12X50 and Spotter or 10X42, 15X56 and Spotter

[COwineguy]

Probably a topic that has been beat to death but I am wondering on everyones opinion on what is the best optic set-up for primarily western hunting. I used to primarily archery hunt but now due to career choices I am no longer able to archery hunt here in CO and usually rifle hunt/ hunt in other places ie. AZ. I currently have 10X42 SLCs and a Vortex spotter and am debating getting a pair of 15s for AZ as well as later elk and deer hunts here in CO. The caveat is I have the chance to buy some 12X50 Els and a great price and am wondering if they would be more versatile for primarily western hunting. If i got these I would sell my 10s' and eventually upgrade my spotter and bypass the 15s.

Thanks

 

[wannakillabigbull]

The sticking point in this discussion tends to be whether you're capable of comfortably hand holding 12 power binoculars. If you are then the 12s are the right choice IMO. If not, then adding a pair of 15s for tripod use is a great option.

If I were in your shoes I would buy the 12x50 ELs, sell the 10x42s, and upgrade your spotter. In my opinion that's most versatile setup that exists, again with the caveat that I personally don't mind hand holding 12 power binos.

 

[COwineguy]

I guess that is the question I am having with my self. When i did more archery hunting I seemed to hand hold my glass all the time in thicker country. Now that I am rifle hunting more I very seldom hand hold and usually use a tripod for my glassing. Guess I should keep chewing on it. Thanks for the response

 

[AGPank]

I’d keep the SLC, upgrade spotter and point me to the EL 12x50 deal


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[gr8fuldoug]

Had holding a 12x vs tripod mounting them is a HUGE difference. Over 10x you are losing a great deal by not tripod mounting

 

[tracker12]

Give me those 12 Els and and pair of 8 X 42's for my chest and I'd be happy without a spotter.

 

[COwineguy]

I am tempted to get the 12s for this season and see how I like them. I have thought of picking up 8s for hunting whitetail back east. Are the twelves enough for coues deer in AZ? Because of the season dates I am hoping to make this trip most years. Thanks for the replies

 

[FlyGuy]

I don't have the answer, but I'll tell you where I'm at in solving this mystery for myself.

Optics is an area that I've only started upgrading in the last couple years from basic entry level glass. I remember many years ago spending about $400'ish on a pair of vortex talon 10x42's and thinking, "There, I'll now set for life on Binos".

Archery elk is my passion so my 1st upgrade was a pair of 8x32 EL's (used, pre-SV). I LOVE these things. So light on your chest, easy to hold, wide FOV in the timber. Perfect for archery elk and WT here in (Southeastern) TX. But, I've since added in 1-2 other glass heavy hunts per year (Spring bear, WTX Aoudad) and for those hunts, especially the Aoudad, I found them to be slightly underpowered.

I've since added a pair of 15x Meopta MeoStars, upgraded my spotter to the Kowa 77 and my Tripod to the Outdoorsman's Medium. That solved the problem. I now had everything covered with this range of Glass. "There, I'm set for life on optics "... Except... it's too damn heavy to pack all that. I've only done it on a couple day hunts but probably won't do it very often in the future unless I can split up the weight with a buddy.

The 15's are awesome and they are game finding Machines. If doing a ton of glassing you can't beat them for their speed at covering large areas w/o eye strain. I have to use a tripod with them though. I can "get by" with a good solid rest but only for very quick peeks.

So now I'm trying to decide what's next. I still feel like I have a gap left in my optics pkg specifically when hunting in wide open country because the 8x in my bino harness are just not powerful enough for that situation, and the 15's are too big of a jump up for me to hand hold.

Easiest solution is to pick up a pair of 10x42 EL (or similar) for those non-timber hunts, but those 12x ELs are intriguing. I do think that it comes down to what wannakillabigbull said - can I hand hold the 12x? I need to get my hands on some to see. If not, then the standard 10x42 will get the nod.

Because of the weight, I feel like 2 optics is the most I want to carry. But, that doesn't mean that you should only own 2 optics. For me it is going to be a mix-and-match to find the best combo for the specific hunt I am on at the time.










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[marktole]

I am currently using a pair of 10x50 EL's, and a 65mm ATX. Last season I had a pair of 15x56 SLC HD's in the mix too, but they're gone for a reason.

I like the image the 10x50 EL's gave me in lower light, field of view, and flatness much, much more than the 15x's. If I was carrying 10's and 15's I always found myself reaching for the 10's on my chest and mounting them on the tripod first before ever using the 15's. I feel like I can find more game with my 10's than I can my 15's, largely due to the fact of the wide FOV. Now, a lot of that is due to personal preference though, I know some guys who only use 15's, no 8's, no 10's, no spotter, just 15's.

I stuck with 10's and a spotter and cut the 15's because I didn't feel like they did much for me. If I could find the game with the 10's and wanted a closer look, I just put the spotter on them. Also saves me carrying a 3# pair of binos.

Now, all that being said, I have also been curious to try a pair of 12x50 EL's, but haven't done so because I am not sure that I could freehand them all that well. Just as much as I've been curious about a pair of 12x50 EL's, I've also thought about getting a pair of 10x42 EL's to have a little wider FOV.

Long story short, 10/12's with a spotting scope gets my vote! Good luck with your decision.

 

[Muley Buck]

I run 10's and 15's with a spotter, it works great for me. 12's would definitely ADD to the arsenal and I would surely use the hell out of them. But for me, 12's could never replace 10's and 15's.

 

[benbhunter]

I made the switch this year to el 12s and spotter. Took both a nice buck and bull with the set-up. Both in open country in NV. My elk hunt lasted 13 days , I never felt like I was was missing out. Had 12s on chest with an agc bino rig and spotter in pack. I had my 15s in rzr the whole time and never even took them out of case this year.

 

[wannakillabigbull]

Are the twelves enough for coues deer in AZ?

I’m not 100% sure what question you’re asking here. Are they enough compared to 15s assuming you have a spotter? Or are they enough to not even carry a spotter?

My coues hunt two falls ago I was rocking a pair of 12x50s and a buddy of mine was using 15x56 Swaro SLCs. We each spotted about the same number of deer and I didn’t feel like I needed 15s to succeed. Who spotted more each day seemed to matter more about who was “hot” than anything else. Perhaps there’s others that would swear by the 15s but that was my experience.

The big difference was that he didn’t have a spotter and was trying to use the 15s to determine trophy size, while I had an 11-33x50 Vortex Razor HD spotter. The 15s were not sufficient for sizing up those little deer, whereas my Razor worked surprisingly well.

12x50s worked great for coues hunting for me, but don’t leave the spotter in the truck even if it’s a long pack in.

 

[COwineguy]

Sorry for the confusion on my question. I would always carry the spotter for Coues. I like the idea of 12s and a spotter for coues deer as a 2 piece option just wasn't sure if the 12s would leave me wanting more magnification. If I still lived back east as of now I would lean 10s, 15s, spotter as none of my glassing was done from a tripod. I am starting to lean 12s and a spotter since almost all of my hunting now consists of western hunting. I am sure it will be like Flyguy said. I will find my perfect set-up only to change my mind in a couple years. The search for the perfect gear set-up is fun though. Thanks for all the input so far. Cheers

 

[FlyGuy]

Sorry for the confusion on my question. I would always carry the spotter for Coues. I like the idea of 12s and a spotter for coues deer as a 2 piece option just wasn't sure if the 12s would leave me wanting more magnification. If I still lived back east as of now I would lean 10s, 15s, spotter as none of my glassing was done from a tripod. I am starting to lean 12s and a spotter since almost all of my hunting now consists of western hunting. I am sure it will be like Flyguy said. I will find my perfect set-up only to change my mind in a couple years. The search for the perfect gear set-up is fun though. Thanks for all the input so far. Cheers

Exactly. Buy all of them.

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[COwineguy]

I picked up the 12's I have four hunts planned from now until the end of January so I guess I will see which ones make the trips and hopefully get an idea of how I want to proceed with my optics set-up