Bullet Hole Bailey

I am on a budget of about 400$ of less, and I am really curious of what is a good spotting scope in this range? Also, which is better for spotting deer from ridge to ridge: straight or angled eye piece?

Thanks!

gunnermhr

If you plan on spotting deer from Ridge to Ridge buy yourself a pair of 20x80 Celestron Binoculars, they're under $200. I have a HD Swarovski spotter and when glassing a hill side I prefer to use the Celestron's. The 25x100 Celestron’s seem to have more problems with collimation. To look at game for long periods of time you're better off spending $200 on a set of binoculars than you are spending $2,000 on a spotting scope, you won't experience eye fatigue as quickly with binoculars. If you plan on buying 2 spotting scopes and mounting them together as binoculars you'll want straight eye pieces

doubleA

Exactly, I now regret getting 2 Swarovski 20x60x80 HD's with the angled head to make a set of "bigeyes". Straight eye pieces are much better for that application.

Big Uncle

Angled eyepieces are great when you are looking up mountain sides to spot game, but they are a pain if you want to use them at the shooting range or for level or downhill game spotting. I would try to find a straight eyepiece model.

Bullet Hole Bailey

Are vortex or leupold green ring spotting scopes going to be good?

Sheridan

Take a look at the "spotting scopes by price" and see what your money can buy ?

http://www.opticsplanet.net/spottingscopes.html

Then ask about specific make and model.


Is this spotting scope more for qualifing trophies or target shooting ?

gunnermhr

Do yourself a big favor; look through them side by side before dropping any money. You'll be surprised at what you see. Do your best to get yourself in the same situation as you'll be in the field. Don't compare them at a 100 yards to make you decision if you plan on glassing 600 yards.

The best money you'll spend will be on a GOOD tri-pod, not a $100 special at wal-Mart. You'll also be further ahead with buying a fluid head, Bogen makes a couple real nice ones, and you can get a 701 head for under $100

Bullet Hole Bailey

How about the Vortex Nomad? thats a spercific model, and it is catching my interest.

tim416

I bought a Nikon 20-60 Spotting scope about ten years ago. It fell withing the price range you are talking about. I have used it extensively hunting out west and on the range and could'nt ask for a clearer scope for the money.

Big Uncle

In spotting scopes you "get what you pay for". There are no bargins. In your price range you should be able to get a reasonable scope.

Scopes that are any cheaper are a waste of money. A friend of mine bought a cheap scope to take on an elk hunt. I looked through it and although it did magnify, the images were fuzzy looking. A far away elk looked like a bush through his scope, but looking through my scope you could see that it was an elk with antlers. He left in a trash can after the hunt and bought a good one.