New Hunt
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 16
New Hunt
Ok so I am going this year on my first western mule deer hunt in NV. I have hunted for whitetails for years back east and my cheaper pair of binos worked just fine. But being that I will be doing a lot more glassing I am trying to pick what optics to purchase. Last year I bought a cheap spotting scope its ok but not that good. So with my budget I can get either say the Vortex viper hd 15x50 binoculars and keep the cheap spotting scope til next year if I even use it or get say the vortex diamondbacks and the nomad for the spotting scope. So I guess I am saying out west here would you rather have premium binos or ok of each.
#5
Fork Horn
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: North Idaho
Posts: 129
[QUOTE=dmick33;3943000]But are the binos or scope more important. I am trying which one to spend money on this year. I have ok of both but would like to upgrade which one I will be using more of. Thanks.[/QUOTE
In my opinion a good pair of binos will get alot more use than a spotter, especially if you are doing alot of hiking, which I find is usually the case. Plus a good spotter is generally more expensive than a pair good binos.
In my opinion a good pair of binos will get alot more use than a spotter, especially if you are doing alot of hiking, which I find is usually the case. Plus a good spotter is generally more expensive than a pair good binos.
#7
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location:
Posts: 2,186
May be too late .. but here goes anyway. I have hunted eastern Montana several times now. And that is about as open a country as one can imagine. A good quality 8x40 or 10x40 is the way to go.
A 15x50 ? Not for me. If you do a bunch of stalking a bino that large and heavy will start feeling like a mill stone around your neck. And the 15X .... going to be tough to keep steady enough to stay on "spot" at long distances. And that is a big deal when you are deciding to go or not to go. If you decide to go with the 15x50's and they will attach to one, I strongly suggest a tripod.
I tried toting a spotting scope ... only once. May as well have brought a baseball bat for all the good that spotting scope did me. The binos did just fine for the 2000 +/-yards I was spotting across.
Also I started out in MOntana with relatively inexpensive Nikon 10x40's. About $200 range price wise. Fine for down here in SE Alabama, but not nearly crisp enough to make out details at 1000-1500 yards.
Vortex may make good stuff ... I don't know. Pentax's binos that are in the $500-$600 range are a pretty darned good value. I use a Swarovski 8x40. Took me a while to save up enough to buy them but worth every dollar when it comes to long hours spent spotting across 1-3 miles of bad lands. Especially when daylight is at its weakest.
And as for which is more important? If I am forced to choose, I'm top dollar into the bino. That is what you'll use to find the game. A good quality scope can usually get the job done when it comes time for the kill shot.
A 15x50 ? Not for me. If you do a bunch of stalking a bino that large and heavy will start feeling like a mill stone around your neck. And the 15X .... going to be tough to keep steady enough to stay on "spot" at long distances. And that is a big deal when you are deciding to go or not to go. If you decide to go with the 15x50's and they will attach to one, I strongly suggest a tripod.
I tried toting a spotting scope ... only once. May as well have brought a baseball bat for all the good that spotting scope did me. The binos did just fine for the 2000 +/-yards I was spotting across.
Also I started out in MOntana with relatively inexpensive Nikon 10x40's. About $200 range price wise. Fine for down here in SE Alabama, but not nearly crisp enough to make out details at 1000-1500 yards.
Vortex may make good stuff ... I don't know. Pentax's binos that are in the $500-$600 range are a pretty darned good value. I use a Swarovski 8x40. Took me a while to save up enough to buy them but worth every dollar when it comes to long hours spent spotting across 1-3 miles of bad lands. Especially when daylight is at its weakest.
And as for which is more important? If I am forced to choose, I'm top dollar into the bino. That is what you'll use to find the game. A good quality scope can usually get the job done when it comes time for the kill shot.
#9
15X is way too much unless you use them on a tripod, or have some other method of bracing them. Any shake at all and they are not usable. A good pair of 10X binoculars usually works well for finding game.
I am not a big Vortex fan, but to each his own.
I am not a big Vortex fan, but to each his own.