I just love it when guys go hunting with just binocs. That just means they will miss 90% or more of the good bucks in the west. Then I can come along behind them and shoot the big ones. I make my living with a spotting scope. Ask any of my clients and they will all say the ability we have to spot an antler tip in the brush at a mile is beyond belief. I had friends in Colorado that were hunting the same canyon as I was. I had seen literally hundreds of deer and at least half a dozen 5x or better bucks in the canyon. Mid-morning we met and visited about the morning so far. They were beat up and said all they saw was half dozen or so does and fawns. I pointed right over their heads and said there were two very good bucks running does right behind them. They called me a liar and laughed at me. I focused the spotting scope on them locked it down tight and told the dad of the group to sit in my seat and take a look. He immediately said holy s*#@ get the waders. He went up the canyon and shot a very nice 27 inch 5x7 or so buck. I did that 3 more times that day with them guys. They all tagged out in a canyon they said had no deer in it. The following year all four of them had spotting scopes and tripods or window mounts. So as I said before... you guys just stick with your binocs. I have one Bushnell stalker with ultralight tripod for my back pack and I have a Leupold Gold ring for the short trips and the window mount. I feel the best bang for the buck is the Leupold. The best I have ever looked through are 1. Carl Zeiss and 2. The big Swarovski. Best binocs are Leica closely folowed by Swarovski.
Best of luck to ya guys