Looking for a good spotting scope for elk, moose and sheep.

Max budget is $800

Good & spotting scope & $800 - do those words go together?

Just kidding- sort of. I was in your position for years. Looking for a spotting scope I could afford. I never looked though affordable glass that I was impressed enough with to drop cash on.

Why are you looking for a spotter, may I ask? What type of hunting are you doing?

Unless you are trying to pick animals apart, judging a 320 vs 340 bull at long distances, I have moved on from the mindset that you need a spotter. I use a spotter on pronghorn hunts and when hunting bulls in a certain area (that is sort of Jurassic Park of elk)- but only because we are truly searching for a trophy.

The vast majority of the time, a good pair of 15x or 16x binos allows me to find way more animals when glassing, and has plenty of magnification at distance to decide on wether a stalk is worth it or not. I greatly prefer my 15x's to a spotter in most situations.

In your budget, I would seriously consider a pair of higher powered binos.

Sully Dog said:

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Looking for a good spotting scope for elk, moose and sheep.

Max budget is $800

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https://www.ebay.com/itm/393484939330

Sully Dog said:

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Looking for a good spotting scope for elk, moose and sheep.

Max budget is $800

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In all seriousness, I recommend you keep saving and shopping eBay, Marketplace, etc. But, you will never regret it if you buy a top quality scope (Swarovski, Zeiss, etc.). Yes they are expensive but you'll never buy another and always be content with it.

If you buy an $80@ scope, and you are a hunter, one day you'll buy another anyway.

What size spotting scope do you want?

Vortex Viper HD is at your budget. Great spotting scope.

Vortex Optics Viper HD Spotting Scopes https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002CK6CH6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_PGAYMTP825RTZF9J9H1D?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I agree with you....To me....everyone that hunts elk or sheep at altitude wants a lightweight rifle. You can find them at a weight of a tad over #5....put a sling on it and a quality scope and you are going to be approaching #7

A high end Swarovski spotting scope is #3 plus....add a tripod and they are useless to me w/o one and it's more weight....can't leave w/o your binos...another #1.5. All of a sudden you are approaching toting the equivalent of two rifles.

They are great for pre season scouting where we elk hunt in Colorado but when the season is open it's binos.

My wife and I do a lot of outdoor wildlife viewing. For example, Yellowstone bears and wolves. She's also a birder.

Suppose your budget is larger, say $2500-3000 and you wanted a spotter. Or a top end set of binocs.

I've looked at Vortex Viper and Razor spotters and Swaro EL 10x42 binocs. And Swaro spotters.

What's your preference?

What would be

In this price range, I would look at what Vortex has to offer. If it's something you plan to pack in, I wouldn't go with anything larger than the 65 mm. And a spotter will only be helpful if you have a good tripod and a good tripod head. Frankly, I think the tripod is a better first purchase because it can really improve the effectiveness of your binoculars. It has surprised me how much more effective glassing is with my binoculars on a tripod.

I have the Vortex Razor HD 22-48x65. New, it's a little out of your price range. One of these days I'll upgrade to alpha glass, but the Vortex has served me well so far on the couple of western hunts I've done. I previously had a Leupold compact (I think it was the 15-30x50), and the Razor was a substantial upgrade.

My favorite is the Vortex Razor HD 11-33x50mm weighing in at 2 pounds.

They are ~$700 new and can be found on forums like rokslide.com for less than $500 used.

https://www.amazon.com/Vortex-Optics-Razor-Spotting-Scopes/dp/B082W5SSGR

This one might be available:
https://www.rokslide.com/forums/threads/wts-vortex-razor-hd-11-33-x50-straight-spotting-scope.219805/

I read about it first here:
https://www.rokslide.com/vortex-lightweight-spotter/

For what its worth, I will trade the uber big objective lens and maybe some zoom range in order to not kill myself carrying it.

Leupold 15-30x

I know it's just a lowly Leupold, which isn't the belle of the ball on this board - but I have nothing but great things to say about mine. Clear glass, fairly light (light enough to toss in a day pack so you can use it), compact but has decent magnification.

You want quality of glass over magnification with a spotting scope. A buddy of mine has a older, and much cheaper, Redfield spotting scope that I believe is 45x magnification - but you can see more through mine than his because even though mine is only 30x, the glass is 100x better and images further out are much clearer. Hell, even at the range it is better than his IMO because you can see your target way better through mine than his.

So fun fact I got a Swaro ATS for under $1,000 from Cabela's bargain cave a few years ago! I always loved visiting the bargain cave!

cledus6150 said:

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So fun fact I got a Swaro ATS for under $1,000 from Cabela's bargain cave a few years ago! I always loved visiting the bargain cave!

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That's where I got my Leupold - $299. Couldn't pass it up.