What glass are you using. Binoculars and spotting scope.

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Wondering what all glass you guys are packing. First year sheep hunt and don't want to pack the heavy Leicas . Pocket binos?
 
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I'm an idiot, all my optics are heavy. 80mm Swaro spotter/stay on case = 63 oz. Swaro 10x42 EL Range binos/bino pack = 47 oz. My tripod only weighs 26 oz. though! :)
 

Matt Cashell

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I wouldn't recommend pocket binos for any hunt, much less a sheep hunt.

Optics are important. Take the best you can.

I would likely take the Meopta HD 10X42, Swarovski ATX 85 (or maybe 65), and Leica 1600B rangefinder out of my kit. These are all great performers and can take some serious abuse.
 

MTSabo

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I don't profess to be a great sheep hunter but I read a book by Tony Russ who is. He basically says a spotter is all you need and mentions that certain areas he will also take pocket binos for quick looks up into draws. Id highly recommend you read it for yourself It really helped me prepare for my first sheep hunt.

PageBook-SheepHuntinginAK
 

bcimport

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12x50 vortex razors, 20-60x80 swaro spotter. Everything else in my pack is pretty light but if I can’t find them what’s the point of going sheep hunting?
 
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Oh, and leave the .375 Ultra Mag at home. I’m guessing that you can tip a sheep over with a much lighter rifle.


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fatbacks

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I’ve been using Leupold BX-3’s for a long time and they have been awesome. I prefer 10x42. For a spotter my hunting partner has the Zeiss Conguest Gavia 85. It is awesome and has saved us some serious walking in sheep country. A good spotter is priceless while sheep hunting.

I’d have to disagree with not taking binos. Can’t tell you how many times I have done a quick glass on hillsides with pack on. If I took pack off and got spotter out every time I wanted to check something out, I’d get really sick of taking off/putting on my pack.


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Steve O

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I’ve know some sheep hunters to be Fanatical enough to go to 10x32 alpha bionic but that’s as far as one would logically go...I’d cut weight on a lot of things, in fact everything,before I gave up my 10x42 ELs. I’ve never wanted anything more than my 65mm Zeiss spotter either. That is as good a combo as I can think of and I’ve been thinking of ways to improve it for close to 20 years now. You spend a ton of time looking thru your optics on a sheep hunt, they are not the place to compromise.
 
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Well...... I couldn't agree more. This will be my first sheep hunt so I have a lot to get ready for. In shape included. My son actually drew the DS195 tag and we are having Meekins take us in. I have never had the desire to sheep hunt. I am a swamp donkey kind of guy. My son has a few rifles to choose from on this but he loves his Montana Rifle Co 375 Ultramag and he's determined he's packing that thing. He's proficient with it and sadly being raised by me he became a one gun guy like his dad no matter what he's hunting :) time will tell if I can get him to use the 270. He was also lucky enough to draw a cow tag near Big Lake and that he's using the recurve on
Oh, and leave the .375 Ultra Mag at home. I’m guessing that you can tip a sheep over with a much lighter rifle.


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BRWNBR

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20 years guiding Sheep has me filtered down to cabelas euro (meopta) 10x42 and a swarovski 20-60x65 angled. No tripod. Will never own a straight tube spotter again. I would prefer a set of swarovski
Pockets in a 10x instead of my full size 10x42’s. But I can’t bring myself to drop a grand on them. I do not carry a rangefinder.
 

AK Shane

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I use the Meopta Cabelas Euro 10x42's. They are a fairly heavy bulky 10x42 but have great glass for the price. Been using a Pentax 65ED spotter for the past 10 years but think this is the year to upgrade to the Swaro 65mm. I took a pair of inexpensive 10x28 binos on one sheep hunt and wouldn't do it again. Yes sheep are white and easy to spot but you still end up spending lots of hours behind the glass and the 10x28's just didn't cut it. Maybe a alpha pair of 32mm would change my mind but until I have a pocket full of money, I like 10x42's for all my hunts.
 
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I don't profess to be a great sheep hunter but I read a book by Tony Russ who is. He basically says a spotter is all you need and mentions that certain areas he will also take pocket binos for quick looks up into draws. Id highly recommend you read it for yourself It really helped me prepare for my first sheep hunt.

PageBook-SheepHuntinginAK

Tony hunts Dalls.....they are white and easier to spot with the naked eye unless there is snow. Any of the other species are tougher to see....unless there is snow.

I like my Swarovision 10x42 EL binos and angled Swaro magnesium body 7 yr old 20-60x65mm HD. Neither are light but do the job for me. I have lighter high quality Leica Ultravid 8x32 binos and a Nikon 13-30 x 50mm HD spotter that stay home on sheep hunts.

As per 80 mm or 95mm scopes....I am not willing to carry the weight or have the larger scope taking up volume in pack on a backpack hunt. YMMV, good luck with your decision.
 

MTSabo

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Tony hunts Dalls.....they are white and easier to spot with the naked eye unless there is snow. Any of the other species are tougher to see....unless there is snow.

I like my Swarovision 10x42 EL binos and angled Swaro magnesium body 7 yr old 20-60x65mm HD. Neither are light but do the job for me. I have lighter high quality Leica Ultravid 8x32 binos and a Nikon 13-30 x 50mm HD spotter that stay home on sheep hunts.

As per 80 mm or 95mm scopes....I am not willing to carry the weight or have the larger scope taking up volume in pack on a backpack hunt. YMMV, good luck with your decision.
I do believe the OP is after dall sheep

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TravKatQ

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I drank the swaro kool aid and carry El 12’s and Slc 15’s and STS 80 spotter...all bought used and saved BIG...Tripod is slik 634 with gitzo fluid head...might be changing heads to something light but liking the gitzo head so far...


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oenanthe

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I've carried pocket binos on sheep hunts (8x23) when I was poor and that was all I had. Now that I have a wider selection available, I carry 10x42 or 8x30; usually I would only carry the 8x30 if I had a partner along with 10x42. I don't think I can glass all day long with the 8x30, but they are nice and light and handy for the quick look [at what usually turns out to be a white rock :D].

In addition to the binos I always carry a spotter, usually a 82mm 25-75x, sometimes a light little 50mm 13-40x. I don't own a rangefinder.

Sometimes you need to consider the terrain where you'll be hunting. On one solo sheep hunt last year I planned on taking the 20-ounce 50mm scope just to save weight. At the last minute I switched to the 82mm scope that weighs 2.5 pounds more. That's a lot of weight but it turned out to be the right decision - almost all the sheep I spotted were 2-3 miles away in big, open country. With the little scope I would not have been able to judge them accurately, but with the big glass I could tell which ones I needed to get closer to.

I'll save weight as much as I can on a sheep hunt; I go pretty much bare bones. But the two areas where I find it really hard to cut weight are optics and boots. You really lose functionality if you don't have both binos and spotter. And you need boots capable of handling 100-pound+ loads; for me that means a 3.5 pound pair of boots is about the minimum.
 
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I've never had a sheep tag with my name on it, but I have guided a handful of bighorn hunts. My glass then was 10×42 vortex razors. The outfitters generally supplied spotters and they were almost always Swaro's. I now have a variety of binos, all in 10x42. Swaro's, Leicas, and Vortex. Leupold pro guide binos impress me for their price point, but I don't own a pair. Good binos and great spotters are needed for sheep hunting. Most people forget that even though the Dalls are easy to spot, you still have to judge them for length and/or age. That requires good clear glass.
 
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I use a 80mm Swaro Spotter.

As far as bino's go, for many years I used my 10 x 25 Zeiss Pocket Bino's. I hunt with some pretty good sheep hunters, who've been around the block a bit, and they also use pocket bino's.

With that said, this past season I went to 8 x 32 Swaro's. I really like them, and they will be my go to sheep hunting bino's from now on.
 
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