Spotting scope for Elk

[snellpastor]

I am looking for a decent quality - but not too pricey spotting scope. Any recommendations?

 

[Railguner]

Give us a price range. RG

 

[Shane]

Welcome aboard JHO, snellpastor.

I'm not as familiar with some of the newer players on the scene as some folks here, but you might try Burris and Leupold scopes. They really are high quality and pretty affordable when compared to the pricing of Swaro, Zeiss, Leica...

 

[fdkay]

You may want to consider a good pair of Binos. They are a easier to carry around and quicker to deploy and usually result in less eye fatigue.

 

[snellpastor]

Railgunner,

I'm not going over $300, so I'm at the bottom of the price range. Just looking for the most bang for my buck. Often where we hunt, we can see into meadows up on some of the mountains 3-5 miles away. I'm looking for something to just do some glassing with from long range.

 

[quack_head]

Burris Landmark Spotting Scope

Bushnell Trophy Spotting Scopes

They are all under 300.00. Not bad. You get 300.00 worth. Use a tall tripod. I have a Bushnell. I use it to look at ducks before duck season. I like binos for big game. Much easier to glass.

 

[Quacker Wacker]

I have, with succes, used this inexpensive spotter, that happens to be fairly lightweight and built fairly ruggedly:

http://www.opticsplanet.net/bushnell-15-45...pe-781548p.html

First let me warn that I am not recommending any particular outfit to buy it from, this is just where I found a pic and price.

I have used this scope for 4 years in my new home state of Idaho. 35 years in California didn't really warrant it. I am already upgrading to a Zeiss Spotter, and have also added Swaro bino's(8x and 15x). Here in Idaho you have to glass up to 3 miles, and be able to judge.

If your goal is to find animals, especially only up to about a mile, I would get binocs first. If you want to look up to 2 miles or Judge in decent light up to 1 mile, then this scope will work. The other thing about this scope is if you end up upgrading in the future to a large quality spotter, this will make a nice backup, especially for when you want to pack a spotter.