Best Glass Situation for High Country

[EC4reel]

Looking for some advice on what you think is the best glass combo (bino power, spotter power) for the high country?

Current Glass situation for myself: crappy 10X42 Binos, crappy 12-40 spotter on crappy tripod, nice Rangefinder, decent rifle scope.

I'm planning on proposing an upgrade to the spotter to my boss. I'm just not sure thats the right move. Would it be wiser to upgrade my Binos?

 

[Solitude]

If I were in your situation I would upgrade the binos. Think about the way you hunt and where you hunt. In some locations I hunt, the scope stays in my pack virtually all day and I simply use my 10x42's to spot bucks relatively close. Other days I break out the scope to dial in on a distant deer to confirm he his worth going after. But for me, typically I am not glued to the scope all day and leaving the binos in my pack. Just my 2cents

 

[Craig Van Arsdale]

Upgrade the Binos first and buy a good tripod to mount them on. Then save for the spotter. Binos on a tripod will help you spot more game guaranteed.

 

[Muledeernv]

Bino first for sure then save for scope.if you can't see good up close you will walk through good country or just not see what is there.

 

[dotman]

Binos first for sure.

 

[boom]

no doubt. binos first.

buy good ones too! i once sacrificed my left lung hiking up a 45 degree slope. for a long time. we had to move from tree to tree to not slide sometimes. it was ugly.

we got to the top, (it was the day before the season opener) and started scanning for a buck we saw earlier from a even further slope. i had "decent" pentax glass. buddy had Swarvos. i didnt find crap. he utters.."got him"..with the depleting light, i couldnt find it. he had to hand me his in order for me to see that whopper.

lessoned learned. in the high country, where it can take considerable effort to get to a spot..you want every advantage to see something. i started saving the day that hunt ended.

 

[Shrek]

I'd do really good binoculars long before I'd consider a scope. Swarovski EL's , SCL's , Meopta HD's ect. You can resolve a lot with binoculars on a tripod.

 

[Matt W.]

For this "High Country" I run Cabela's 12x50 Binos with a Swaro ATS 20-60x60 spotter.
My buddy brings the Nikon 1000 range finder. We used to run the same binos, but he just picked up the Nikon Monarch 7 10x30s to save some weight. I love my big binos, but it will be interesting to see how the Nikons compare.