

story, day before deer opener, friend and i set up camp early and decided to find a deer for the next morning. we found him. two of him. giant blacktails. we dropped down a valley, went up the adjacent mountain to get a closer look. (i was wearing shorts, dumb) we get to the top and i start searching. i\'m using Pentax. i found nothing. buddy finds him easy with this Swavorski. and tries to direct me to him. big white tree..3 oclock, 2o yards, etc. i never find him. he unstraps his binos, hand them to me..and WHAM! oh that deer!

lessoned learned. i started saving. and saving................................

finally i buy Leica binos. i made a few errors and here they are.
1. i buy 10x50 Leica Ultravids HD. couple of reasons. they were priced at last years, 10x42 price. so about $400 less. and i thought bigger was better. no,,bigger is heavier and not necessarily better. i think smaller glass gives up so little, i should have gotten the 10x42.
2.Leica might be the most difficult binos to mount to a tripod. i had to take off the front hinge cap and attach a stud. at the time, it felt like major warranty voiding surgery. now? not so much, it was a no brainer. the cap is about as important as the cap on a stick of chapstick. i kept it and can pop it back with my fingers.

why i like the Leica over Swavo? the Leicas allow you to focus each eye individually and then lock it down to gang adjust for both eyes during normal usage. i think it gives it a better focus for each person. if i had to pick..i think Swavos have better edge to edge clarity..but seriously, anyone that can call one better than the other has way better eyes than me. on a tripod i can read a dollar bill from WAAAY off.

oh swavo only allow you to individually adjust for your right eye like most binos do. AND leica only seems to warranty the original owner. so you HAVE TO buy new and register the unit. i did.

SPOTTING SCOPE. here i diverge. i own Vortex Viper HD. love them. my friend let me use his Leica Televids indefinately. i have them forever. this past january i set up three scopes. my Viper HD 65mm, the 60mm Televids, and my friend Vortex Razor 80mm HD (he paid $1800)..and you would be surprised by what i found. i put a label from a camp chair at 70 yards. the one that says, \"made in china\". every scope i could read the fire warning with ease. the smallest scope the Televids were the clearest. same brightness with the 80mm. my lesser Vipers were the least clear, and dimmest. clearly the dimmest. but i was blown away how i could easily read the label. i kinda think i can live with the Vipers. i am not using them to \"find\" game, only to evaluate something i already found. they are find for that. oh, spotting scopes get dimmer as you zoom up. the Televids dimmed the least. and these Televids are the old ones, not the APO (HD) versions. kickass spotting scope. on my harshest trips, i will take my Vipers. breaking the Televids is not an option. and i might be ruined..i want my own.

also, the Televids are compact and a damn pleasure to pull in and out of a pack. my Vipers hang up a bit, and the cussing coming from my 80mm buddy is funny. they are giant and i would never carry them..he had to put them in the meat shelf.

i vote you spend kidney money on binos, and regular money on a spotting scope.
great binos you can sit for hours behind. my Pentax, were great for walking and looking, but to sit behind and stare at a hill for 2 hours straight..get ready for a migraine. with my Leicas, it was like just looking thru a window. painless. that is the best arguement for awesome glass. western hunting for me..i am sitting and looking for hours. so long, you know how you get off a boat and you can feel the rocking even on solid land? if i closed my eyes, my mind\'s eye maginfied everything..even my dreams. weird

 

[Tdiesel]

Well I dunno about me being hard core but I would hunt sheep if I could only choose one thing, second big mule deer spot and stalk both of those typically require a lot of time glassing. Now if money wasn\'t an issue I would say ya get the best there is personal preference some like zeiss some Swarovski ect. now is it really that necessary???? Depends on you and the area your hunting. It is great to have but if people are honest with themselves and did a side by side comparison most could easily get by with cheaper glass. Almost buying the name if you know what I mean. Now if you go too cheap and glass for hours on end it can create problems for you some people get headaches. you can get by with the mid grade area in my opinion.All that being said my first sheep hunt I killed the biggest ram to come out of that area that year no spotter and $70 pair of binos

 

[elky McElkerson]

oh, i have to give a nod to the Vortex Razor HD 10x42 binos. i think my brother paid less than $1k from Paul.

they were pretty awesome. compact. light. the eyecups got a bit crunchy in the dust. and the glass seemed to tint things green with my eyes. but very very good. i put them right next to my Leica and without waiting for light to dim..i couldnt call a clear winner.

hard to knock the money savings of Vortex. super easy to mount on a tripod. they were clearly designed with hunting in mind.

IMHO!! it is super advantageous to have binos on a tripod. i was lazily staring a hill full of trees. eating food staring..not moving. i saw a white flicker and stopped chewing and really stared. it was the antler moving in a tree. a couse deer was behind this tree eating from the branches. all i saw was a tiny flash of white movement and it went away. it was just enough for me to star at the spot and make out the shape of that deer. i ended up stalking that thing..got to 122 yards before..well. you know. it ran. but there was no way anyone could have seen that deer with hand held binos. no way. buy binos with the intent of putting them on tripods. BIGGEST game changer of my hunting life. first time i out spotted everyone.

(and vortex tripod options suck in my opinion.)

 

[cohunter14]

Dang it Cliff, you are going to cost me money! Good information though. I have never tried putting the binocs on a tripod before, but it definitely makes sense. I\'ll have to give it a shot.

 

[iccyman001]

Personally, I have never spent big bucks on binocs or a spotting scope. I got some Bushnell binocs on sale at Cabelas a few years back and they work great for me. This year I was able to pick out elk at over a mile and a half and have been able to see antelope past that. I have never felt that I was limited by them. If I had the money, sure I would love to have higher end glass, but I had other items higher on my priority list.

Derek, what size are they? 10x42?

I\'ve never used the expensive stuff but I do now use both Leopold scopes and binoculars... I looked at all of them and the gold ring series wasn\'t $400 to $600 better than the $300 to $400 price range to me... As a matter of fact I use a Redfield (owned and made to Leopold specs) scope on my muzzleloader and split use of Leopold in lower price range and Redfield 10x42 binoculars... I can see while hunting as early in the morning and as late in the afternoon as I want to.... I don\'t hunt in the rain anymore but get caught in the rain sometimes while I\'m in my enclosed box stand... They seem to work ok in the rain too...

If I was young and could have afforded them when I was young I\'m sure I would have had to try the high dollar scopes and binoculars.... :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Im hoping I can say I am still young and dumb, that way I can at least buy a nice set of binos.
I have a very nice scope on Ol faithful and she will last forever!

 

[iccyman001]

this is in my wheelhouse.

story, day before deer opener, friend and i set up camp early and decided to find a deer for the next morning. we found him. two of him. giant blacktails. we dropped down a valley, went up the adjacent mountain to get a closer look. (i was wearing shorts, dumb) we get to the top and i start searching. i\'m using Pentax. i found nothing. buddy finds him easy with this Swavorski. and tries to direct me to him. big white tree..3 oclock, 2o yards, etc. i never find him. he unstraps his binos, hand them to me..and WHAM! oh that deer!

lessoned learned. i started saving. and saving................................

finally i buy Leica binos. i made a few errors and here they are.
1. i buy 10x50 Leica Ultravids HD. couple of reasons. they were priced at last years, 10x42 price. so about $400 less. and i thought bigger was better. no,,bigger is heavier and not necessarily better. i think smaller glass gives up so little, i should have gotten the 10x42.
2.Leica might be the most difficult binos to mount to a tripod. i had to take off the front hinge cap and attach a stud. at the time, it felt like major warranty voiding surgery. now? not so much, it was a no brainer. the cap is about as important as the cap on a stick of chapstick. i kept it and can pop it back with my fingers.

why i like the Leica over Swavo? the Leicas allow you to focus each eye individually and then lock it down to gang adjust for both eyes during normal usage. i think it gives it a better focus for each person. if i had to pick..i think Swavos have better edge to edge clarity..but seriously, anyone that can call one better than the other has way better eyes than me. on a tripod i can read a dollar bill from WAAAY off.

oh swavo only allow you to individually adjust for your right eye like most binos do. AND leica only seems to warranty the original owner. so you HAVE TO buy new and register the unit. i did.

SPOTTING SCOPE. here i diverge. i own Vortex Viper HD. love them. my friend let me use his Leica Televids indefinately. i have them forever. this past january i set up three scopes. my Viper HD 65mm, the 60mm Televids, and my friend Vortex Razor 80mm HD (he paid $1800)..and you would be surprised by what i found. i put a label from a camp chair at 70 yards. the one that says, \"made in china\". every scope i could read the fire warning with ease. the smallest scope the Televids were the clearest. same brightness with the 80mm. my lesser Vipers were the least clear, and dimmest. clearly the dimmest. but i was blown away how i could easily read the label. i kinda think i can live with the Vipers. i am not using them to \"find\" game, only to evaluate something i already found. they are find for that. oh, spotting scopes get dimmer as you zoom up. the Televids dimmed the least. and these Televids are the old ones, not the APO (HD) versions. kickass spotting scope. on my harshest trips, i will take my Vipers. breaking the Televids is not an option. and i might be ruined..i want my own.

also, the Televids are compact and a damn pleasure to pull in and out of a pack. my Vipers hang up a bit, and the cussing coming from my 80mm buddy is funny. they are giant and i would never carry them..he had to put them in the meat shelf.

i vote you spend kidney money on binos, and regular money on a spotting scope.
great binos you can sit for hours behind. my Pentax, were great for walking and looking, but to sit behind and stare at a hill for 2 hours straight..get ready for a migraine. with my Leicas, it was like just looking thru a window. painless. that is the best arguement for awesome glass. western hunting for me..i am sitting and looking for hours. so long, you know how you get off a boat and you can feel the rocking even on solid land? if i closed my eyes, my mind\'s eye maginfied everything..even my dreams. weird

Great post, Cliff!
Thank you :upthumb:

 

[iccyman001]

Well I dunno about me being hard core but I would hunt sheep if I could only choose one thing, second big mule deer spot and stalk both of those typically require a lot of time glassing. Now if money wasn\'t an issue I would say ya get the best there is personal preference some like zeiss some Swarovski ect. now is it really that necessary???? Depends on you and the area your hunting. It is great to have but if people are honest with themselves and did a side by side comparison most could easily get by with cheaper glass. Almost buying the name if you know what I mean. Now if you go too cheap and glass for hours on end it can create problems for you some people get headaches. you can get by with the mid grade area in my opinion.All that being said my first sheep hunt I killed the biggest ram to come out of that area that year no spotter and $70 pair of binos

Thanks for the post, TDIESEL.
The thing I am dealing with is I move so much. When I was stationed in Florida, I was able to get away with a small bino.
Coming to NM i learned I definitely needed something larger. I only have 8x32 or 42 and they are getting me by out here.
I\'m just trying to figure out if I want my next pair of binos (which will probably be 10x42) to be a ok set, good set, or great set!
I completely understand the buying of the name. I will definitely be researching all levels and see where I can get the fine balance or mid range like you mentioned.
Do you have a picture of your ram? I would love to see it!!!!

 

[iccyman001]

oh, i have to give a nod to the Vortex Razor HD 10x42 binos. i think my brother paid less than $1k from Paul.

they were pretty awesome. compact. light. the eyecups got a bit crunchy in the dust. and the glass seemed to tint things green with my eyes. but very very good. i put them right next to my Leica and without waiting for light to dim..i couldnt call a clear winner.

hard to knock the money savings of Vortex. super easy to mount on a tripod. they were clearly designed with hunting in mind.

IMHO!! it is super advantageous to have binos on a tripod. i was lazily staring a hill full of trees. eating food staring..not moving. i saw a white flicker and stopped chewing and really stared. it was the antler moving in a tree. a couse deer was behind this tree eating from the branches. all i saw was a tiny flash of white movement and it went away. it was just enough for me to star at the spot and make out the shape of that deer. i ended up stalking that thing..got to 122 yards before..well. you know. it ran. but there was no way anyone could have seen that deer with hand held binos. no way. buy binos with the intent of putting them on tripods. BIGGEST game changer of my hunting life. first time i out spotted everyone.

(and vortex tripod options suck in my opinion.)

I couldn\'t agree more with the tripod..... great piece of info, Cliff

 

[VTHOKEE]

Some good posts here. I have heard the buy once cry once from many western hunters. My current binos are 10x42 Vortex Crossfires. My goal is to have a better pair for this hunting season. I hunt the same terrain as Dan and my binos have probably cost me spotting several mule deer and elk as previously mentioned in a post. I started looking at the Vortex Viper HDs in 10x42 but I am goin to do some research on the Meopta Binos and a few others as well. I have tried a friends spotting scope and didn\'t really care for it as much as I did the binos. But it could have been because it was a low end spotting scope as well. Until I moved out here I rarely used binos. Now I don\'t head into the field without them.

 

[Tdiesel]

10x42 is my preferred size running vortex now they are nice sharp and bright I don\'t feel I\'m giving up a whole lot but I primarily use binos scan and quick looks and then move to the spotter if nothing is revealed or a distant animal peaks my interest through binos. Really depends on type of hunting and terrain I only use binos elk hunting in timber but deer goat and sheep the spotter always goes along of course I typically don\'t care about size of bull elk, but hunting the others I typically am playing more of the trophy hunter game.

 

[cohunter14]

Derek, what size are they? 10x42?

Yes, 10x42

 

[VTHOKEE]

For the guys/gals that use tripods which ones would you suggest looking at?

 

[bnsafe]

dan i may have told you this, but, if not here goes.
i had always used a 100 dollar pair of bushnells for everything. not a big need for good glass in mo. i went out p dog shooting and used the 100 dollar pair and it was ok. was planning a trip the next year and the binocs would not focus. so, on the way out we stopped at a cabelas and in the bargain cave they had a pair of pentax 300 bucks. i could not believe the diff in those binocs. AMAZING. i was very happy and gettin them for a good price out of the bargain cave. THEN, i made the mistake of looking thru a pair of swaro. just dont do it if your not ready to buy. just trust me and dont. i would never spend the money for them, but, there is a massive diff in what you get.

 

[Don K]

Great post and great timing.

Next month I get a 500 dollar gift card from Cabela\'s for my 30 year anniversary from work and will be using this towards that purchase.

I have been looking at upgrading my bino\'s and have been looking at Vortex. Their located not far away and my oldest son lives a couple miles from them so I plan on doing a visit to their headquarters.

 

[iccyman001]

Talk about an awesome 30 year gift! :upthumb:

 

[mtnmutt]

For the guys/gals that use tripods which ones would you suggest looking at?

I have a ProMaster 525t with ProMaster panhead. Watching video reviews helped with my decision for a tripod and a panning head. This site has a review of the Silk tripods.
<!-- m --><a class=\"postlink\" href=\"https://www.sandsarchery.com/Lightweight-Hunting-Tripods-s/52.htm\" onclick=\"window.open(this.href);return false;\">https://www.sandsarchery.com/Lightweigh ... s-s/52.htm</a><!-- m -->

If I bought a new one, I may be inclined to look at a SIlk Tripod, however, my Promaster is great for my needs.

For my first 4-5 years of hunting, I bought only low costing gear and clothing. Now, I do the buy once, cry once. In some cases, lower costing gear is great. I love my $105 Vortex Monocular 10x36 which I \"bought\" using a Cabelas\' gift card. I use it all the time...almost daily. My monocular is far better than my $200+ 8x32 binoculars. I am not yet willing to cry over the purchase of high end binos.

My Chronograph sits on a $22 tripod. Made of cheap plastic. The first one shipped to me was broken. I will not trust this cheap tripod to hold my Vortex scope, however, it is adequate for the Chrony.

IMO, buy a tripod based on true usage. Will it be thrown into a pack sandwiched in with other gear, strapped to the outside of the pack, or be used from roadside for glassing?

Does the tripod need to deploy quickly and easily?

Does the tripod need to go low to the ground when the user is sitting on the ground to glass? I am short, therefore, I can get away with a short tripod when in full extension and standing to glass. Plus, I have a small pack which can only accommodate items <16\" long. A shorter tripod is best for me.

 

[Don K]

Talk about an awesome 30 year gift!

It will be

It was either a card from Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, or Cabelas.....

Wasn\'t hard to pick the right one