going sheep hunting need a spotting scope for long range use, under $1000 ???

Snowy River

Snowy River

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victoria BC
Does this exist ? looking to spend under a grand and get a scope i can use to spot sheep / goats with on this trip. looking for reviews and opinions on spotting scopes you guys have used .


cheers
 
Save up 1500 bucks and buy a Pentax 80ED. I have glassed summits 15 km away, there was nothing up there I could not see with an XW eyepiece attached.
 
Don't #### around with optics for a sheep hunt. Buy the best glass you can get your hands on that is still at a usable weight. There is no replacement for optical quality when the option is wearing out boot leather in order to get closer. Let the optics do the work rather than your feet. I've always liked the Leupold Gold Ring 12-40x due to it's size and weight. Kowa makes probably the best scopes on the market but they're heavy...in the 45-60oz range. But buy cheap glass at your own peril. I'd rather carry a bit more weight than walk where I don't need to...especially in sheep country.
 
BigUglyMan said:
Don't #### around with optics for a sheep hunt. Buy the best glass you can get your hands on that is still at a usable weight. There is no replacement for optical quality when the option is wearing out boot leather in order to get closer. Let the optics do the work rather than your feet. I've always liked the Leupold Gold Ring 12-40x due to it's size and weight. Kowa makes probably the best scopes on the market but they're heavy...in the 45-60oz range. But buy cheap glass at your own peril. I'd rather carry a bit more weight than walk where I don't need to...especially in sheep country.
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some additional very positive attributes of the GR 12-40x Leupold include being waterproof, fogproof, pretty good FOV and EXCELLENT eye relief - they are also tough and optically even the standard version is darn good for hunting. For longer term "viewing" as you may encounter ... an angled eyepiece would be nice though.
 
I have a zenray prime HD 82mm spotter, I bought it because they are fairly active answering questions on the birding/optics forums and seem to stand behind their stuff, well regarded lifetime warranty and I was assured it was a hassle free 30 day exchange period....my budget was 2k max without a tripod...so kowa, swaro, leica were a bit out of my reach at the time

I also put a vortex razor hd on the credit card and compared them side by side (albeit different tripods and mounts, but I did switch them around)....everybody looks through glass differently and perhaps a more technical eye could see what I couldn't, but to me the zenrays are optically identical, I couldn't tell them apart under any conditions, both are a decent product, I didn't weigh them on a kitchen scaled but they were close in weight in hand.....zen ray shipped to my door was about 1350, but our dollar is much worse now too...they were about 600 cheaper than the razor

the razor's went back to the store....I looked at game through some alpha glass while hunting in NZ and yes, there is a distinct noticeable difference there...but for mid priced glass I'm very happy with zenray ...they will cover my needs until I can upgrade to my "lifetime" spotter

and IMO a spotter is one piece of gear where I can justify carrying an extra 2 lbs, I'm young enough that weight isn't a criteria for me...I can make up by eating a few less burgers

spending the cash on a good tripod with a quality mount will make a huge difference in how you see things through your spotter too
 
Bc trapper said:
Really like my pentax 65ED for sheep/goat hunting. Pretty light scope, and good glass for the $$.
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This is the model I have, I paid under 1000$ with a 20-60 eyepiece. It's not huge and not heavy and I can see bullet holes at 400m on a good day. I also use it to watch deer across the valley from my house (600-1000m away?).
 
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