[calgarychef]

Originally Posted by Paintearthmike

The binos you mention are big, bulky, and heavy; and their magnifications are too low to be of much use as a spotting scope for judging game heads.

Further, you don't need those magnifications for just spotting game; anything from a 7 power to a 10 power will do just fine for that.

I use a combination of a good pair of binos and a lighter weight spotting scope.

For the binos, if you are packing in the field and weight/size are issues, use a pair of compacts in the 7 - 10 power range. If a wider FOV is important to you
(as it seem it is) use the lower power.
If size/weight is not really an issue, go with a full size pair.

For the spotting scope, use a better quality optic (although Swarovsky-level quality is not necessary, and very poor value for money, as their quality is not astoundingly better than second tier optics, (I know by comparing my Leupold Wind River scope to my friend's Swarovski time and time again in the field!) An ideal range is 15 to 45 power; any power higher than 45 is either too dark to see effectively, or, if it is bright out, prone to too much heat wave distortion. A long eye relief is also useful. And 15 power gives you a wider FOV for general glassing than does 20X.

Put your scope on a tripod of a size and weight suitable to your application, take your binoculars, and go out and find game!

I agree with everything you’ve said. Big binos are a huge advantage in spotting game a long ways away, whether or not we have the weight carrying capacity is the question.