15x binos vs 65mm spotter

[Gatorgrizz27]

I currently run Zeiss Conquest HD 10x42’s with a bino adapter, which are all I need for my general hunting here in FL. We hunted elk in CO this year and I was able to clearly see cows out past a mile. Getting out around two miles, I was only able to tell which were bulls when they were silhouetted on the ridge line.

I probably wouldn’t carry more than those binos for elk, but I do plan to hunt aoudad, mule deer, caribou, and black bears, I’ll likely never get to go on an unguided sheep hunt where I’m judging full curls. It’s not going to be practical for me to own 8,10,12,15x binos, and 65 and 85mm spotters, and we generally backpack in so weight is a major concern.

I understand that guys are using 15x binos to find game and spotters to judge game, but I’m looking for a bit of both. I’m not going to pass up a buck because he is 10” smaller than I’d like, but I do need to be able to see more detail than 10x binos provide, and don’t know if 15’s will be a massive difference.

My primary hunting parter also carries 10x binos and will buy a spotter at some point as well, so one of us carrying a scope and one carrying bigger binos seems ideal. The Zeiss Conquest 15x56’s and 65mm Diascope are both around $1,500 and close in weight with the binos being slightly heavier.

The other cheap/light option is the Zeiss tripler on my 10x binos for taking a quick look, but I’m not sure if it provides a clear enough image to be useful or is more of a gimmick. It wouldn’t be used for looking through over any length of time and I understand the exit pupil will be very small.

If you guys were wanting to add one of them to your setup for all around hunting, which would it be? Thanks.

 

[MikeStrong]

If you are always going to hunt with your partner, when they are needed one of you could carry 15x binos and a 65mm spotter, while the other carries 10x binos and an 80mm or bigger spotter. You can split some other items to even out the weight and have all the bases covered for whatever you run into.

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[FlyGuy]

When hunting as a team, both with 10x on your necks, one with 15x and the other with a spotter... that is a great combo and ideal to me in any glassing heavy situation. (I added meopta meoStar 15x and a Kowa 77 spotter this year myself, but I've rarely carried both due to the weight)

The other option is to only carry 12x binos and spotter. I'm considering adding a nice pair of 12x to my kit down the road but still recovering from my 2018 optics splurge.



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[Gatorgrizz27]

Thanks for the replies. Carrying two spotters between us won’t be worth it in any situation I can imagine. I agree that each of us having our 10x binos, plus a pair of 15’s and a spotter between us is likely the way to go.

Leaning towards grabbing the spotter first as it seems more versatile.

 

[mcseal2]

I've owned a lot of optics and sold most of them after getting my system down. I had a Swaro 80mm and 65mm spotter plus a Nikon ED50 spotter. All good to great glass, but not all were needed for what I do.

In the future I will carry 10x42 Leica Geovid HD-B binos with a tripod adapter and a 55mm Kowa 554 spotter for elk or antelope. I will use a Promaster 525 tripod with an Outdoorsmans head to stabilize them. I'll use the Outdoorsmans rifle rest for my gun on that same tripod if I can't shoot from prone over the pack.

For deer I want my 15x binos. I carry 15x56 Swaros with an Outdoorsmans adapter for my tripod. I love what I can see with a perfectly steady set of 15's. My buddy I hunt with carries an 80mm Swaro spotter so I understand what you are saying for a buddy system. It works well.

He also carries Zen Ray Prime 8x42 binos in his harness to go with his Swaro 80mm spotter and Sirui tripod on all our hunts. I almost always still carry my 55mm Kowa spotter. That way if we split up I can still use my spotter to evaluate game I find with my binos. That spotter with it's stay-on case is 33.5oz, so it's hard to leave it at home if I'm packing the tripod. The only time I do is if I know I won't need to look further than binos off the tripod will let me. The 10x Leica Geovid HD- binos always go, but if the 15x Swaros on the tripod are plenty of magnification the spotter stays home. The Swaro 15's and adapter are about 11oz heavier than the Kowa spotter, case, and adapter.

 

[tdhanses]

I say neither and get a Kowa 55 series spotter, weighs less then both options and will extend your range out to close to a 65mm spotter. Glass with your binos but check out animals or whatever you’re curious about with this.

 

[TheCougar]

thats a tough call, because you aren’t hunting anything specific. In general, 8/15 or 10/15 with a 65mm spotter will be sufficient in almost every scenario you will ever find yourself in. If you are coues or aoudad hunting, 15s are a must, in my opinion. The other thing to consider is how often do you plan on looking through a spotter? Some guys can look through a spotter for hours, but some can’t. I only break out my spotter when necessary, and then only long enough to see what I need to see, then it’s back to binos. I don’t look for animals with my spotter, I only look AT them after I find them with binos. Sheep hunters are notorious for primarily glassing with a spotter, due to the size of the country they hunt. Regardless, it is better to save your money and buy the absolute best than to skimp. You will enjoy it and be more successful in the long run. Case in point- on a recent NM Aoudad hunt, I was using 15 SLCs and the the clarity and color of the image more than made up for the loss of magnification over my Razor 65mm. As a result, the only time the Razor was used was to digiscope. Don’t underestimate the value and versatility of excellent glass. I’m sure if I had an ATS or ATX or Kowa that I would have used it more. I’m generally a cheap ass, but I now own two sets of Swaros after learning this lesson the hard way. If you are buying 15s, I don’t think there is anything better than SLCs. If you are getting a spotter, there are a few more options that I have heard are as good or better than the ATS/X, but I can’t vouch either way for those spotters.

 

[MTElkChaser]

thats a tough call, because you aren’t hunting anything specific. In general, 8/15 or 10/15 with a 65mm spotter will be sufficient in almost every scenario you will ever find yourself in. If you are coues or aoudad hunting, 15s are a must, in my opinion. The other thing to consider is how often do you plan on looking through a spotter? Some guys can look through a spotter for hours, but some can’t. I only break out my spotter when necessary, and then only long enough to see what I need to see, then it’s back to binos. I don’t look for animals with my spotter, I only look AT them after I find them with binos. Sheep hunters are notorious for primarily glassing with a spotter, due to the size of the country they hunt. Regardless, it is better to save your money and buy the absolute best than to skimp. You will enjoy it and be more successful in the long run. Case in point- on a recent NM Aoudad hunt, I was using 15 SLCs and the the clarity and color of the image more than made up for the loss of magnification over my Razor 65mm. As a result, the only time the Razor was used was to digiscope. Don’t underestimate the value and versatility of excellent glass. I’m sure if I had an ATS or ATX or Kowa that I would have used it more. I’m generally a cheap ass, but I now own two sets of Swaros after learning this lesson the hard way. If you are buying 15s, I don’t think there is anything better than SLCs. If you are getting a spotter, there are a few more options that I have heard are as good or better than the ATS/X, but I can’t vouch either way for those spotters.

This is good, sound advice. ^^^

I bought the Swarovski 15x56 SLC’s after borrowing a pair for years. I looked through a lot of glass and couldn’t find anything better - some were close, but certainly not better. The 15x56’s mounted to a stable tripod are unbelievable. I only break out my spotter when it’s time to decide on a bull and if it’s worth it for me to pursue. I’d say a pair of quality 15x56 binos and a quality 65mm spotter and you guys will be in business. Weight seems to be a concern, so I’d say stick with the 65mm although I prefer an 80mm myself which is only a few ounces heavier. Good luck!

 

[Hatchet Jack]

12x50 EL and a good spotting scope.

 

[duckhunter175]

If you both already are running quality binos but you don't hunt out west every year or several times per year you may want to consider renting the optics you need for the trips you actually book. Then you don't have the sunk cost of a $2k spotter or binos sitting in your safe. AND you can try some different combos and see what works for your eyes and your style of hunting.

I've chased the ideal set up around and around. Slowly upgrading the quality of my optics-- I've finally settled into an annual hunting routine with trips planned 2-3 years in advance and at least 1-2 western hunts per year. For my style I run 10x42ELs with a Zeiss Dialyt spotter when I really need to reach out for eyes on. This works bc the species I chase changes from year to year- whereas the dedicated Coues hunters I know swear by 15x56SLC because they can spend hours behind the glass meticulously picking apart ground with the extra magnification.

There's definitely been an increase in guys running the 12x ELs in lieu of an 8 or 10x PLUS the 15s. Something I may check out in the future but be warned- once you put Swaro glass side by side it becomes an expensive proposition!

 

[AZ Ron]

For me personally, I use 8's around my neck (8x42 geovids) and have 15's and a tripod in my pack. I personally can't stand looking through a spotter for more than a few minutes, and the ability to use 2 eyes with 15's I feel like outperforms using a spotter on 30-45x with one eye. I've been using this system for over 10 years hunting elk, mule deer, and coues deer. If I'm hunting with a buddy, they usually have a spotter that we use for closer evaluation of animals (if needed). Normally though with my 15's, I can judge whether a coues deer buck is a shooter (for me) or not. A few years ago I was hunting with a buddy who was using 10's. He could glass coues deer up with the 10's, but he'd wait on confirmation from me on whether it was a buck or not. If I was focused more on trophy hunting I'd be more apt to carry a spotter (in addition to the 15's), but for me it is more about finding animals than evaluating them.

 

[Forest]

Have any of you guys tried a phoneskope on 15's??? I am in a similar situation as the OP and hate packing a spotter to use just a couple times a hunt. Would the phoneskope add enough zoom on 15's for those "trophy" type hunts???

 

[Newtosavage]

This season, my buddy and I were able to tell bulls from cows (and legal bulls from non-legal bulls) from 2.4 miles away using my little Nikon ED50 spotter with a 17x eyepiece on it. We both found the elk with our 10x binocs on tripod adapters, and my bins were not quite Conquest HD quality (but close).

A few days earlier, I found a herd 3.2 miles away with my binoculars, and could tell bulls from cows pretty easily. Not silhouetted either.

Out of curiosity, I measured those distances with my OnX app. I was surprised at the distance.

I don't feel like I need any more spotter or binocs, but the idea of 15x bins on a tripod does appeal to me. Especially from a truck window mount, which is where I seem to find most of my elk each year. I wouldn't pack them over my ED50, but I would keep them in the truck.

After four seasons in a lot of different conditions, I'm completely happy with my 10x42 / ED50 combination. It takes care of just about every need I encounter.

 

[Gatorgrizz27]

Thanks for the latest input, looks like most of y’all are on the same page as me. Quality over quantity, and glassing with binos rather than a spotter.

I imagine I’ll eventually end up with both 15x binos as well as a compact spotter. I have heard things about the compact Kowa’s, it’s hard to know whether it is just great for it’s size class or truly better than other alpha 65mm scopes from reading reviews though.

Renting stuff would be nice to be able to try it in the field, but without other references I don’t know that it’s worth it. I’m not going to rent 2-3 spotting scopes and carry them all on a hunt, and I’m sure whatever top level glass I rented would be sufficient. Being that I expect western hunts to happen annually for quite some time, I’d rather put the $ into glass I’ll own instead. It’s not so much that spending some money is a problem, it’s more that I can’t justify having a ton of different optics for every situation one is likely to encounter.