Spotting scope: why you need it?

 

I use binoculars far and away the most of anything outside my eyes and feet when hunting, so I expect most from them.  My next concern is the spotter.  In my case, I like to hunt high desert Mule Deer and distances can get to be long.  So when I have a spotter it needs to be good enough (at least on par quality wise) with my binoculars as I will be able to use 40x, or more in right conditions.  My last optical concern is the scope.  I will take a rugged, reliable, repatable scope with adequate optics over less solid build and a sharper image.  YMMV. I spend only minutes behind a riflescope, days behind binoculars and hours (or at least fewer days) behind the spotter.  I usually find objects or places of interest with the binocular and pick it apart with the spotter.  Usually, not always .  The spotter is really useful at the range too.  For what this is worth, when I am going to be out all day and weight is a concern, I usually (almost always) do not have a spotter, even in the Sage and Juniper distances.

 

I'd sit on a hill top and use bino's to find animals.  Once I found a somewhat decent buck, I'd use the spotting scope to help me decide if I needed to walk the 1-2 miles to where he was.  Sometimes I made the decision to go 1/2 the discance and look again with the spotter. 

 

Once you've found a decent buck, use the binos to figure out a good stalk route.

 

if you get hung up and can't get any closer, a good range finder to find the distance, then a good scope to make the shot.

 

To clarify myself a little, my quoted response above was considering your thinking you maybe did not want to pack much more stuff.  If that is the case, good binoculars first.  But if you are away from camp and do not want to walk yourself to death, then a good spotter is more than useful.