Do I really need a spotting scope?

[ericF]

Nobody else has mentioned this, but do you know the area you are hunting and the amount of pressure in the area. If a unit is open and great for glassing but crowded the spotting scope won't give you any real benefit. Sure there might be 20 elk a mile away, but do you have 10 people between you and the elk. If so your chances of getting there before anyone else is pretty low. Conversely, if you don't know the area yet, you don't really know if the spotting scope is useful or not based on terrain and habitat. If all you are after is a legal bull, then I would just rely on the binoculars.

 

[Tsnider]

this is my first season owning a spotting scope, i live in colorado. it was awesome to have all summer for scouting, but it will be left behind. i will be bringing a tripod for my binos though.

 

[mcseal2]

I would take one. I find I don't need a spotter to locate elk or spend a lot of time using one elk hunting. I do like to be able to see how good a distant bull is and if he is broken up or not before going after him. I have a couple good tripods but for elk I usually just use a cheap light Slikk Compact II I got on Ebay. It's not what I'd want to glass off for very long, but it's light and works well for this. I've always paired it with a Nikon ED50 spotter that is small, light, and amazing glass for it's cost/weight. This year I ordered the new 55mm Kowa, it's a bit heavier and much more expensive but should be good enough glass that I never take a bigger spotter on my back. I'll sell the Nikon now and use it in the future.

 

[Next_Ridge_Over]

12x50 or 10x42 binos on tripod for me. I decided a few hunts ago that a spotter wasn't worth it for me due to extra weight and I'm typically not counting inches.

 

[Huntingpreacher]

Thanks for all the help everyone! I've decided to just take a pair of binos and lightweight tripod. I'm hunting for a legal bull. I have a 24x scope so I figure I can use that to determine antler size if needed.

 

[JordanH]

Never used a spotting scope myself, but then I've never hunted where it was useful. If I were going above treeline at 12K+ and looking down into high alpine bowls then yes I would get one and take it. Never hunted those types of areas. At most I've had vantage points to look into meadows and parks from a couple hundred yards and binos were plenty of glass. If you are hunting timber below 11K the scope won't likely do you a bit of good.

 

[KurtR]

I bring mine along because I like taking pictures through it.

 

[kalielkslayer]

Used to pack my 15x56 Swaros on every hunt with a quality tri-pod. Plenty heavy but saved me many miles of walking at times. Just couldn't accurately judge past 1-1.5 miles.

Now I use a mid-size spotter, 65mm Vortex with same tri-pod.

Invaluable in my opinion.

But I hunt different, focusing on spots these tools will work best. I'd rather climb another 1000-1500 feet to where I can glass effectively than bust through a drainage blindly, hoping I stumble onto something before he makes me.