Spotter vs Binoculars

[Jmoore]

I drew a late rifle tag in SE NM. Put in 3rd choice as a hailmary because the wife's family is from that area and I've spent some time there but it'll be the first time deer hunting it. It's sand dune country and my question is spotter vs binoculars for desert type hunts. I carry the spotter but usually find it stays in the pack and I'm behind the binoculars. Got a feeling I'll be covering some ground so trying to lighten the load and just looking to see what some of the other folks here prefer.
Thanks

 

[PathFinder]

Binos on a tripod when glassing under 1500 yards or so.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[JRMiller]

For backpacking hunts i’ve switched to just binos on tripod.
For a lot of guys the quality of animal theyre looking for determines what they take.
If your trying to make out tines long distance for its trophy quality then you'd want a spotter.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

While I love my STX, there's no way (outside of a catastrophic failure of my SLC 15s) I'd use it to glass from before dawn to dusk. That's what my SLC 15s are for and my STX is for clarification/confirmation.

 

[coloradocelt]

Depends on power of binoculars. 15 or 18 can sometimes replace a spotter, with tripod. Depends on how far you are looking and level of clarity.

 

[Jmoore]

All makes sense and I appreciate it. The more I think about it, I'm probably trying to cut weight in the wrong place here. Thanks guys

 

[huntnful]

15's on a tripod for sure. But if it's just marginal terrain and you care about the quality of the animal, bring both. That 3-4lbs of having a spotter in your pack could save you some long hikes to verify game.

 

[Firestone]

If your trophy hunting at all you should definitely bring the spotter. Long walks after small deer are not fun

 

[Nick Wysocki]

Open country I use 15s on a tripod and in timber county I use 10s and a spotter

 

[Newtosavage]

I drew a late rifle tag in SE NM. Put in 3rd choice as a hailmary because the wife's family is from that area and I've spent some time there but it'll be the first time deer hunting it. It's sand dune country and my question is spotter vs binoculars for desert type hunts. I carry the spotter but usually find it stays in the pack and I'm behind the binoculars. Got a feeling I'll be covering some ground so trying to lighten the load and just looking to see what some of the other folks here prefer.
Thanks

I almost don't even carry a spotter anymore. It just stays in my truck. I've found that a quality pair of bins on a quality support allow me to spot critters literally miles away. I've done it too many times now to deny what good bins, held steady, are capable of.

From the truck? Sure. I'll use the spotter to get a better look. But I went back to a heavier, larger objective spotter this year because I found that I didn't even use my ultralight ED50 much in the backcountry anymore.

 

[Newtosavage]

If your trophy hunting at all you should definitely bring the spotter. Long walks after small deer are not fun

Yup, this is the exception to my rule above. But I'm not a trophy hunter. Just need to know if they are legal or not, and I can tell that inside of a mile with my bins on a tripod.

 

[Fatcamp]

Made a couple long walks last year for does in front of dead branches. Found a fixed Leupold 20X60 and had them go through it. We shall see. Gonna start the season carrying them.

 

[WCB]

As most have stated...looking for a certain characteristic or size of buck (trophy) probably bring both. Just looking for a buck could probably get away with just binos. However there has never been a time I regretted bringing my spotter.

I know guys will also say out to a certain distance just use binos blah blah blah. There have been many times where either the light or the background the deer is in makes it almost impossible even with 12x on a tripod to figure out exactly what is going on even at fairly close range. Can tell frame is good but just can't figure the rest out. Not exactly trophy hunting but anything beyond if I see a buck I'm going to kill it.

I would say I am a fairly good at glassing and spotting but if deer are bedded in shadows or just certain terrain it can be very very hard to pick them out at 1,000-1,500 yards with binos even 15x IMO. I know a few times after a long time behind the binos I have thrown the spotter up and fairly quickly spotted a beam or tine or ear etc in a spot that even after knowing it is there was almost impossible to see with my binos.

Do a few more squats in the off season and bring both.

 

[eaglemountainman]

Like Firestone said, "Long walks after small deer are not fun."

I do 99% of my glassing behind a pair of 10.5X44s, either on a tripod or freehand. But before I commit to the end game, just to be certain, I'll pull out the spotter for a closer look. It's a Kowa 554, so even if it never comes out of my pack in 3-4 days, I'll never regret carrying that 28oz.

 

[JakeW]

Binoculars on a tripod with a small lightweight spotting scope in the backpack.

 

[gbugosh1]

I drew a late rifle tag in SE NM. Put in 3rd choice as a hailmary because the wife's family is from that area and I've spent some time there but it'll be the first time deer hunting it. It's sand dune country and my question is spotter vs binoculars for desert type hunts. I carry the spotter but usually find it stays in the pack and I'm behind the binoculars. Got a feeling I'll be covering some ground so trying to lighten the load and just looking to see what some of the other folks here prefer.
Thanks

A small 15x-45 doesn't weigh much and helps pick apart shaded areas in the day.

And binoculars speak for themselves.

Spent too much money to leave it at home!

 

[UTJL]

I went through this same decision earlier this year. My research and the advice I got reflects what everyone is saying, take a spotter if your trophy hunting, binoculars if you’re just looking for a good buck.

Sounds like you already have a spotter and binoculars, but there are several places you can reasonably rent some high quality optics for a specific hunt. I’ll be renting a spotter this year to help my dad on his Colorado unit 10 hunt.

Spotting Scopes – Rent Outdoor Gear

rentoutdoorgear.com

 

[longbarrel]

Another approach is to take advantage of Doug's sale ending today for the Kowa 553/554 (angled/straight) spotting scope at $1500. It has superb optics and very light weight. That means you can use a very light tripod and end up with a 4 lb. setup, with a scope giving up to 45 power.

My earlier spotter with tripod weighed over 8 lb. and generally lived in the truck because of the weight.