Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Angled or straight ocular for spotters?

Angled

I'm in this camp...

With the glassing I do I cannot tell you the times I've had an extra 5 seconds, or even 5 seconds total, to analyze a buck prior to disappearing which has an influence on your whole day.

I’ve owned both styles and use it when I hunt in the mountains for sheep and goats every year. Also use it for caribou and pronghorns, but not every year.
I switched to angled 10+ years ago and would never switch back to a straight. For doing lots of glassing in mountain conditions, the angled is a lot more versatile because of the ability to rotate the scope and get into comfortable viewing positions. It’s a little trickier getting on target but it’s a minor detail considering the benefits.

Straight for me.

Ups and downs for both, as repeatedly stated.

I mainly use an angled Swaro, with a peep "sight" on the side to get it close to where I want to look so I don't have to monkey around with it trying to find the critter.
I don't scan with it: just get a better look at something I spotted with binos.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned, is that when strapped to or in my pack, I worry a bit more about pressure being applied to the angled eyepiece due to tight compression straps. I always wonder if I am going to do damage to it. Never have, but it is usually on my mind.

I can see the advantage of the angled when glassing steep grades up or down in the mountains. But in the mountains, I'm usually on my binos. I mostly use my spotter out on the flat where further distance is involved. For me, that means a straight scope. I think it all depends on what you're looking to do.

I guess it could depend on the type of mountains and animals. Here in BC looking for Stones sheep, I use binos and the spotter for picking apart the terrain looking for bedded rams near and especially far. The spotter is good for grid searching trying to find them. I find the angled spotter allows a lot more set up options (comfort) for long glassing sessions.

Yes. Angled foks generally glass with their spotters more which is fine but that's a good way to an early eye fatigue nap. I don't glass at all or rarely with a spotter so straight it is. But I'm not a goat guide ...grin...

×10. I love my angled in the field, but it can be a bit more challenging from the truck. I've got a Swaro ATX so I may end up buying the straight eye piece just for that.

Cant stand angled, lost the opportunity on a big ram as i couldnt find him fast enough to judge. Binos are straight, Rifle scope is straight, range finder is straight..... Angled is like a fly in the ointment! Others mileage may vary........

+1 I switched to an angled last season and it’s much easier for me while glassing now. Takes a little to learn to get on target but it’s easy now.

I have had both and can use both without issue. I still have my angled spotter.

For me if I’m looking through a spotter for longer amounts of time I find it more comfortable to simply lean forward and look down into my eyepiece rather then crouch down to see through the straight. The angled as mentioned allows for a lower tripod height and most places I use my spotter get pretty windy. Straight scopes are a tad faster onto target but with the sight tube on the side of my angled Swarovski it doesn’t take much practice to get fast at getting onto target. On a window mount in the truck the straight is slightly faster and easier if looking at steep uphill or down hill angles, that said my Swarovski has the swivel and I can roll the scope sideways and have gotten used to it from the truck. At the range I also prefer my angled tube as I set it up next to me with the tube rolled to the left and the eyepiece just over the edge of the bench. After a shot I simply pick my head up off the stock, move it to the right and I’m looking into my eyepiece without much fuss.

It’s all preference but for my uses the angled benefits outweighs the negatives.

+1

Straight for me.

Once you learn to get on target quickly with an angled spotter, you'll never go back to a straight. The angled is so much more comfortable to use for long periods of time

It's actually more like 8 angled to 1 straight. It's so much so that some mfg's don't offer straight

This should help a lot. I got such a good price on this little Celestron Hummingbird that I will keep it and see how quickly I adapt to it. I do use the window mount a fair amount but think that if the angled eye piece rotates then it will work for that too. I'll see before I get a bigger scope.

Thanks Steve99.

Have both, prefer angled.

Pros for angled,

- Tripod can be lower, helps in wind.
- Comfortable looking uphill.
- Ability to pan very wide without moving tripod, or your own position.

That is kind of funny as I find the angled best w/ a window mount. My spotter rotates and I can adjust the power seat for comfy viewing. Looking for critters from a vehicle may seem lame to many but is far better than staying home on a cold day Here in Nevada looking for sheep is off season fun. Glassing is an art that I have yet to master, that and sitting still.


mike r

Most angled don’t rotate, so really not funny at all...