I’m going to upgrade my hunting spotter. Unfortunately, I don’t have a close place to compare the two I’m considering and would like some insight between the two. Both have great reviews so I suspect I’m down to hair splitting and personal preference.

The spotter will be used for hunting out west. I’m just starting with DIY hunts and do not expect to do a remote backcountry hunt for 3-5 years. Use for now will be walks to glassing spots and day hunts from a fixed camp. I’m looking at pronghorn, deer and cow elk over the next few years. If I discover that I am going to do a multi-day day backpack hunt I would consider a smaller spotter.

I wear glasses when I hunt but have good vision. I’m mildly nearsighted and spend most of my time without glasses. Point is, in the limited opportunities I have had to use good glass, I feel like there was a difference between high end glass and the mid-level glass I currently use. Nikon and Leupold mostly. A Pentax DCF ED 10x43 binocular had noticeably better resolution when used off a tripod than my 10 yr old Leupold 15x30 GR spotter. I’ve stolen looks through Swaro and Zeiss products on guided hunts and think I see a difference from my current gear. I also realize that my success on next years hunt doesn’t hang on me getting new gear. I would get more benefit from dry firing my rifle than posting about the minutia of optics.

The two spotters in my budget that I am interested in are the Kowa TSN-774 and the Meopta MeoStar 82 S2.

The price is the same and the weight with eyepiece is very similar. The Meopta is physically bigger and will be better in low light. The fluoride lens could also make a difference. I like the more compact format of the Kowa (closer to a 60-65) since it could work as backpack scope and that if I wanted a big spotter I could use the same eye piece with the Kowa 880 series. But that is about it, no real deal breakers. Like I said, probably splitting hairs. I have to find a place to do a side by side.

Until then, should I expect any difference in the quality of the optics?

Any other thoughts on the two? What are your experience with these two scopes?

Thanks

Scott

Last edited by SWJ; 03/17/18.