RE: cheap spotting scopes
With optics you surely get what you pay for. I've had a top end Nikon ED spotter which was great (but for it's cost it should be). The big Swaros are wonderful too. The Brunton I mentioned certainly isn't in that class. It is, however, pretty decent optics wise. I was actually surprised. I've not utilized it for 1 mile away critter spotting so I don't know about that. It is very light weight making it much easier to carry than lugging the big monsters around. It weighs 21 ozs., FOV @ 100 yards of 205 ft., exit pupil of 4.2 mm at lowest power and a close focus of 20 feet. I did see a favorable review (recently) but I can't remember what mag / editor checked it out. If I can find it I'll post the source.