i have been asked by a buddy of mine whats the best spotting scope for 200 or less. to be honest i'm not sure what he is going to use it for, but living in north alabama i can't imagine it's going to be long range. the guy isn't a hunter, and doesn't shoot that much. i do not own a spotting scope, and i believe in investing as much as one can afford to spend in optics... so among the cheapo's,
bushnell trophy
bushnell sentry
redhead pursuit
cabelas trekker

and any others that i dont' know about, what would be your choice?
thank you

I advise Konus. I recently bought an 80mm scope with stand an camera adpter for about $200. May be $235

Jim Owens sells the as well as Optics Planet. He sell them and will buy them back! Jim is a high power shooting guru.
www. jarheadtop.com

I have a Burriss 20x50, which was about $75 with tripod. Not bad at all for the price paid. Actually pretty good for the price paid. And I won't be too upset if it breaks or I lose it.

LWD

Be careful! There are plenty of cheap scopes out there. Burris used to have a deal "buy a scope and get the spotting scope free". For 30 cal holes at 100 yards this is fine, and if this is what your friend wants, I have a Burrris spotting scope that I will sell him. However, for detecting 22 cal holes at 200 yards, you have a whole (no pun intended) different animal. I have a Konus scope described above by Burlingto Road. It was a pleasure to buy from Jim, and the scope, though big, is probably the best value out there.
Peter.

Nikon makes some good spotters that are attractively priced. Check ebay.

I second the Nikons. I have had my Team Realtree for about 5 years and my father has had basically the same model for around 16. Neither have let us down and both have been bashed around quite a bit. 15-45X is great for use in all differant terrains.

How about trying an empty toilet paper roll with a couple of lead pencils for legs for the short range stuff then moving up to a paper towel roll for the longer distances? You will get just about as much good out of these as some of the "cheepie" spotting scopes out there!!

Larry Sellers
SCI Life Member

thanks for the advice guys, i have passed on the information.