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.

When hunting and glassing out west, a good pair of binos comes in handy for sure. Myself, anything over 10X gets hard to manage. Though 15x is nice, I would much preferr a good lighter weight 10X.

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.

I'd upgrade my binos.

Good Luck!

[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.

Thanks guys I think I am going to get the vortex viper hd's

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.

I am going to get the binos but you think the 15 are too much. I just want to be able to see quit a ways or will it be to hard to pick out mullies in there bed?

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.

Has anyone used the 12 power leupold mojave?