Spotting Scope for Mountain Hunting

[Rimbaud]

Fellow Hunters - I will be in the Carpathians next October to hunt chamois during the rut. I'd like to get a lightweight spotting scope, and would appreciate any recommendations from mountain hunters. I have Swaro 10x42 binos, and Leica 10x32 Geovids. The glass on both are great. It's so easy to get lost in a rat hole trying to compare glass so thanks in advance for sharing your experience. Thanks you.

 

[JimP]

Quite possibly your guide will have one so two may be one too many.

I know that on my coues deer hunt is southern Arizona my friend packed a spotter and I just had binoculars. But they were just 10x42 Swarovski's and I wished that they were 15x+

 

[Badjer]

I have hunted mountains but not chamois elevations. We only used 12x and 15x binos on these since we were still below timberline. I bought a Leupold Gold Ring 12-40 x 60 for future trips, but admit I haven't used it on a hunt yet.

 

[WAB]

Fellow Hunters - I will be in the Carpathians next October to hunt chamois during the rut. I'd like to get a lightweight spotting scope, and would appreciate any recommendations from mountain hunters. I have Swaro 10x42 binos, and Leica 10x32 Geovids. The glass on both are great. It's so easy to get lost in a rat hole trying to compare glass so thanks in advance for sharing your experience. Thanks you.

I’d consider using Swarovski SLC 15x56 from a tripod. I use them for Coues hunting. You can stay on the glass a lot longer with the bino’s and the definition a mile or more out is pretty amazing.

 

[AimSmall]

Quality binos like those will let you find them, the spotting scope gets enough detail to decide whether to pursue. I'm a big fan of the swarovski.

 

[Goat416]

I'm a big fan of the Swarovski spotting scopes, make sure you get a good stable carbon fiber tripod with a solid head. There is nothing more frustrating sitting on a windy ridge with a vibrating scope making it difficult to judge animals. For the mountains weight matters so I wouldn't necessarily go with the BTX and a 115mm objective, but an angled eyepiece like the ATX with an 85mm objective will be worth the extra weight and you can always get a second objective down the road for the truck hunts.

 

[Badjer]

I have hunted mountains but not chamois elevations. We only used 12x and 15x binos on these since we were still below timberline. I bought a Leupold Gold Ring 12-40 x 60 for future trips, but admit I haven't used it on a hunt yet.

Quality binos like those will let you find them, the spotting scope gets enough detail to decide whether to pursue. I'm a big fan of the swarovski.

As AimSmall said, binos to help find them, which is what the hunter usually does. A tripod is useful with binos as well. My thought is if a big spotter is needed, the guide will probably have one. They are the ones largely deciding if the animal you see is one worth pursuing. On one hunt my guide had his in the truck and only set it up twice. The call is yours... JMHO

 

[wesheltonj]

Just returned from the Julian Alps in Slovenia hunting Chamois. My guide had a Swaro CTC spotting scope. I would not recommend hauling one around.

Swarovski CTC Spotting Scope 30 x 75 - Trustach Shooting Supplies

Swarovski OptiksRead More >

www.trustachshootingsupplies.com

 

[brym427]

I dont know how lightweight you need but i love my kowa tsn884. I have magnesium legs for it but you could go carbon fiber and save even more weight

 

[Topshots]

Happy Kowa 554 user here. I upgraded from a lower quality 65mm spotter for weight savings. It suits me well because I typically hike in miles and don't scan/grid with my spotter, only use it to confirm animals found with my 10x binos.