A small spotting scope

I would hope your guide would have a quality spotting scope, you two working together him on the scope and you on the binos should be able to cover a lot of ground.

Hey Doug, how's it going? Mike Cantor here.
Hey guys, i highly recommend doing business with Doug Paymer and the folks at Cameraland Sports optics. They are ultimately reliable with great prices and they stand behind their sales & products. Doug has great insight on optics. They sell all the best and he will let you know whats best for your needs and budget. Been using them over 15 years. All the best. Mike

wildcat westerner said:

Hello,
At the ridiculous age of 76, after recovering from both Cancer, a Heart attack, with disabilities to my ankle, I have drawn a Barbary sheep hunt around the Mescalero Apache reservation. Since I am retired I shall be on this hunt till succesfull or for the three week period. This 6.5 Sherman rifle I am working with will be ideal in terms of flat trajectory and high resistance to the winds effects.
I see my problems as conditioning and also obtaining a quite small spotting scope of good quality. I already have binocular/rangefinders and simply want greater magnification because I have been told to expect to walk between 5 and 14 miles a day.
I know good "glass" can cost a fortune, if anyone is aware of a good answer to the challenge of size, magnification, and focus and also cost, please feel free to inform me. I have been spoiled by good glass and my spotting scope is battleship binoculars style with a Bogen tripod, so obviously it's not going very far from the pickup!

Thanks, in advance,

Wildcat westerner

Click to expand...

This may well be a controversial comment on my part, but here it is: If you have been so close to death from illness, and are in the twilight of your years as I am, recognizing how precious a thing life is every day - every sunrise, every sunset, every laugh, meal, and musical note - does it not strike you as just a touch incongruous that you would spend that precious time looking to kill another living thing that is not representing either a nuisance or a threat? Your post just struck me as odd. When younger, the same question applies, but the likelihood of needing a hunting skill for survival or to feed a family is much higher - so it is far more understandable. As we approach the final curtain - at least I find it true in my case - I find that I get great comfort from watching the celebration of life that is everywhere among living things. Please don't take this as an insult; it is only a reflection on the mystery of how we think.

I hunt Barbary on public land in NM. If they aren't pushed, they can be out in the open like antelope, but where I hunt, they are in the steep stuff. Quality of glass won't seem so important after carrying that scope up and down a few canyons. I carry 10x50 or 12x40 Steiner binoculars, and a cheap (more importantly LIGHT weight) fixed power 20x50 Burris. Tough, light, and enough. It is about 1/2 the weight of the Vortex. You'll need a light weight camera tripod. I use the lightest, cheapest one I can find. It is enough for 20 power. The tripods that come with most scopes are for benchrest. I like the straigt body scopes, because they are easier to aim. Usually, I spot them with the binos, and confirm with the spotting scope. I had a Swarovski 30x70 scope for a while, and I couldn't stand to carry it. My 7mm WSM Browning Ti weighs 6.5 lbs, with sling and scope. Go light, and carry lots of water. I carry 70 oz. in February, and sometimes wish for more. If I were willing to spend the money, I'd use 20x80 Steiner binos on a tripod. Much better than a mono scope. Steiner Predator binoculars bring out the red in the animals coat, and make them easier to spot. I'm only 65, so I'm imspired that you're going at 75. Good luck!

Michael Cantor said:

Hey Doug, how's it going? Mike Cantor here.
Hey guys, i highly recommend doing business with Doug Paymer and the folks at Cameraland Sports optics. They are ultimately reliable with great prices and they stand behind their sales & products. Doug has great insight on optics. They sell all the best and he will let you know whats best for your needs and budget. Been using them over 15 years. All the best. Mike

Click to expand...

Hey Mike,
All is grand. Eli turns 1 in May (can't believe it's almost a year) and all in all things are great.
We added Nightforce, Sig Sauer & Tangent Theta to the brands we are carrying now which is kinda exciting for us.
Hope all is well with you.

The more input the merrier and the wider choices can only help to make the final choice the very best one.

wildcat westerner said:

Hello,
At the ridiculous age of 76, after recovering from both Cancer, a Heart attack, with disabilities to my ankle, I have drawn a Barbary sheep hunt around the Mescalero Apache reservation. Since I am retired I shall be on this hunt till succesfull or for the three week period. This 6.5 Sherman rifle I am working with will be ideal in terms of flat trajectory and high resistance to the winds effects.
I see my problems as conditioning and also obtaining a quite small spotting scope of good quality. I already have binocular/rangefinders and simply want greater magnification because I have been told to expect to walk between 5 and 14 miles a day.
I know good "glass" can cost a fortune, if anyone is aware of a good answer to the challenge of size, magnification, and focus and also cost, please feel free to inform me. I have been spoiled by good glass and my spotting scope is battleship binoculars style with a Bogen tripod, so obviously it's not going very far from the pickup!

Thanks, in advance,

Wildcat westerner

Click to expand...

Hey Wildcat,
Vortex gives a 40% discount if Veteran and I believe firemen
and police.

I have the vortex razor 27-65x80 or close to that and wish I had the 11-33x50 razor for a backpacking scope. I wish you luck. For me researching new equipment for a specialty hunt is almost as fun as hunting, I said almost

bsfl said:

There is a Kowa prominar ts 554 for sale on the hide.

Click to expand...

bsfl, its the straight ,how much,and not on hide so how would I contact if like price

bigngreen said:

I've been absalutely happy with my little 11-33x50 vortex, I've found more sheep with it than with our bigger scopes!!

Click to expand...

Another vote for the Vortex 11-33x50!

sp6x6 said:

bsfl, its the straight ,how much,and not on hide so how would I contact if like price

Click to expand...

It was for sale on the Sniper's Hide classifieds. I just checked and it sold.

Maybe its just me, but I would get a spotting scope in the 15-45 range. I owned a razor 11-33 spotter, but ended up selling it. Very good glass no question. Easy to find animals yes. Easy to judge animals at distance? Nope. I got a cabelas krotos. Would probably have been better off with a razor 16-48. Just my 2 cents. Good luck on hunt.

bsfl said:

It was for sale on the Sniper's Hide classifieds. I just checked and it sold.

Click to expand...

Thanks!

Leupold's field tripod is pretty good. It costs around $80
I used a Vanguard Mars 1 for quite a while and was pretty happy with it - until I dropped it onto the pavement and broke the head. It only cost me something like $40 so; it wasn't a horrible loss.
The Velbon Ultra Lux-F gets good reviews. It runs about $110
Currently I use a Manfrotto 728B and it has been great. I think I paid about $130 for it though, I could be mistaken.