Spotter vs Scope

[barefooter19]

I need both but can only afford one. If you were going rifle elk hunting and thought you needed a new scope or a new spotting scope what one is more important ? I have a couple Leupolds 4x12x40 VX1 ok but not the best IMO .Would you buy the best scope you could or a good spotter? What brand and power ? Thanks.

 

[dainer]

IMO I would go with the spotter. You will spend 1000x the amount of time behind the spotter in comparison to the 30 seconds at 300 yards behind the scope. Not sure what your price range is, but I would buy the best glass you can afford....

 

[belly-deep]

As long as you have not had any problems with the Leupold rifle scopes, I'd stick with them and buy a spotter

 

[Bambistew]

I'd spend as much money as you can on a spotter. I haven't paid more than $200 for a scope, and doubt I ever will. In all my time hunting, I've yet to have a situation where I wished I had a 'better' scope. I think I have about half a dozen VX1's and a few older Vari X II. Pretty sure my spotter cost more than all of them combined. Seems like there are some great deals on spotters these days. The technology keeps getting better and prices keep dropping. Mid range scopes are better than the top end stuff of about 10 years ago it seems.

 

[Khunter]

Spotter unles you have some need to kill stuff from the next zip code over. If you like getting within reasonable proximity to what you kill, buy a great spotter that wil allow you to find and evaluate the critter.

As for brands, bracket them based on the cash your can spend, and then try them out.

 

[noharleyyet]

Bambi has it right. I have an older Vari X III 3/10/50...the new VX 2 3x9x40 sure seems as clear and eye relief as good...at under 300 bucks.

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

I agree with Bambi. I would add Binoculars to the top of my order of precedence for spending money on optics:

1. Binoculars (Leupold Mojave and Nikon Manarch 5)
2. Spotting Scope (Vortex Skyline)
3. Rifle Scope (Leupolds VX-II and III's)

My personal glassing style relies more heavily on my binos than my spotter. That being said I have yet to spend alot of money on any of them.

 

[barefooter19]

I have a good pair of binos. I guess I'll look at some spotters.

 

[Corax]

IMO, Clear, sharp glass in a scope is a nice to have, but reliability - holding zero, reproducible changes in settings - is vital. If your zero on the VX-1 is not drifting, stick with it. However - before you go for the spotter, are your binoculars working for you?

 

[barefooter19]

Yes my binos are working good for me but when your looking at things a long ways off it's hard to tell how the animal really looks. I've never owned a spotting scope so I was thinking a spotter would help me there to really see the detail. ????? The scope works good and I'm not really wanting to shoot over 300 - 350 yards so my scopes will probably do the job ok .

 

[DIY HUNTER]

As long as you are fine with the clarity,light gathering ability, etc. of your scope then I would try to get the spotter. I would try to get a higher end one if I could though, some of the low end ones aren't much better than a good set of binoculars.

 

[bigeasygator]

I don't think I can answer this question without more information. Where will you be hunting? What style will the hunting be (backpack, horseback, dayhunting, etc)? What's the terrain like? How long is the typical shot? How far off do you think you'd be able to glass an animal?

If both tools were vital to where you hunt and you had to pick one, I'd probably go with the spotter. I've been places where a spotting scope wouldn't do you a lick of good (hell, I've left the binoculars at home in some places because it's so thick). If you were going to spend most of your day behind glass, definitely add a nice spotting scope to the mix. If your style is a little more "running and gunning" so to speak, I'd leave it at home.