Bought an Athlon Ares 15-45x65 Gen 2 spotter and a Sirui T-004S tripod with a Sirui VA-5 Ultra-Compact video head. My first spotter and first tripod. To me they are really nice. Of course to some these pieces of equipment pale in comparison to RRS and Swarovski. Anyway, I thought I'd dip my toe and experiment with them in prep for some hunts over the next few years.

Also, got an adapter to mount my binocular on the tripod.

Interesting you mention this... I just purchased an Athlon Ares 4.5-27x50 BTR Gen 2 for a Aoudad hunt I am planning for next year. After comparing a lot of options... I think I got the best for my $$. I am looking forward to using it...

I have an Aoudad hunt coming in a few months as well which is why I bought the spotter. But I'm not convinced that I want one and I know I don't want to carry one. Both factors in the selection. As for binoculars, the only pair I have is a cheap 10x42 which was a gift and I've never really used them since I haven't had a need. I'll try them out on this upcoming trip. Hopefully they're not absolute junk and that it can give me some good feedback on purchasing something better. I also bought a Nightforce NX8.

Really, really clear 10X binoculars would be your best friend on that hunt.

Add tripod.

If I'm carrying a spotter over 50mm, means I'm hunting out if my mule or truck and I'm taking lots of pics.

So far I like the tripod and head I chose. So long as it performs like I think it will there's no reason, for my use, to go big.