broadhead

I was packing up to move and found my Centerpoint 4-16x40 rifle scope. Never used, never mounted, forgot I even had it. Comes with both attached lens covers and mounting rings. If you could use an inexpensive rifle scope that has never even been used send me a PM. $45 Located in Tucson/Vail.

Selling my Vortex Summit SS-P Tripod, $80. Used for one season. No damage, excellent condition. Light weight and does an excellent job for binoculars up to 15x56 and small spotting scopes. PM if you're interested, located in Tucson. $10 for shipping if it's shipped outside Tucson.

I have a brand new never used Vortex Kaibab binocular adapter piece. Literally never used except to check the fit. I sold the Kaibabs so it's just sitting on my gun safe. Just to be clear, this is the piece that attaches to the binocular barrel. There is a separate item you will need for your particular phone. Send a PM if you're interested. For the $20 I'll drop it in the mail and send it on its way to you.

Well I'm at it again. This time Im putting up my Kaibab 15x56 HD binoculars. One of the esteemed forum members pointed out I'm probably asking too much so I reconsidered the asking price and figured $800 is reasonable. I purchased these in September (yes like 5 months ago September) and used them exclusively and successfully while spotting Coues Deer. Could not be happier with these optics. So why would I sell them? I'm doing an overhaul on my optics setup this offseason and will probably be picking up a set of high quality 12s so having both 12s and 15s isn't doing me much good. These are in perfect condition. You could put them next to a set right out of the box in the store and you couldnt tell the difference except for the price Im offering. They come with everything that was in the box to include the tripod adapter, straps, hex wrench and soft case, as well as the original box itself, with the exception of the cleaning cloth which I must have lost. I put in some good time behind these binos and spotted plenty of deer, including counting points on a coues buck at more than 500 yards. Solid glass. Please PM me if youre interested. I'll be up front and say since these are so new and in brand new condition I can't move too much on the asking price but I'll hear you out if you make a reasonable offer. Message me if you have any questions. Located in Tucson. Thanks fellas.

One bump

Hello, I've done a lot of reading trying to pin this answer down as close as I could before posting it as a new thread. I know the "which optic is best" threads are done to death but I have a rather specific question I'm sure someone on the forums has the experience to answer. My question is regarding what size spotting scope (i.e. magnification and objective lens) is typically sufficient to get the job done, and I'll include the details for what I'm doing below as well as the optics inventory I use now. But before I begin let me say that I'm not looking for recommendations for which brand I should go with. Believe me, I've been down that road before and I'm not looking to do it all over again. Odds are I'll be sticking with Vortex and I recently learned a lot of folks on forums (not necessarily this one, just in general) HATE Vortex and/or worship another manufacturer and no matter what anyone asks they just come back to what they like or don't like. I don't care. Yes, I know Swarovski is awesome. Yes, I know there are other manufacturers with good warranties. And yes, I'm sure someone a person you know once talked to had a Vortex break while out on a hunt. I don't care. If you have some personal insight on an optic you believe is comparable and is worth me looking at then by all means shoot me a PM. I'd like to hear about it. But for now I'm probably going to go with the Vortex Razor in either the 22-48x65 or the 27-60x85 and I'm using that as the reference point for this post. So with that out of the way... Here's what I'm into and this is why I need the advice of you experienced guys when choosing my spotting scope. I've recently decided that I'll probably be dedicating most of my efforts to hunting mature mule deer and coues deer bucks, which means I'll also be making a major effort at improving my glassing skills, spending a lot of time picking apart the thick cover such as the manzanita tangles and other desert nightmares. Not just overlooking a good looking area and glassing it for an our or two, but making deliberate effort to identify mature buck habitat before I hit the field and glassing the heck out of it until I either find a buck or am content there isn't one there before moving on. My go-to optics are the Razor 10x42s and tripod mounted Kaibab 15x56s. I've found that I can identify deer very easily when they're either in the open up to mostly hidden at ranges up to 600 yards with those two but when the brush gets thicker or the deer are bedded deeper I can't pick them up very well. I just can't see them without higher magnification and clarity. So the intent behind adding a spotter when the situation calls for it is to get a closer, more detailed look into the cover or at the next ridge without having to get up and move that way, potentially jumping another closer buck I haven't spotted yet. Truly let the glass do the walking, as the saying goes. The other thing I noticed is that even when I identify a buck at distances further than 600 yards I have a difficult time making out the quality of the rack, especially on coues deer. So for that purpose also I want to use the spotter for the usual reason of justifying going after a deer once I spot one. At the end of the day what it boils down to is will the 65mm with a max magnification of 48 be adequate for this or should I go with the 85 which goes all the way to 60? Conversely is the 85mm too much scope when most of my classing will be under two miles maximum? I'm aware of how much each of these spotters weighs and I'm okay with that. It likely will be a piece of gear I bring along only when I specifically need it. Sorry this is a long post but I wanted to put out there exactly what I'm using it for rather than just ask what I should buy. And thanks again for not turning this into an optics p*****g match. b

Hey guys, I grew up an eastern stand hunter and over the last year I've been getting better at glassing and learning the skill of stalking deer. I've been reading a lot of good stuff oh how to pull off a successful stalk on a Coues buck. The specific problem I'm having is minimizing the crunch from the dry grass and loose gravel that's everywhere on these ridges. I know there are tricks to doing this but I've tried everything I can think of, to include using fleece boot covers to help deaden the sound but no matter how slowly and deliberately I place my feet I can't mitigate that crunch. No matter what I do that sound busts me every time. Yesterday I found the buck I spotted back in September as he was chasing off another buck, thrashing the brush and tending a doe. I lost the light to go after him yesterday but the areas he has staked out allows me to easily get within a hundred yards of him. If I could beat this problem I'll be able to use the manzanitas as cover to get into position for a shot on him. So if anyone has had this same problem and was able to overcome it I would be very appreciative of any tips. Thanks and good luck the rest of the season!

Thanks, I forgot to mention that. The only model they had on hand was the 95mm, so the big boy. I was impressed with the weight tho. I think in my mind I played it up to be bulkier and heavier than it actually is. Also I have an update on another one of the scopes that have been brought up in this thread (quite passionately, I must say). I stopped at one of the gun and gear shops in town and was wandering by the end of the optics counter where I noticed a Meopta S2 82 on sale. The guy behind the counter was all for attaching it to a tripod and taking it outside for a look to test it out. Granted, we were pretty much in the middle of Tucson but were generally toward the northern end of the city where we had a nice clear view of the mountains to the north. We set it up and got some great looks through it all the way out to the ridge line about 6 miles away. It was a brief test in the brightest possible daylight conditions but the focus was smooth and the scope was really nice. Great clarity. I would love to get that scope out in the field and put it through a real test. Point being, if you're considering getting this scope I wouldn't talk you out of it. If anyone has any experience with it in low light please chime in.

So how did the Athlon compare to the razor? Was it the Ares you looked through? I only put the Razor and the Swaro ATX in a side by side only because those are the two they carried at Sportsman's Warehouse. While I was reading through the replies I started doing more and more research and YouTube reviews/digiscope videos of all the other ones to get a feel for some of the other options. The main factors I took into consideration were quality, price and warranty among the Vortex, Swarovski, Athlon and Meopta. There are so many options out there I quit trying to compare every single one and just stuck with those to narrow down. I would like to get my hands on an Athlon while I save up for my next eventual optic but I think I'll end up going with the tried and true Swarovski once I scrape together the cash. A buddy brought up a good point today. He asked if I plan to hunt for the rest of my life, which I am. He asked if the Swarovski will be a piece of gear I'll be able to use as long all that time without missing out on quality. It is. Even though better models will likely come out the issue of saving up for one more season in the long run really isn't that big of a sacrifice.

I've done similar comparisons on optics in the past when I "wanted" a new optic but didn't really need one and had a self imposed ceiling on what I wanted to pay. The more I looked the bigger my budget became. LOL Funny how that seems to happen huh?

See what happens when I don't check in on this thread for a day? ANARCHY! It's cool, forums will forum. But the good news is I've made my decision. I actually went to a real live place where people are there that you talk to other than in a chat box and put my hands on the Swarovski ATX and the Razor Gen II Razor 85. I also looked a lot into the Meopta (easy, fellas... stay calm) and the athos... atlas... athleteos... athlon whatever it's called and I decided on buying... nothing. Seriously all that hard work and research and I'm standing pat with what I have, or at least for the immediate time being. Actually to be honest I went in hoping the Razor would impress me a little bit more when compared to the Swarovski. Yes I knew they're two different levels but my hope was that I would be okay with the disparity but the truth is it just wasn't. When I looked through the Swaro and the Vortex out to about 1200 yards I knew I wouldn't be happy with the Razor so I decided I'll squirrel away some cash over the next season... or two or three... and get me a Swaro for life. Don't get me wrong, the Vortex will work, and work very well, especially if you don't let yourself get hung up on what else is out there. But we all have our personal preferences, and one of those being how much we can stomach handing over for some plastic and glass. I'm just willing to wait a little longer. But I very much do appreciate all the feedback. It helped me get to the answer I really needed. All of you send me your mailing address so I can send you a Christmas card next year. Now for me I'll be back to scouting and looking at guns and scopes n s***. Later fellas. b

Very true. Like I mentioned, the optics that get the most use are the 10s and 15s. I've spent the majority of my time glassing either a new area or in an area where I've already found a buck behind the 15s so like you said, the spotter will only come out when it is needed for a specific reason or may stay back all together.

SOLD Decided to upgrade my 10x42s this offseason so Im putting my Diamondbacks up for sale for $120. Picked them up last summer and used them through the end of archery. Like new condition, absolutely no damage. Im sure you are all familiar with Vortex so I wont go on and on but if youre looking for a respectable and inexpensive piece of glass these are a great option. And of course theyre covered by Vortexs warranty. They come with the case, both straps, all covers, cleaning cloth and original box. Im located in Tucson. If anyone wants me to ship outside of the local area Ill split the shipping with you. Reply or PM me if youre interested. Thanks.

These are some great responses. Thank you guys very much for reading the post and providing exactly the type of responses I asked for. Gr8tgfuldoug, Thanks for including that review. I read it carefully and was able to extract some really good information. The part you mentioned about losing light up over a certain range of magnification was something I did not take into consideration prior to reading that and it will go a long way into my decision as it is directly relevant to the situations I will be needing the scope the most. I also appreciate you leaving out the personal bias and only including the pertinent information (on both forums). I'm open to hearing suggestions for optics but this post was focusing on something else and you were right on point. Rossislider, that's exactly the type of first hand experience I was hoping to gain when I originally posted. I needed to know what separates the 65 from the 85 in the type of specific conditions I'll be using it in. While I will be using it to glass very long distances, its main use will be scrutinizing the thick brush for those wise hidden mulies and coues just like you described. Thank you! Thanks to everyone who contributed as well. It got me much closer to making an informed decision on a crucial piece of gear. I'm going to actually put my hands on each of those scopes tomorrow as well as a few other brands to see how I feel. If anyone else has anything similar to add I am very eager to hear it. Thanks again, guys. This has been the most beneficial forum post I've had yet. Take care. b

Yeah. I mean, they're used (even if barely) but I have them at a little lower price here on the forums because so many guys are really cool and have helped me out with some great insight and advice. Really just trying to offset some of the cost of the new ones I'm going to buy.

One bump just in case

I have my First Lite Woodbury jacket in Cipher pattern size 2XL for sale for $190. This jacket was only worn THREE TIMES over a whitetail hunt in Wisconsin last November. I did an inventory of my gear and realized I need to reduce the amount of duplicate items I have in my inventory so I'm looking to part ways with my Woodbury. This jacket surpassed my expectations and kept me very comfortable in temps from the low 20s and low 30s for hours in a tree stand. The grunt tube holder and the large pockets are great features and the jacket is extremely soft and quiet. It is basically brand new. I'm located in Tucson. If you're interested let me know. Thanks!

Sorry... like a dummy I put the price in the subject and forgot it in the text. $190.

Hmm more good ideas. Exactly the type of insight I was hoping to get when I posed the question. I've read every article and post on closing the deal on a stalk that I've been able to but the specifics of southern AZ conditions is tough to narrow down. There's so little margin for error closing in on a deer that all those little things you guys are talking about are solid gold. I love hearing your guys' tricks. The help is genuinely appreciated.

Cool thanks guys. I'll give the socks trick another try. I never thought about the fact that having that much less rigid area touching the ground would make a big difference but it completely makes sense. Mattys, for sure. I found a nice choke point with some standing water that I've been setting up on. I finally got a trail camera on it to see just what is coming through and when. I was sitting there when I glassed up that buck. Hoping it pays off.

You're probably already aware of this but be mindful of the direction you face when using the call regardless of which one you go with. I've made the mistake a couple times of facing it toward where I see or anticipate a buck might be and since I was sloppy he got a good read on where the sound came from and I spooked him and he either stopped and continued on after investigating from where he was or just kept on going even though I know he heard it based on the way his ears moved. I have to remind myself to turn over my shoulder before I let out a grunt or bleat but I also take a look over that shoulder to make sure one hasn't ninja'd up on me while I wasn't looking. Also it can come down to the mood the particular buck is in. Just this fall in the midwest I grunted at a nice buck that was cruising by about 80 yards out. No effect. Before he got too far out of sight I snort wheezed at him and that got him to turn and nearly walk into my shooting lanes before moving out and around through a creek bed. But if you're getting them coming in it's probably a good sign. I'm up in Tucson so not too far away from you. I couldn't get out this weekend but over New Year weekend there wasn't much rut activity yet either. I can't wait for it to pick up. Should be fun. Just hoping to get a couple shot opportunities.

The subject line pretty much sums up this post. Just curious how many of you guys out there have had that happen since it was the first time it has happened to me. I was hunting over a little choke point with some water while I was also taking quick looks glassing a ridge out in front of me when I decided to blow on the grunt call. I immediately got a quick baah baaaaaahh reply. I was very surprised and looked up at the hill about 100 yards in front of me just in time to catch a doe trotting up through some manzanitas toward the saddle. It was so loud and clear it almost startled me and made me laugh at the same time. I kept a close eye on and around that spot to see if it was actually a buck but no other deer followed so I assume it was a doe but who knows. Deer are funny.

Yes they are funny animals. Thanks for the feedback fellas. I was watching a different doe bed for awhile then get up and browse in almost the exact same spot and just for fun I decided to blow on the fawn bleat while she had her head down. She spun around, looked in my general direction and cocked her head like a dog before losing interest and going back about her business. Good luck during the rut! Elkaholic - what part of WI were you hunting this fall? I'm from there and hunted a few days back there in November myself.

Well this is going to be an interesting experience. When the early archery season opens up this weekend it will be my first year bowhunting in 18 years. I grew up in Wisconsin almost exclusively rifle hunting the 9 day gun season in November (great tradition) but only bow hunted my senior year of high school. Missed the only shot I got. Then I got a little older, joined the army and got away from hunting except for a few random years here and there when I was home. When my old man passed away early this year I was home for the funeral and the weather reminded me so much of a late fall day and deer season that all the memories and drive to hunt came rushing back. I remembered how much I love deer hunting and wanted to get back into it as much as possible. I brought all the guns back with me to Arizona, including the Model 70 rifles my dad and I got when I started hunting, complete with the original cheap Tasco 3-9 scopes and everything. I also decided to give bowhunting my all and now before I even know what's going on the season is opening on Friday, and on my 36th birthday to make it even better haha! Great birthday present if you ask me! I will admit though that this western hunting is a whole new world to me. Hunting velvet bucks, glassing, and spot and stalk was a completely foreign concept to me a year ago but since then it's been the topic of everything I've read and talked about. I have the equipment to get the job done but I know this season and the rut later on is going to be an educational experience for me. It's become an obsession. I've been out scouting in the canyon I chose in unit 33 as much as I could be prior to the season but I've been unable to turn up a buck, although there has been an abundance of does. My plan is to get out before light, get up and glass to try to spot a killable buck and if that doesn't turn anything up I might sit near some slow moving water from the monsoon to get out of the sun during this heat and try to ambush a buck coming in. So if any of you experienced coues hunters have anything to share to help me out I'd greatly appreciate it. But to be honest I know I'm just going to enjoy getting out with my pack and bow hunting again. I'm going to do everything I can to get a good shot (40 yards is my ethical maximum range at this point) and fill a tag but that's not all it's about. Oh and the terrain I'm hunting is a long canyon between 4500 and 5200 feet with a few seasonal creeks still lingering from the monsoons. 10x42 vortex diamondback binos and a razor 11-33 spotting scope with a tripod for glass. Don't know how much pressure there will be but I'm setting up about 2.5 miles off the road, on and off a trail network. But like I said if you have any words of wisdom to speed the learning curve I'm all ears. I've already read about as much as I can on here and just about everywhere else. Good luck to all you guys and gals getting out this weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing some pics and reading some stories!

AZDirtyTaco, Sorry, haven't been on here for awhile. To answer your question I went out with a plan that quickly changed as soon as I got out there. Got in early and set up and started glassing and before long spotted a nice buck but he dipped out and disappeared like they're good at doing before I could figure out a plan to get close enough to him for a shot. I spent a little more time during the early season trying to get a line on a decent buck again but things didn't work out as well as I had hoped and barely got any more hunting in. I did get to go back to Wisconsin and spend a few days tree stand hunting the rut in some spectacular deer land and passed up a few smaller bucks and does waiting for one of the big boys to come by. A couple bucks that we know are in the area came close but wouldn't come within 50 yards, which with the brush and woods never presented a shot. It was a good time though. The last morning I was able to hunt I had a group of does move in and feed 20 yards underneath my stand and since there was no buck following them in I got some of it on camera and almost got busted by one of them as I was tilting my phone to get a better shot haha. But now I'm able to get out for the late December and January hunts. I got out for a day hunt yesterday and found a nice choke point along a draw with trails running all over the place. Within an hour a doe followed the script exactly and snuck by at 50 yards. I waited for the buck to follow until the wind shifted and I had to move to the other side of the draw and waited there. And waited. And waited some more. And then waited until dark with nothing more than a few does coming by. But I also found a water source and another spot I can set up on when I get back out. Otherwise I'll get up in the ridges and try to spot them moving as the rut gets going. It's been warmer than normal this week so that might be keeping the deer from moving much but I'm going to get a trail cam up to see what comes by. Hopefully this will all end with some venison in the freezer! Sorry I don't have a success story yet! B