Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Some Things that Worked... Some that Did Not

Over the course of this last Kodiak bear hunt several things were used that were new to my operation in general. Some of them need to be listed for good and bad.

To start the whole idea of bear hunting is watching the bears until the right bear makes the wrong mistake and can be stalked. A bear moving a lot on the highest slope of a steep mountain is safe until he does something different. Good glass makes all the difference.

We had two Vortex spotters, a Razor 20-60x85 angled and a Diamondback 20-60X60 straight.

http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/vortex.pl?page=vortexrazor

http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/vortex.pl?page=vortexdiamondback20-60x60

The former (Razor) was a truly great glass and we had enough detail to make very fine decisions based on what we could see from literal miles away. The eye cups were left in and allowed for a greater field of view when trying to locate bears on the mountainside.

The Diamondback is a "price point" spotter and was not expected to be anywhere near the Razor. It was not. However the real intended use for the scope was to determine if a sheep would be good enough to cross a big valley to see if it was worthy. And do so in a backpackable unit. It will take some more looking, but it probably made that grade.

The Dakota Tripod http://www.cameralandny.com/tripods/vortex.pl?page=vortexdakotatripod

held the Vortex Razor spotter all day, ever day and worked extremely well, regardless the price. It is a real deal because it has been discontinued as a total revamp of the Vortex line. I have used it quite a bit for photo work and spotting and it is perfectly functional for a full-size, full-weight tripod. It is no way a mountain hunting unit!

IdahoPro was using a light Slik tripod with a bino adaptor that allowed him to set his tension exactly where he wanted and then gently move the field. Then he would search it completely and carefully before moving the field again. Between movements he would not touch the glasses at all.

Several folks have posted about the method previously and I had dismissed it because I had always believed you use the sweet spot in the middle of the glass, even though I have used Zeiss ClassiCs for over 30 years.

He had some issues with getting things set exactly right and knocked his glasses off the adaptor a few times, but that was during 10 long days of steady glassing. That was with his 12x50 Razors. They are mighty fine glass!

http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/vortex.pl?page=vortexrazorhd12x50_2013model

We also used a Minox BN7X50DC Bino for spotting from the boat, general marker duty, and pinpointing bears on the mountain. The internal compass allows you to give a compass heading and hand the bino over to the person trying to figure out what you mean by the "round alder patch by the rock face" and the tilt reading allows even more refinement, especially when bears move so fast that it is often a situation where the bear is only seen for a few minutes before disappearing. We did not use them much for that and as the trip wore on we had plenty of well-known spots to use as reference.

Gotta run, more later.

Whats the lowdown on the Razors, would they be worth carrying in the mountains for sheep, goats, etc, etc? As much as I love the Swaro spotters, they tend to be a bit heavy for backpacking use.

I think the one on every sheep hunter's mind is the Razor 11-33X50.

http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/vortex.pl?page=vortexrazorhd11-33x50

I don't know if you guys had one on the boat, but if so I'd love to hear the thoughts.

The one Artsy linked is huge!

Vortex Razor HD 20-60x85 Spotter



Magnification:
20-60 x
Objective Lens Diameter:
85 mm
Linear Field of View:
117-60 feet/1000 yards
Angular Field Of View:
2.2-1.1 degrees
Close Focus:
16.4 feet
Eye Relief:
18-20 mm
Exit Pupil:
4.3-1.4 mm
Length:
15.3 inches
Weight:
65.7 ounces

Gee, I guess I could of clicked on the link.

The Swaro I was looking at weighs in at a mere 58 oz.

It was certainly not a sheep spotter!

The 11-33x50 Razor is something I will have to look at closer. At 25 ounces it is a much better bet than the Diamondback we were using at 33 ounces.

The price difference is big enough to put them in two very different price points.

The Razor bins were significantly better than my 30+ year old Zeiss ClassiCs.

The 11-33 Razor is a fantastic little sheep hunting scope that performs well above what the "numbers" would tell you! I ran a prototype of it on a Tok sheep hunt with Steve Rinella a couple years ago, and we were both highly impressed with it.

I had one in the classifieds for weeks very reasonably and couldn't give it away.
Finally sold it on another forum to a guy that realized the quality and practicality.
Sleeper glass at mere ounces....

Got one of these in hand the other day, bought it and think it is the real deal. I have a few ideas like propping up some sheep horns to see how far one can get and count annual rings... With an Alpha scope like the big Leica for comparisons under varying light conditions.

Through-lens pics?

Called about an adaptor to allow that...

cool

Great idea. I look for your new thread with the outcome.

Here is a review for the Vortex Razor 20-60x80.


http://opticsthoughts.com/?page_id=113

20-60x85

Yes 85 not 80. But I wonder if a good trade off would be the 16-48x65? 48 ounces versus 65 ounces saves 17 ounces.

Almost an oz/mm.

Thinking 25 oz and "enough" rez trumps 48 pretty handily. Need to see what it really looks like, but so far, so good.

Let us know what you do and how it is working out.

Art,

Any updates on that spotter? I'm thinking about getting one myself after looking through one a few times. Need a good lightweight tripod to go with it, however. Tried sending you a PM as well, but your box is full.