Pros and Cons of Straight and
Angled Spotting Scopes
A
s owner of Sport Optics North-
west in Bend, Oregon I receive a
lot of questions when it comes
to purchasing optics for hunters.
And one the most common questions I
field is whether someone should purchase
a straight or angled spotting scope. Here are
the pros and cons:
PROS ANGLED The majority of hunts in
the West involve looking up or down hill
and an angled spotting scope allows the
user to easily drop their eye into the eye-
piece. When glassing for extended periods
this will eliminate the neck strain caused
when using a straight eyepiece to look up or
down hill. For situations where brush or tall
grass make it difficult to glass from a seat-
ed position, an angled spotting scope al-
lows the user to more easily attain standing
height. At the shooting range, you can twist
Vortex's HD 22 48X65 straight and
angled spotting scope
the eyepiece of an angled spotting scope so
that you can fire a shot and quickly confirm
your impact point.
CONS ANGLED Rain and snow can be an
issue with an angled spotting scope because
it requires the user to cover the eyepiece in
between glassing to prevent the image from
becoming blurred.
PROS STRAIGHT Straight spotting
scopes allow for quicker target acquisition
and are typically more user friendly for
beginners. It is also much easier to use a
straight eyepiece when glassing from a win-
dow mount out of a vehicle. Switching from
your binoculars on a tripod to a straight
spotting scope is a simpler transition than
with an angled eyepiece. Straight spotting
scopes are more packable because the
shape allows them to fit in a more compact
space inside your pack.
CONS STRAIGHT The biggest downside
to a straight spotting scope is the strain
caused by extending your neck each time
you look through the scope.
PERSONAL PREFERENCE I use the mod-
ular X Series spotting scope from Swarovski.
This system allows me to use an angled eye-
piece for situations where I’m looking up or
down hill and a straight eyepiece for when
I’m hunting flat country or glassing from a
vehicle. Choose the set up that works best
for you. The debate will continue regardless
of which side of the fence you are on, unless
you use a modular system, then you can be
on both sides. JD PONCIANO
www.westernhuntingjournal.com
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