Renting a spotter vs high end binos September Elk

FitToHunt

Active Member
So I've never had the patience for glassing to justify the high end price tag. Right now I've got some vortex Diamondbacks 12x50.

I want to rent some glass this year, and FORCE myself to actually use it for elk this September. So my question is: should I rent a spotter or some higher end binos like Swarovski for example? I do have an ultra light tripod.

I'm not a trophy hunter, so field judging a bull at 2 miles is not my concern. Just finding and patterning elk.
 

JimP

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Mar 28, 2016
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I would just stick with what you have. If you don't care about rack size then a bull is a bull, and there is really no reason to pack the exte weight of the spotter.

For myself I just depend on my 10x42 binoculars to see if I I want to chase after a animal.

Now if I was trophy hunting then I just might have my spotter with me, but a lot would depend how far off the road that I was going
 

Bonecollector

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Mar 9, 2014
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At this point I feel investing your rental money in a nicer high-end pair of binoculars is the way to go. You will always need them and can rent or purchase a spotter in the future.
 

buckbull

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Jun 20, 2011
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At this point I feel investing your rental money in a nicer high-end pair of binoculars is the way to go. You will always need them and can rent or purchase a spotter in the future.
do you not think his vortex binos are good enough? I'm kinda in the same boat, I have a nice pair of leupold 10x50 olympics, good glass but not gold rings, probably about the same or a little better than the OP's vortex's. I seemed to be able to spot elk in meadows a few miles away but certainly couldn't use them to judge a bull or buck at those distances.
 

JimP

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Mar 28, 2016
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For years I used a compact pair of Pentex 12x25's and had no problems spotting elk at any range that I could tell that they were elk.

I then started using some 10x42 Leopold Cascades, and replaced them with a 10x42 EL Swaro's.

The only time that I felt that I needed more power was when I was hunting Coues deer in southern Arizona.

For just spotting a bull elk those Vortex will work quite well.
 

Slugz

Veteran member
Oct 12, 2014
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Binos for your needs of patterning elk size animals is fine.

Eye fatigue is the driving factor in my opinion.
1- One end of the spectrum is spending a legit 6-10 hours a day on a glassing spot.
2- Other end is getting to a spot, glass animals, put binos away then go chase animals.

Scenario 2 almost anything works. Scenario 1 will give ya eye fatigue after 4 hours with sub par glass.
 

Bonecollector

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Mar 9, 2014
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Binos for your needs of patterning elk size animals is fine.

Eye fatigue is the driving factor in my opinion.
1- One end of the spectrum is spending a legit 6-10 hours a day on a glassing spot.
2- Other end is getting to a spot, glass animals, put binos away then go chase animals.

Scenario 2 almost anything works. Scenario 1 will give ya eye fatigue after 4 hours with sub par glass.
I’ll echo these comments in addition to better clarity (eye fatigue) in addition to better light gathering capability for when it matters most (sunrise & sunset).
 
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Bonecollector

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do you not think his vortex binos are good enough? I'm kinda in the same boat, I have a nice pair of leupold 10x50 olympics, good glass but not gold rings, probably about the same or a little better than the OP's vortex's. I seemed to be able to spot elk in meadows a few miles away but certainly couldn't use them to judge a bull or buck at those distances.
These both are great glass for the money.
The Diamondbacks are one of the best entry level bino’s for the money IMHO. However the OP was looking at upgrading. To me it makes the most sense.
 

mallardsx2

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Jul 8, 2015
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I have never hunted elk in a place where glassing was an option but I always seem to want to carry them with me.

Few years back I got a set of Swarovski Pocket CL's.

Allows me to glass when necessary and roll on carrying very little weight with ultra clarity.

If I was glassing for hours at a time I would have my SLC 15X56's without a doubt.
 

taskswap

Very Active Member
Jul 9, 2018
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Ask six hunters about glass and get seven opinions. :D It's all subjective. Personally I'd rather have better binos. I'm not Randy Newberg putting week-long stalks on the biggest bull in the state. I feel like the decision comes down to your modes: "scanning" vs. "identification". Scopes give you more zoom for equal weight. But binos give you more field of view. When I'm scanning for game, given two options with the same weight, clarity and quality of glass, I'd much rather have a wider FOV and less zoom than the opposite.

I don't know about you all, but I also feel like 12x is really the highest zoom I can usefully manage hand-held without a tripod.
 
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nv-hunter

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Not sure where your hunting but this is the setup we use the most here in the open desert type country.

12 x 50 ( I have razors and partners have Zeiss and Swarovski ) all can be tri pod mounted
10 x 45 or 50 ( mostly Vortex used during hikes and moving around )
1 swarovski scope about the 65 mm size for packing
Spotting scopes to get detail on the far away bulls or deer ( I have the Razor 85 , Partners haveone Swarovski about the same size and 1 Swarovski 115mm scope, also have a Leica spotting scope )
 

FitToHunt

Active Member
I'm trying to have the discipline to actually spend some significant time glassing. I've only have limited success with my typical run, gun, call strategy. I wanna up my game.

My normal approach to glassing is randomly find a spot I can see, glass for 30 min, don't see anything. Then go back to hiking in the timber. So in addition to upgrading my glass I'm going to actually e-scout and prioritize good glassing spots.

I'm leaning towards some higher end, larger binos with a tripod of course.
 
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