Originally Posted by
glasser
There is nothing like a side by side comparison in real world situations to make a true judgement on what is best. No surprise that Swarovski won but great to hear someone who doesn’t have an agenda do the comparison!
I was really hoping the Cabela's HD would be equal to the Swarovski as it would have saved me about $500, but it wasn't quite there...close, but not quite. I actually asked one of the customer reps at Cabelas which scope had the higher quality glass and he said Swarovski, which did surprise me a bit. When not on sale, the Cableas Instinct HD is priced higher than the Swarovski. I considered looking at the Swarovski 80, which is another $600 or so more than the 65, but I'd seen both in a sporting goods store and felt the 80 was a bit overpriced. The Swarovski 65 should do everything I want a spotting scope to do.
I spend many, many hours here in Montana glassing. A quality spotting scope will not only be less tiring to use, but will save a lot of walking as well. Many years ago I saw a buck walk into coulee about 2 miles away...looked like a very nice buck so I grabbed my rifle and backpack and headed out on a stalk. When I got within rifle range I could see it was a younger buck. If I'd had a better spotting scope it would have saved me not only 4 miles of walking, but a morning I could have spent hunting somewhere else...