Outdoor Life’s Great Buy Spotting Scope

Spotting scopes are a little like residential plumbing. When they work, you hardly notice their service. It’s when something goes wrong – a leaking pipe or a grainy image – that you start to question their utility.

This year’s collection of spotting scopes is a mostly serviceable class. There are no heart-stopping gee-whiz scopes in the mix but, with only a few exceptions, there are few leaky pipes. We had eight scopes in this year’s test, and the field was evenly divided between super-sized 80mm and larger scopes (based on the size of the objective lens) and those mid-sized and compact spotters that sport 65mm and smaller objective lenses.

What’s interesting about this year’s crop of spotters is the niche-filling presence of very affordable optics, decent spotters that cost under $600. Some of these, like Athlon’s Argos HD ($369) represent a howling bargain, and should be considered by any hunter on a budget. Others, like Maven’s new straight-barrel 65mm CS.1A, are fairly priced for their useful size and adequate image.