Optics for Aoudad Hunt

[kesha]

Upcoming Aoudad hunt and cant decide it upgrade to 15x56 Binos or buy Spotting scope and take 10x42 Binos.
Area of hunt is mountainous with deep canyons and valleys in West Texas. I have looked and looked and thought I would reach out to my fellow AH family and see if I can get some input from and experienced Mountain man. lol My thoughts are for 15x 56 Binos Swarovski or new Leupolds ( I know the quality difference in the 2 are not equal but advise from someone who may own them would be nice)
I use a pair of Swarovski 10x42 SLC when hunting. Spotting Scopes I have been looking at the Swarovski and the Leupold Kenai model. Bought the wife a pair of the Vortex binos $300 models (bought offline) my mistake as they are terrible , guess I will trade them for a pack of gum someday. So with that said I am not a big fan of Vortex. Thanks for any and all help. Decisions decisions.

 

[BRICKBURN]

If you are familiar with your 10x42's (lots of experience) just add to the arsenal.
Get a great Spotting scope.
After you see a possibility with the bino's, home in with a great spotting scope to assess the trophy. It will save you a lot of miles.

You already learned the lesson about buying crappy glass.
Get the best you can afford.

 

[Ryan]

Going over 10x tends to get too blurry just because of your own small movements that are magnified. While on a javelina hunt in Arizona my guide used 10x Swarovski binocs on a tripod with a mount made&sold by

https://outdoorsmans.com.

He makes his money finding brown animals in a brown landscape and swears by putting those binocs on a tripod to get a clearer view and being able to smoothly move his view. Amazing how helpful that was. Even more so if you go to 15X. I actually own Vortex Razor binocs in 10X with a mount for the tripod and love them. But I agree about their lower end products, I'm not impressed.
I have hunted Dall sheep in Alaska and know a few others who do. We stick with 10X binocs and a good spotting scope. I own a so-so lower end Nikon spotting scope for the range, but used a friends very good Leica scope on my hunt and it was crisp and clear allowing us to really look over rams minutely once we found them.

 

[Edge]

Upcoming Aoudad hunt and cant decide it upgrade to 15x56 Binos or buy Spotting scope and take 10x42 Binos.
Area of hunt is mountainous with deep canyons and valleys in West Texas. I have looked and looked and thought I would reach out to my fellow AH family and see if I can get some input from and experienced Mountain man. lol My thoughts are for 15x 56 Binos Swarovski or new Leupolds ( I know the quality difference in the 2 are not equal but advise from someone who may own them would be nice)
I use a pair of Swarovski 10x42 SLC when hunting. Spotting Scopes I have been looking at the Swarovski and the Leupold Kenai model. Bought the wife a pair of the Vortex binos $300 models (bought offline) my mistake as they are terrible , guess I will trade them for a pack of gum someday. So with that said I am not a big fan of Vortex. Thanks for any and all help. Decisions decisions.

Do a google search on the 15x Swarovski’s, some reliability issues reported by a few people that have used them.

 

[AustinL]

I would stick with your 10x42’s for binos and add a good quality spotting scope with tripod. You will spend a lot of time behind glass locating animals and that is where the spotter will be nice the 10x42’s will be much more handy during the actual stalk.

 

[stug]

Don't Swarovski USA have a rent a binocular/spotting scope system. Perfect if you only need them for one hunt.

 

[Bullthrower338]

You will find the 15x56 Swarovski Bino much more useful than a spotting scope. A pair of 15’s on a tripod are unbelievable.
I grew up hunting in thick timber in NW Montana, never had good glass until I moved to New Mexico and Arizona. After the first season I bought quality glass! I started with 10x42 SLC on tripod and started seeing more animals. The next year I bought 15x SLC and it was an eye opener to see what I had been missing.
I then bought a Swarovski Spotting scope, I was disappointed with it for locating game. It is wonderful for judging trophy quality but I just don’t like glassing a grid with it mainly because of the smaller field of view compared to the 15’s. Both have their place but I have found the 15x56 binos get much more use and was more useful per dollar spent. Don’t get me wrong, there have been many times I have wished I had my spotter and 30x magnification to make a call.
My 15x56’s have been serving me since 1999 without issue. Having dealt with Swarovski customer service and the way I was treated they have a customer for life.
Cheers,
Cody

 

[Patton63]

I went through a similar analysis in conjunction with shooting PRS rifle matches. I was really surprised by how much I liked using 15x binocs on a tripod. The field of view was better and the stability of using a tripod enhances what you can see. I was able to see Bullet splash and call adjustments on shots out to 600 yards pretty easily. In most situations, my spotter stayed in my pack.

 

[JGRaider]

Love using 15x binos on a tripod for sure. I've hunted and killed aoudad for over 30 years now, and there will likely be lots of walking/stalking. I like to use my 10x42's and a Meopta S2 spotter. I've had many spotting scopes side by side with the S2 and the only thing better (slightly I might add) is the new Swaro modular units, which are very expensive. I put the S2 above the Leice, Kowa, and Zeiss offereings.

 

[wesheltonj]

I would take your 10x42's and rent a spotting scope. There is a place that will rent you a Swaro Spotting Scope.

http://www.optics4rent.com/productdetail2.html

Leica below:
https://explore-rentals1.pointofrentalcloud.com/portal/item/Leica Televid 82 Spotting Scope/574596

 

[Dr Ray]

I agree w Brickburn and AustinL and Bullthrower 338 has some valid points too.

 

[1dirthawker]

i think the distance one is glassing has a lot to do with the power of the binocular. as stated above, for locating an animal, binoculars are far superior to a spotting scope. then, when you have found the animal, zoom in and judge/assess the beast with a spotting scope. you WILL save yourself lots of walking with a good spotting scope.

regarding 10 or 15x binoculars; i had my eyes opened this season to the possibilities of a 15x binocular ON A TRIPOD. when hunting brown bears, we will glass and spot them at over 2 miles away. we had a couple of hunters/clients from utah that both had 15x swarovski binos on a tripod. i have never hunted with anyone before that spotted so much game!

the distances and country is big and those guys did a great job spotting all kinds of game. in a situation with closer cover, 10x is probably better, but for long range looking, i am a new believer in 15x binocs. good luck with your search.

 

[Buckdog]

Agree with brickburn 100%. Glass with the 10x42's and get the best variable mag spotting scope you can afford. When it comes to hunting the mountains nothing like good glass to save boot leather and wasted time and not being able to spot the animals. Mountain hunting is all about spending hours and days glassing. Personally I use Leica and swaro glass, both are outstanding. Vortex isn't even close to them nor is leupold. For customer service nobody beats swaro and customer service isn't Leica's strong suit. I assume you have a range finder? In todays world I would suggest ranging binos too either leica or swaro. 15x bino great on a tripod for long range glassing but PIA to carry and not really enough mag to judge trophy quality far out.

 

[Red Leg]

I am not dragging 15x binos up a mountain. My 10x ranging finding Leica’s are perfect for that. A first quality spotting scope is still needed to evaluate the difference between a 28 and thirty-inch ram when making the decision to make a climb. Carrying two instruments that require tripods seems a little nuts - particularly if a real climb or hike are in the offing. Normally, usually, most of the time a good guide will have a spotting scope on the hunt (though all too often not of the best quality). I am typing this from British Columbia and my guide is loving my Swarovski spotting scope in lieu of his Bushnell. Neither of us haul the things up the mountain for an actual stalk. Both of us are then carrying first class range finding 10x binos.