Spotting Scope Recommendations

[Forkyfinder]

Dunno if OP already pulled the trigger, but this thing is great for the money. Would’ve loved a light, compact Kowa, but that thing is a considerable bump in price.

Maven sells through Amazon and these scopes are like $650 on the Prime Day promotions they have.

Backwoods Pursuit has pretty detailed reviews of a ton of scopes. The Maven was #2 behind the Athlon Ares in sub $1000 spotters. The Ares a like 9oz heavier, but also looks nice.

I use mine with a Black Ovis Treeline sitting tripod that retails for $159 and weights ~30 oz. That puts my scope/tripod setup at about 70oz for just an hair over $800. Neither is the best at anything, but all in all it’s a good balance of portability, quality, and price.

I really want to have a HT field day with glass and have a bunch of spotters, scopes, and bins to compare.

It's hard to really get a feel for how good the glass is compared to others without comparing the same pair in the same place with varied light conditions.

 

[rjthehunter]

Dunno if OP already pulled the trigger, but this thing is great for the money. Would’ve loved a light, compact Kowa, but that thing is a considerable bump in price.

Maven sells through Amazon and these scopes are like $650 on the Prime Day promotions they have.

Backwoods Pursuit has pretty detailed reviews of a ton of scopes. The Maven was #2 behind the Athlon Ares in sub $1000 spotters. The Ares a like 9oz heavier, but also looks nice.

I use mine with a Black Ovis Treeline sitting tripod that retails for $159 and weights ~30 oz. That puts my scope/tripod setup at about 70oz for just an hair over $800. Neither is the best at anything, but all in all it’s a good balance of portability, quality, and price.

The maven is a pretty good quality. About all I would really ask of a light packable spotter. There's clearer scopes, but I don't know if you can find a better bang for your buck!

Compared to my buddies Vortex Razor, same time and place, and the Maven was definitely clearer. The Vortex was a 27-60x85, and my Maven is a 15-45x65.

 

[Beignet]

I really want to have a HT field day with glass and have a bunch of spotters, scopes, and bins to compare.

It's hard to really get a feel for how good the glass is compared to others without comparing the same pair in the same place with varied light conditions.

I’d really like to use it side by side with alpha glass (Swaro, Kowa) in the same magnification range. See if the alpha advantages are truly worth the vast price difference to me.

 

[Cornbread]

Here's something to consider if ya got the dough, the Swarovski NL PURE 12x42 binos. Used them in Montana this past Fall mostly for muke deer hunting. Spotted mulies from 1.5 miles away. And you can put them on a tripod. Get the headrest too. Helps alot. Worth the dough. I think withe the headrest youre pushing $4,000. Schnees usually has the best deals in the late summer.

I found that my older 12-40 power Leupold gold ring spotting scope dont cut it out west at distance 1-2 miles. Is not a clear pic at distance. And out West, at least Montana, distance is par for the course. I might buy a Swarovski spotting scope some day

 

[stealthy_bowman]

A new set of binoculars are in my future plans as well. Currently have a vortex 10x42 that isn't bad but not overly great either.

I would 100% suggest upgrading your binos before getting a spotter. For what you are looking to do, a good pair of binos is the way to go and is much more effective than a spotter in picking country apart.
Particularly for elk hunting, carrying a spotter sucks. If you’re looking at Maven, pick up a pair of 10x42 B1.2 and you wont regret it. They will blow away your vortex binos and you’ll pick out more elk in timber than you ever thought possible.

 

[Justabirdwatcher]

Looking to get a spotting scope for not only hunting in WV with shots ranging from 100-400 yards at most in the majority of the areas that I hunt but also for hunting out west. Made my first trip to Colorado for elk this year and it is huge country that I feel like a decent spotting scope would help to pick out where the elk are especially during the day in the thick timber where they may have been bedding. Any recommendations on mag level? I would like to get a leupold SX-2 or something equivalent. How many of you out west hunters actually use a spotting scope based on the weight of the scope and the tripod? Any input is appreciated.

When I started hunting CO for elk and mule deer, I always had a spotter. After a few years I realized how much more useful good quality binoculars on a tripod mount were to me than the spotter. Eventually I stopped carrying the spotter and just went with the bins on a tripod setup. Spotters are important if you are looking for a trophy animal. If you are just looking for a legal animal, a good pair of bins on a tripod will tell you all you need to know inside of a half mile. I once glassed up a herd of bulls 3.4 miles away with nothing more than my 8x Zeiss Conquests on a tripod mount. Spotters are overrated for the typical hunter IMO, but they are something cool to buy so people buy them. I would recommend investing in a high quality pair of bins and a good tripod mounting system for them. You'll do 90-95% of your glassing with that setup, and likely never even need a spotter.

 

[ryagar2]

I’m using the Vortex Viper 15-45-65 and I couldn’t be happier with it. Down the line I would still like to upgrade to something in the Alpha glass category, but for now it gets the job done.

 

[WVmike]

Instead of the spotter, I'm going to upgrade my binos and pick up a night stalker tripod. I'm between the leupold BX-2 Alpine 10x50 or bigger or something from Maven. No experience with Maven so we will see. Definitely need something for elk hunting, probably could get away with what I have now for hunting whitetail, but certainly not for glassing for elk. Thanks for all the input.

 

[Laszlo Cravensworth]

Instead of the spotter, I'm going to upgrade my binos and pick up a night stalker tripod. I'm between the leupold BX-2 Alpine 10x50 or bigger or something from Maven. No experience with Maven so we will see. Thanks for all the input.

Hit @schmalts up for a quote on some BX4's

May be in your price range.

 

[Bowhunt_406]

I have the Leupold Sx-2 alpine with the 80mm. I’ve been really happy with it so far. Last November I was glassing up some Muleys right at dusk and still had pretty good clarity.

 

[Cornbread]

I will add that with those 12x42 NL Pures, I never felt like I was getting dizzy from the high power or any eye strain. The headrest really does work well, but on the way up to my hunt I stopped and Schnees and got the tripod adapter. Schnees realy has great people in the firearms section. This kid Luca helped me and he bent over backwards. Put it all on my binos and tripod. Their boots are the absolute best Ive ever bought. Expensive but well worth the price. Save your dough up WVMIKE, elk hunting can be expensive, but boy never had such a cool hunt. Got my tag for this Fall, opening week.

 

[WVmike]

I will add that with those 12x42 NL Pures, I never felt like I was getting dizzy from the high power or any eye strain. The headrest really does work well, but on the way up to my hunt I stopped and Schnees and got the tripod adapter. Schnees realy has great people in the firearms section. This kid Luca helped me and he bent over backwards. Put it all on my binos and tripod. Their boots are the absolute best Ive ever bought. Expensive but well worth the price. Save your dough up WVMIKE, elk hunting can be expensive, but boy never had such a cool hunt. Got my tag for this Fall, opening week.

I'm learning it can be expensive, that's why I can only afford to go every other year instead of every year.