Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Do you use a spotter?

I pack and use my spotting scope tons. I have killed many animals that were in thick cover or at long distance that I would never seen with binoculars. Glassing with a high quality spotting scope is a must in my area.

My spotter is with me 100% of the time I am scouting or hunting.

With either a high point to work from or in rugged terrain where one can scope opposing slopes I will carry a scope. One can hunt a lot of terrain and a move of just a 100 yds or so changes the view.

Mostly it's binos though and I go to the spotting scope for definitive quality assessments. If it's a dead day though, I will get out the scope and start a patterned search looking into every pocket and shadow. Pretty handy in this country.

Hunting sheep and goat above the tree line is not the same as hunting elk in the pines. Hunting Kudu in the brush is not the same as hunting elk in the pines. Just my opinion.

Depending on the time of year, you may or may not use one other than to check horns.

It has been too cold to sit and glass with a spotter many times for me.

Graybird saw an elk in the pines at just over a mile with 10X binoculars

40X told us he was a bull worthy of the 4 mile pack out





40X cropped



He later posed for a close up as well

You're probably right

I use 15 x binocs and a tripod for elk hunting. Same for scouting. I have a fairly good spotter ... at home.

Hi,

A spotter is A MUST in open country Elk hunting. Any open country big game hunting, by the way. And in not so open country big game hunting...
I allways carry one in my backpack.
My favorite right now is a Meopta S1 75 APO. Angled. With 20-60x and 30x WWAngle eyepieces, plus their great carring bag. Light, simple, VERY STRONG, and OUTSTANING OPTICS. In the neighbor of U$ 1000.
I am tempted to take a look at the new S2....

Good luck,

PH

tedthorn and 1minute......love the pics. Taking them through a spotter can be pretty fun, and informative.

This heavy horned 190" class buck gave us the slip this past November. He was buried on the low side of a sandhill. This photo taken through meopta S2 at app 1000 yds with hand held Iphone or it would be better quality..

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One of my all time faves....

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Our one and only glimpse of this giant non typical (cropped)....

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This taken at only 600 yds or so....

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Biggest buck I've ever seen in Texas, a 9x8 app 36" wide. Hand shake killed the pic, but you get the idea.....

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I spend lots of time behind a spotter while elk hunting. Even if we didn't hunt in a brow tine bull only district I'd still spend lots of time behind a spotter

My spotter stays in the truck - when I even bother to take it. Instead I have upsized my binocs, which still aren't all that large.

But I'm a public land/RFW meat hunter and will take the first legal, healthy-looking, mature animal I find. The extra weight and nuisance of carrying a spotting scope isn't something I want to put up with and not something I've needed.

That said, I've been hunting the same areas for 34 years and have a good idea where the elk will be.

No chit. Killing is different than not killing as well. Eating steak is not the same as eating lettuce. We are going to blow some minds when these deep thoughts reach the hunting world.

My point was posting up photos of sheep above the tree line and elk in burnt out pines and deer in the grass and brush, is simply not the same as Elk in the mountains full of GREEN pines to justify a spotter for Elk.

I hunt in a costal hemlock jungle for elk and a spotter is a must for everywhere but timber hunting. But the elk stay way the heck away from the timber. They like the thick 20 year old reprod.

One step and the vanish. No hard feelings I just got a laugh from your post. Different strokes.

I hunt open country elk all the time and never use a spotter. If one needs to glass 6 hours per day, two eyes are vastly better than one.

I have thousands of $ worth of optics and no real spotter. I found that if I need a spotting scope to tell what it is I am going to shoot, I couldn't get to it in enough time to shoot it anyway.

My days of horizon to horizon hunting are gone forever. I don't miss it much, I wore out a good body doing it...

We also have a three point or better rule. A spotter is a must.

I just got a spotter last year and it's in my back pack or in the truck. I also got a new set of 10x zen rays for this season. Anything over 12 or 15 you better have something to set them on.

I don't have anything productive to add but here are some spotter pictures







Every time I leave it behind to save weight I end up regretting it.