Mule Deer - Western SD Optics question
General Topic
My dad, son and I are headed to western South Dakota this year for archery spot and stalk mule deer. I have a question in regards to optics. I have Swarovski 8x32 EL's that I absolutely love. We are not trophy hunting, just looking for decent bucks. Should I spend the money for a spotting scope to use for 2 weeks a year? Do I buy high power (12x/15x) bino's to use for 2 weeks a year? Or go with what I have as it doesn't matter?
Your thoughts are greatly appreciated!
Thanks Steve
Based on your desired hunt experience I don’t see why you would need one but it’s up to you.
Sounds like a great 3 generational hunt. Good for you!
Bigger glass certainly wouldn't hurt, mainly bigger objectives for low light, but I definitely wouldn't buy a set for one hunt.
Steve - I hunt probably very similar terrain in SW MT. It is the one place that I hunt that I always have a spotting scope along. You can see deer at 3-4 miles with binoculars but will have trouble telling if it is a 2x2 or 4x4 at that range (or quite a bit less) - sometimes even if it is a buck! It will save a lot of walking only to find a small buck.
But, I use the spotting scope for birding and then leave it with my pop for him to watch the deer on his farm. Some of the cost is used throughout the year for me.
I would not hunt without my spotter. I would rather have that than bino’s here chasing mule deer.
I keep the 12x15 on me all the time . It's my all around glass. For this type of terrain I'd pull out the 20××56 kaibabs.
The thing about hunting on the prairie or badlands is you can see very far. There are plenty of times I am glassing deer a couple of miles away or more. At them distances your 8’s won’t be much good. Like Brotsky said I would rather have my spotter then binocs.
I also believe it’s easier to digiscope with a tripod and spotter as well. That is if your in wildlife photography while your hunting.
While you can see deer in obvious locations with binos, bedded bucks and those in the shade are where you need the spotter. Buy a medium price scope plus a window mount and tripod. You won't regret it. I've hunted that area several times and a scope sure is a great addition.
Aren't there places where you could rent a spotter? Or consider looking for a used Nikon 13-30 ED spotter. I bought one for $400 last year, and love it.
If it would mean being successful or not I will buy a Swarovski Spotter. However, if it is only to judge the size of the buck it would not be needed. Where we are hunting it is fairly narrow badland ditches surrounded by prairie. The buck seem to feed through the sage and bed in the badland ditches which makes it almost impossible to watch them bed. That is the part that is making me wonder if I either need to get a spotter or get down in there and still hunt those ditches with my 8x's? My 13 year old son shot a decent 3x3, however it was one of very few that we seen bed and actually stalk. We seen a bunch of deer, but would loose them in the ditches and couldn't see them bed. We did not however get aggressive and get in there to find them as we are from WI and that was our first trip.
Thanks
I recently heard about a company renting all manner of high end optics. I can't remember the name though.
I would definitely recommend taking a spotting scope. It will help you find and judge deer that you will miss with your 8’s.
You don’t need a top end spotting scope, though. You don’t need to drop several thousand dollars on the top end glass to find lots of critters out west.
Leupold makes a great spotter that you can probably pick up used for reasonable. I have used Nikon and liked their scope as well. I have no experience with vortex but that may be ok. Leupold has been excellent for me on any warranty or repairs over the years and I have had very few issues with any of those optics.
Get a window mount and good tripod. The tripod and good head is as much or more important than the optics. A Manfrotto carbon tripod that you can stand behind with a pan head is awesome... but pricey.
Good luck!
There are places that I would not go without a spotter and the spotter would make up for the magnification shortfall. If you buy the 12 Xs then they probably fall into the same category as the spotter being used a couple of weeks a year since you probably don’t need 12s in Wisconsin.
I've hunted area that sounds similar to yours in sw SD. Creeping the gulleys and peeking around was exciting, especially when they blew out mere feet away. Lots of action and fun. Ended up shooting a doe at about 10 feet.
I would not drop a lot of money on new binocs, or any money for that matter You have very good optics If you were looking for full curl rams at 800 yards, the answer would be different
Using your eyes will save your feet and legs for when you need them. Know what you're going after before you go after it.Get the spotter.
I hunt desert with 10x42's, Zeiss 15x56's and an 85mm Diascope. The 15's get used a lot but if I had to choose between them and the spotter it would be the spotter hands down. You can find deer easily enough with the 15's but need that extra magnification to pick one apart 2-3 miles out. In poor light the spotter gives just a bit more definition than the others. Sometimes it's the difference between seeing a deer and passing over one that is bedded in shade.
I myself would never leave home without my binos plus spotter. My preference is 8 or 10 x 42s and a high quality spotter. I've never been a fan of larger (12's or 15x) binos and would rather use 8 or 10's for spotting game and a spotter for sizing them up. The 8 or 10's are lighter weight, less bulky, and there's a lot bigger difference between the power of your binos and spotter. It's possible to spot an ear or antler at super long range that isn't possible with even 15x binos.
As mentioned above a spotter will save you miles upon miles of hiking trying to find and size up game. It's also super nice being able to evaluate and judge game. If you ever hunt sheep, mtn goat, or antelope it is nearly impossible to field judge them without a good spotter. When an 8" mtn goat is considered small and a 9" billy big, it's pretty tough to tell the difference with binos! Same thing is true with antelope when trying to figure out if a buck has 6 1/2 or 7" bases, 5 or 7" prongs, 14 or 15" long horns. I guess if you are a meat hunter it really doesn't matter and you can get by with a decent pair of binos!
You can likely pick up an almost new pair of binos and spotter on Ebay, Craigslist, classified sections on Rokslide or other websites. Another option is to buy 20 or 25% off gift certificates for Cabelas on ebay to use on Swaros or any binos they sell. There are lots of great online deals for new or nearly new optics.
With that said, I would think of optics as a lifetime investment. Well worth the $ if you scout and hunt on an annual basis!
Bought my swaro scope back when I started hunting NE Montana. Saves me a lot of time chasing bucks I would not shoot. I have found plenty of uses for it since, like scouting. Course, I bought mine back when they weren't much over $1000...
