I can’t hand hold 12’s very well, much less 15’s, especially when winded.
The sheep guy in the pic we were discussing is like you and carries nothing but 15’s. The guy I mentioned above tried 15’s before going with the NL 12’s but couldn’t make the 15’s work handheld. For me, 8’s and 15’s are the best balance I’ve found.
Like mentioned above, if I was getting down to only 2 optics, it would be 10’s and a spotter. ( will never happen)
Personally, after using a quality 15x for a few years neither I nor my main hunting partner can go back to anything less for hunting deer/elk or other bigger critters. I keep a few pairs of 10x and a Swaro 8.5x42 around for trapping, bird hunting, chasing hounds and sometimes calling coyotes, but that is about it. They’re (15x) the only glass I usually take and only find them limiting when out of breath or glassing off the back of a horse that won’t stop eating. Using them I have found also packing a spotter is unnecessary in most (though not all) situations I find myself in. Specific legal criteria such as being full curl, 3 brow tines, etc. are an exception to that. If Swaro made a 15x in the NL Pure I’d be all over trying them. I have considered their 12x but haven’t done it yet.
$800 doesn’t give me the warm and fuzzy though I haven’t tried everything that the OP asked about. Amount of use and the conditions would have a bearing on my decision, I guess. I have never hunted coues so maybe that also has a bearing on what I use and prefer.
