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Upgrade optics $1500 to spend #7444570 02/26/19 02:39 PM
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I'm upgrading my optics. I will have 1500 of which I will spend about 400 on a new scope. That leaves 1100 for spotter and binos. I'm not asking for specifics, just how would you allocate the rest and why. My existing bino is fair and existing spotter is junk. I have more $ in a year but will need them this fall. Thanks.

Last edited by jnd59; 02/26/19 02:41 PM.

No matter how high a duck flies a hammer still breaks a window.
Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: jnd59] #7444576 02/26/19 02:46 PM
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You need to share more detailed usage information.
It would be my pleasure to discuss options with you if you have a few minutes to give a call, 516-217-1000
Doug


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Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: jnd59] #7444577 02/26/19 02:48 PM
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Me personally, use your money to upgrade only one item now. I would do either the scope or the binos. When you have saved up more, then do the other. I would rather have two really nice optics even if I have to wait 2-3 yrs to save up, than buy all 3 now but be forced to buy lesser quality and then be in the same boat again, dissatisfied, 2-3 yrs down the road. Not sure how often you use a spotter, but I own one and never use it. It’s to cumbersome to lug around. A good pair of binos essentially replaced my need for a spotter.

Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: jnd59] #7444617 02/26/19 03:40 PM
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Thanks to both. I will call but I will use these for hunting out west. Pronghorn, cues deer, elk bear., goat. This year it will likely be Pronghorn in Wyoming and cues in Arizona. If we don't draw Pronghorn we will hunt elk in Colorado.

Theringworm, that's what I'm wondering. I may decide to forego a spotting scope.


No matter how high a duck flies a hammer still breaks a window.
Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: jnd59] #7444626 02/26/19 03:45 PM
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Best money I've ever spent to date were on my Leica Geovids. I'm about to buy a Swarvo spotter, so that opinion might change.


Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: jnd59] #7444652 02/26/19 04:09 PM
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Originally Posted by jnd59
Thanks to both. I will call but I will use these for hunting out west. Pronghorn, cues deer, elk bear., goat. This year it will likely be Pronghorn in Wyoming and cues in Arizona. If we don't draw Pronghorn we will hunt elk in Colorado.

Theringworm, that's what I'm wondering. I may decide to forego a spotting scope.


In that price range -Zeiss conquest 15x56 Followed by Maven 15x56.

Even if you decide to go with a great all round 12x/11x mag, I still recommend Getting a good tripod and head, S&S Archery has a good combo Sirius t-o24sk and VA-5 head for $318.


Jan NM mulie- 11x Maven- bog bino holder- element tripod(can’t glass standing up)
[Linked Image]












Last edited by BOBO the Clown; 02/26/19 04:16 PM.

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Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: jnd59] #7444678 02/26/19 04:33 PM
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First off, I'd buy a rifle scope that is known to hold zero and not have shifting POI problems. I'd probably lean towards the SWFA SS 3-9x MQ reticle. Find one used for around $450. Then I'd spend $675 on a Tract Toric UHD bino. Superb optics, well made, on par with Meopta Meostar HD, SLC's, Conquest HD's for way less money. That would leave about $400 for a spotter. I'd wait on the spotter, save up some more cash, then start looking again. You really get what you pay for when buying high magnifacation spotters.

Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: jnd59] #7444693 02/26/19 04:44 PM
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Get some quality binos first. That being said a great spotter would save you boot miles on an antelope hunt.
10x binos with good glass would do. 15x get very heavy on all day hunts and are big to keep out of the way while crawling on an antelope stalk.
Camofire has some Leupold binos on today.
Don't go cheap on a spotter either, like said, you get what you pay for.

Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: BOBO the Clown] #7444772 02/26/19 05:55 PM
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Originally Posted by BOBO the Clown

Even if you decide to go with a great all round 12x/11x mag, I still recommend Getting a good tripod and head, S&S Archery has a good combo Sirius t-o24sk and VA-5 head for $318.



Thanks. I've already purchased one good tripod for the Binos. I'm waiting on the spotting scope tripod to see how heavy it is. I will get another in any event as two of us will be spotting on and off. When we go for Cues deer there will be three of us (son and daughter) so we will switch off. I don't expect the pronghorn glassing to be too intense but I do expect the Cues to wear us out glassing.


No matter how high a duck flies a hammer still breaks a window.
Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: Wytex] #7444778 02/26/19 05:58 PM
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Originally Posted by Wytex
Get some quality binos first. That being said a great spotter would save you boot miles on an antelope hunt.
10x binos with good glass would do. 15x get very heavy on all day hunts and are big to keep out of the way while crawling on an antelope stalk.
Camofire has some Leupold binos on today.
Don't go cheap on a spotter either, like said, you get what you pay for.


I suspect the 15s would be cumbersome and probably not fit in the bino case well. I have 10X now and will likely stick with that power for glassing. I will check the Camofire deal.


No matter how high a duck flies a hammer still breaks a window.
Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: Jgraider] #7444783 02/26/19 06:02 PM
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Originally Posted by Jgraider
First off, I'd buy a rifle scope that is known to hold zero and not have shifting POI problems. I'd probably lean towards the SWFA SS 3-9x MQ reticle. Find one used for around $450. Then I'd spend $675 on a Tract Toric UHD bino. Superb optics, well made, on par with Meopta Meostar HD, SLC's, Conquest HD's for way less money. That would leave about $400 for a spotter. I'd wait on the spotter, save up some more cash, then start looking again. You really get what you pay for when buying high magnifacation spotters.



We have an old Leopold Var I or Var X (I will have to check) on there now. Not the best reticle for hold over but a good scope. The other one is a Nikon prostaff BDC. It will probably work of my son. Practice with the range on the Leopold and I may be able to just estimate hold over and windage since 400-500 will be our shooting limit. Cues is archery so it doesn't matter. The more I think about it the more I'm inclined to make due with the scopes we have as they have proven good before, and add the $ to the spotting scope.


No matter how high a duck flies a hammer still breaks a window.
Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: BOBO the Clown] #7444784 02/26/19 06:05 PM
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Originally Posted by BOBO the Clown
Jan NM mulie- 11x Maven- bog bino holder- element tripod(can’t glass standing up)



Are you happy with the bogo bino holder? I've looked at the Vortex and other but they have some negative review about attaching and detaching.


No matter how high a duck flies a hammer still breaks a window.
Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: jnd59] #7444910 02/26/19 07:48 PM
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Originally Posted by jnd59
Originally Posted by BOBO the Clown
Jan NM mulie- 11x Maven- bog bino holder- element tripod(can’t glass standing up)



Are you happy with the bog bino holder? I've looked at the Vortex and other but they have some negative review about attaching and detaching.


For tripod head I use most, I like it over the Kramer design bridge pinned type quickconnect. It is a lot heavier option relatively speaking though. I struggle to glass with the Kramer style with a ball head. Feel like I’m always touching bino and messing up position and eye peice width. Now with a pan head they are equal.

Weight wise the swaro version looks to be a lot lighter but I haven’t used it








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Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: jnd59] #7444945 02/26/19 08:43 PM
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Bog Pod bino holder is great, as Bobo says. I've been using it for a few years now.

jnd59 , hate to say it but even if you stick with your current scopes, given the fact that you may be spending hours a day behind the glass, $1500 for bino and spotter is stretching it. I'd allow that much for the spotter alone. The Leupold Gold Ring HD 12-40x60 is compact and has very good glass, tremendous eye relief, and is very, very tough. If you're lucky you can find one used around $1000.

Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: jnd59] #7445015 02/26/19 09:55 PM
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Originally Posted by jnd59
Originally Posted by Wytex
Get some quality binos first. That being said a great spotter would save you boot miles on an antelope hunt.
10x binos with good glass would do. 15x get very heavy on all day hunts and are big to keep out of the way while crawling on an antelope stalk.
Camofire has some Leupold binos on today.
Don't go cheap on a spotter either, like said, you get what you pay for.


I suspect the 15s would be cumbersome and probably not fit in the bino case well. I have 10X now and will likely stick with that power for glassing. I will check the Camofire deal.


Depends on how you hunt. They are a lot lighter then toting a spotter and have a wider FOV,

Mulie/coues, aoudad and some pronghorn I prefer 15’s over spotter. My range finder is 7x so I normally don’t carry my bino in a chest harnes, input them in the lid of my pack.

Exception on pronghorn is, at my ranch I use a spotter out of the truck pretty extensively, occasionally I’ll carry bino’s.

I don’t use bino’s personally under 11x.


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Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: Jgraider] #7445121 02/26/19 11:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Jgraider
Bog Pod bino holder is great, as Bobo says. I've been using it for a few years now.

jnd59 , hate to say it but even if you stick with your current scopes, given the fact that you may be spending hours a day behind the glass, $1500 for bino and spotter is stretching it. I'd allow that much for the spotter alone. The Leupold Gold Ring HD 12-40x60 is compact and has very good glass, tremendous eye relief, and is very, very tough. If you're lucky you can find one used around $1000.


I may review my needs for this year and move $ to glass. I was going to purchase new packs but I have good osprey packs I used for climbing and backpacking in Colorado. Neither the antelope or cues deer require a lot of meat packing. The only problem is they are blue. I guess I could put a camo pack cover on them. That would free up another $700. The only other items I was going to get were a topper for the truck and a winch. I can build an inexpensive topper. It won't look good but will do for these trips. I've been back and forth on the winch. I've never taken one before and have been lucky I guess as I've never had to deal with mud in Wyoming. I'm not really worried about Arizona. Skip them and I have a lot of $ to put towards glass. It's all a balancing act, I guess.


No matter how high a duck flies a hammer still breaks a window.
Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: jnd59] #7445134 02/27/19 12:05 AM
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Originally Posted by jnd59
Originally Posted by Jgraider
Bog Pod bino holder is great, as Bobo says. I've been using it for a few years now.

jnd59 , hate to say it but even if you stick with your current scopes, given the fact that you may be spending hours a day behind the glass, $1500 for bino and spotter is stretching it. I'd allow that much for the spotter alone. The Leupold Gold Ring HD 12-40x60 is compact and has very good glass, tremendous eye relief, and is very, very tough. If you're lucky you can find one used around $1000.


I may review my needs for this year and move $ to glass. I was going to purchase new packs but I have good osprey packs I used for climbing and backpacking in Colorado. Neither the antelope or cues deer require a lot of meat packing. The only problem is they are blue. I guess I could put a camo pack cover on them. That would free up another $700. The only other items I was going to get were a topper for the truck and a winch. I can build an inexpensive topper. It won't look good but will do for these trips. I've been back and forth on the winch. I've never taken one before and have been lucky I guess as I've never had to deal with mud in Wyoming. I'm not really worried about Arizona. Skip them and I have a lot of $ to put towards glass. It's all a balancing act, I guess.


I used a 12k traveler(tractor supply) with a snatch block this year. For price it worked well. I suggest a 30’ recovery rope like a bubba rope if you get a winch.


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Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: jnd59] #7445151 02/27/19 12:31 AM
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I'd spend all the money on the scope. You can spot with a rifle scope but you can't shoot with binos. Your budget will get you something nice that can serve multiple purposes.


Originally Posted by KRoyal
Haha yea I polished that thing for hours.
Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: ImTheReasonDovesMourn] #7445243 02/27/19 02:15 AM
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Originally Posted by ImTheReasonDovesMourn
I'd spend all the money on the scope. You can spot with a rifle scope but you can't shoot with binos. Your budget will get you something nice that can serve multiple purposes.


To each his own, but "glassing" with a rifle scope and/or big game hunting without binos is the last thing I'd ever do. Good hunters use their binos 10 times more than the scope. A guy can easily own great binos and a great scope for $1500.

Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: Jgraider] #7445251 02/27/19 02:30 AM
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Originally Posted by Jgraider
Originally Posted by ImTheReasonDovesMourn
I'd spend all the money on the scope. You can spot with a rifle scope but you can't shoot with binos. Your budget will get you something nice that can serve multiple purposes.


To each his own, but "glassing" with a rifle scope and/or big game hunting without binos is the last thing I'd ever do. Good hunters use their binos 10 times more than the scope. A guy can easily own great binos and a great scope for $1500.


Understood, but if I had to choose one, I'd choose the scope. I'd hate to have a crystal-clear view of my ultimate trophy through my binos in low light, and not have a shot because I have a big dark blob in my scope. I do agree that he can get a good combo for $1500.


Originally Posted by KRoyal
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Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: BOBO the Clown] #7445254 02/27/19 02:33 AM
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Originally Posted by BOBO the Clown


I used a 12k traveler(tractor supply) with a snatch block this year. For price it worked well. I suggest a 30’ recovery rope like a bubba rope if you get a winch.

I was thinking along those lines. I've fished down Padre island so I already have a good stock of recovery tools. That puts my glass budget near 2800. Wow, I can't believe I'm considering that much for glass. That's a whole nother hunt. But, I have five years left on my self imposed age limit for goats and that's a once in a lifetime for me so I won't want to scrimp on glass for that trip. So, at 2800, If I can make do with the osprey packs, how much for binos and how much for spotter? I'm thinking 900 and 1900. I'll get the scope next year. Do those numbers make a significant difference in quality or would I just be buying a name over my original budget?


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Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: jnd59] #7445257 02/27/19 02:34 AM
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That may have been true 30 years ago, but nowadays any $300 scope is going to have glass that will get you through legal shooting light. Finding good glass in a scope is very easy.

Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: Jgraider] #7445278 02/27/19 02:54 AM
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Originally Posted by Jgraider
That may have been true 30 years ago, but nowadays any $300 scope is going to have glass that will get you through legal shooting light. Finding good glass in a scope is very easy.


You have more experience than I do, and I respect your input, so I won't be too argumentative. I have scopes from $89 to $2500 and I think they hit a different level of clarity and light transmission from Japanese makers and only get better with Euro makers. $700ish would be my baseline for a really capable scope. Unless it's a fixed power. My SWFA 6x is excellent for $300.


Originally Posted by KRoyal
Haha yea I polished that thing for hours.
Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: jnd59] #7445284 02/27/19 03:01 AM
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I'll throw in my two cents...

Buy Swarovski SLC 15s, the Swaro SLC tripod mount, and a binocular harness such as Alaska Guide Creations. You will be looking through them from dawn to dusk. While they are expensive they will make finding game, especially Coues, easier as well as reduce eye strain that will arise with lower quality glass. Get your son and daughter tripods as well since you cannot hold a pair of binoculars steady enough to pick apart the terrain looking for a 90 pounds animal; they are called the Grey Ghost for a reason. Having a clear outline of a Coues is the exception; normally you get a tine, an ear, or maybe a flick of the tail.

If you are able to scrounge up some more money, upgrade your rifle scope second. Clarity trumps magnification. Magnification is helpful for hunting Coues. Sucks being able to see the Coues in the SLCs and not being able to see the deer in your scope. You can have the world's best rifle scope but it does you no good if you cannot find the animal first. Do not entertain any ideas of glassing with your rifle scope. Waste of time and horrible etiquette (never know if someone will pop up in the distance).

Do not spend money upgrading a spotting scope unless the score of the animal is paramount. Glassing is more effective with the SLC 15s than a spotting scope; this is coming from someone who has the STX 65/95.

Do not worry about the color of your backpack. Depending on where you are hunting in AZ, the animals are used to seeing a variety of colored backpacks going north.

This image shows a very easy to find Coues at around 1300 yards. A single blade of grass moving against the wind allowed us to find this buck bedded down. He scored 108.25"; just missing the book. Any blurriness or color issues are due to my POS phone camera.
[Linked Image]

This image shows the norm for finding a Coues. This buck lived to see another day. Any blurriness or color issues are due to my POS phone camera.
[Linked Image]

Re: Upgrade optics $1500 to spend [Re: ImTheReasonDovesMourn] #7445311 02/27/19 03:15 AM
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Originally Posted by ImTheReasonDovesMourn

You have more experience than I do, and I respect your input, so I won't be too argumentative. I have scopes from $89 to $2500 and I think they hit a different level of clarity and light transmission from Japanese makers and only get better with Euro makers. $700ish would be my baseline for a really capable scope. Unless it's a fixed power. My SWFA 6x is excellent for $300.



The main thing is your gear works for you. That's where everyone needs to be. You only have yourself to please and obviously you're there. Wasn't trying to be argumentative with you either bud.

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