Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Vortex Razor UHD 18-56 (Seriously, Please Help!)

I'm going on a hunt this year on a private ranch around Walden Colorado. It's a do it yourself hunt but it's still fairly expensive. I'm going to have a bull elk and a buck deer tag. I bought a Vortex Razor 27-60X85 spotting scope. I haven't had a lot of time using it yet. I was thinking I might should have gone with a powerful set of binos. I'm thinking about the Vortex Razor UHD 18X56. I truly believe glassing will be the key to this hunt. Especially for my buck. What do you guys think would be better for an inexperienced hunter in the glassing department. I'm not an inexperienced hunter but I am when it comes to glassing. Should I try and get in a bunch of practice between now and second season with the spotting scope? Or should I get the binos? Please give me any input. And thank you for any help at all!

A spotting scope should be far down your list for things to carry while hunting. I've owned the 18 UHD's. They are very good. They require a good tripod to use correctly. 15-20 power binoculars are the way to hunt that kind of country. I still prefer my 15x56 Swarovski over any other big eyes but there are other good choices.

Typically, a good bino is used for general scanning/locating, and a spotter is best used to assess game once located.

For my eyes the best glass for open country is a set of 12X Swaro ELs. I've used them side by side to ultravids, SLCs, Vortex razor, etc all on tripods. It's my favorite option when looking for coues deer, and they can be damn hard to find. The spotting scope is good for detail once you locate an animal. And can be used for scanning the countryside, but the binos on a tripod are much easier to get behind.

If this will be your only pair of bino's, go 10x42. Anything over 10 power is best used with a tripod. You can still use the tripod with 10's (and it works great) but its not necessary as it is with higher powers. The 18's will HAVE to be used with a tripod, they are useless off hand.

Bill

True words in my experience

That's some big, open country along the Front Range! I can see why you'd want powerful optics.

I don't know where that ranch is located, and have not hunted that area, but if it's out on the flatlands then I would keep in mind that mirage might limit your spotter more than you might think. That can be a problem throughout the year, even when cold, as you are viewing through the layer of air close to the ground. A bit of sun will warm the air, and wind near the ground is lower than higher up.

If you are up in those foothills, you might have less mirage. But you can still get a ton of mirage with cold air and bright sun.

I'd still focus on good chest binocs first before anything. Either 8x or 10x. Maybe 12x. You can still cover a lot of land with those but I would want the option for higher mag too.

I really like 15x and 16x to compliment the chest binocs. But, I have been limited by mirage even in the mountains with snow on the ground! Keep in mind that high magnification and low optical quality make mirage appear worse.

Walden is in North Park, north central Colorado.

The northern most of the CO Front Range, correct?

+1

Bill is exactly right

For moose and bears we spend tremendous time with optics. For decades it has been 10x42 in high end glass to find them and big spotters to define them.

The 18x56 Vortex UHD bin on a panhead tripod has changed everything. The ability to scan far bigger pieces of country comfortably and reduce the need for spotters has proven better and easier on the eyes. We do not have to carry them far so it fits our uses.

With 4 people looking we ran 3 of the 18x56s this past fall, plus 10x alpha bins all around, plus 4 spotters. The 18x56s are used more than anything else. We usually glass out to 10 miles for moose, with most inside 3 or 4.

I have had Swaro 15X56mm and now have the Maven 18X56mm.

I like the Mavens better partly because the Swaros don't close down the interpupil distance quite enough for my eyes.

I have used the Vortex and they are fine but the Mavens use the AK prism and are better priced due to the direct to consumer pricing.

I can hand hold the 18s fine but as others have said mounted on a good tripod is where the the Big Eye binos really shine.

I would not recomend 18s for someone new to glassing and 10Xs off a tripod is a good place to start learning long range glassing.

I am using my 12’s more every year. Have Meopta and Swarovski 15’s, but the EL’s are just really comfortable to stay behind. Like mentioned, the 15’s are right on the edge for IPD with me.

OP, unless you are truly trophy hunting and counting inches, I’d go for quality binoculars over the spotting scope. You’ll spend way more time behind binoculars.