Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Spotters- straight or angled?

Straight Swaro spotter works for me.

I was on a Desert Sheep hunt about 10 years ago in Nevada, my client said "If angled spotters are so dam neat why don't we have angled binoculars and angled rifle scopes?????, seems counterintuitive to go from straight binoculars to an angled spotting scope then back to a straight rifle scope"............That's why I'm packing a straight !!!!!!!!!!!!

On a couple hunts I used other guides BTX spotters, If Swaro EVER makes one in a straight I will be the first in line

depends on what you are doing. straight is great if you seated or standing behind the scope, angled is better if you are view at angles or in a variety of positions.

Straight is the best option by far for hunters in most situations.

Blows my mind how many people "glass" with a spotter.

PS - you're missing lots of stuff....

Agreed, makes no sense to me.

Angled for me .
I glass with my 10x42 tracts. But the spotter has its place.
Here is a 1000 yard elk with a spotter
https://imgur.com/a/K6IEjDN
And a zoom on the phone
https://imgur.com/a/K6IEjDN

To be clear, when I said “I do find I have less neck strain when using an angled for long periods” I was referring to staring at a critter for 10 minutes waiting for him to lift his head, or to walk out of the brush, etc.

I can’t think of a single time I have ever looked through my spotter without first seeing something specific that I want to get a better look at.

I hear ya...

I use a straight most of the time as I find it easier to use. However, I do prefer an angled when scouting/hunting mountain sheep and goats. A quality tripod really helps too.

Straight... much faster to get on the object.

For the last several years a huge part of our glassing has been done with Vortex Razor 18x56 bins. great compromise between a bin and a spotter for ease of use and power. It needs a tripod of course. Now I carry two bins and two spotters...

The angle eyepiece is much more useful once you get used to it. It is like backing up with mirrors, it takes practice, but once you have gotten used to it, you see the advantage…

This is always an interesting topic, and comes up every few years. To add a different perspective, I'd be curious about those that prefer one vs. the other in terms of their brain dominance. Ie, are those that are left-brain dominant are more comfortable with a straight tube, and those that are right-brained are more comfortable with angled? I think an angled scope takes a bit more "spacial sense" than a straight tube which is more in line with a right-brain dominant person.

Dunno - just an observation having read these threads for years. And of course, there is no "right" answer to the question of straight vs.. angled. You've got to know that for yourself.

That has been my experience as well, at least for the type of hunting I do.



I had a pair of 15x Vortex's that I ended up selling. Found they did not do anything a pair of 10x42's couldn't do, Except take up space and weight. Still ended up setting up the spotter for a closer look. This was for sheep, antelope, and mule deer.

I use straight line for window mounts and angled for tripods.

I agree there might be something else to this preference. I’ve owned and used both and I definitely prefer angled in all uses for me, although I never use with a window mount so I can’t comment on that use.

The preference for angled over straight just seems obvious to me, but the opposite is true for others. No right or wrong answer here.
You may be on to something that better makes sense of it.

Do you glass with binoculars from a tripod? That is where I in general see the line.

I can't think of a single instance where a straight shooter is ever more comfortable to use than an angled.

Ya I do, and I agree some situations favor one over the other. But for me the angled is still preferred for overall use. But I guess not easy to make sense of the reasons why.

I just bought a compact straight scope to go with my bigger angled scope. I’ll have to use it for awhile and see how I feel about it.

At the bench I prefer angled. For all other uses, I prefer straight.