When you are in the blind, a spotting scope can open your eyes. It allows you to watch where your shot goes and get you on target.
Mountain and prairie hunters use spotting scopes to judge the quality or legality of an animal without disturbing that animal or being exposing yourself to nature.
However, to use a spotting scope for a long time you must have a tripod and set it to the right position. Cause the slight movement or using it for a long time can let you misguided. For that reason, you must know How to Choose a Tripod for Your Spotting Scope.
Some or most of the spotting scope comes bundled with tripods. However, most of them are not worthy of relying on. Therefore, it is better to have dedicated sturdy and good stable quality tripods. It also should light in weight because you will carry it with you all the time on your hunting mission.
Now it is time to discuss How to Choose a Tripod for Your Spotting Scope.
As for spotting scope, you might use Celestron 52252, Gosky 20-60X or Vortex spotting scope, but the tripod will be suitable with any of them. You should consider some common criteria before purchasing a tripod.
How To Choose a Tripod For Your Spotting Scope
Stability:
Stability is the main key point of a tripod. A tripod should provide stability and sturdiness regardless of the terrains and weather. The rough terrains or extreme heat is a common situation for a hunter. A tripod should be able to withhold the windy weather.
A good tripod is designed as it allows you to pick up the little details and get a clear view of your landscape. A steady base helps to view the target in scope properly because when you are in high magnification, then the slightest movement might lose your target for another 10 seconds.
In addition, scopes are quite heavy on the own; a sturdy tripod is a must for a stable position and longtime hunting.
The fact is, there is a lot of variation in spotting scope tripod in the market and it is not easy to find the right one. Some tripod is good for stability but they are heavy in weight.
there is also the different price ranges. We will compare them in another article, but now let us focus How to Choose a Tripod for Your Spotting Scope.
Sturdiness:
As the hunting terrain if difficult, so having a rugged, stable base to work with allows the most steady view and the most “bang for your buck.”
As weight is another deadly factor, we recommend having a tripod of carbon fiber material. However, they are expensive from most of the others, but they are sturdy walls and light in weight.
Most inexpensive tripods are designed for smaller cameras; it might not have the ability to wield the weight of a spotting scope with a larger scope. In most of the cases, less expensive tripods are usually flimsy. So choose the tripod-based on your need.
The Height:
While hunting or birding the use of the Spotting scope should be easy from any height or position. Only a tripod makes it possible. Sometimes we needed to be seated of crouch. A center column is useful on a spotting scope tripod. It helps you to balance the scope with the tripod and adjust a few inches.
Sometimes it is not possible to crouch then you might have to take the position by standing. Therefore, your tripod should have the proper height adjustment and should be able to support your required position.
Tripod heads
The technology is advancing and the head of the tripod is. There are several kinds of tripod head which is easy to use in a different way. There are Ball Heads, Pan & Tilt Heads, Pistol Grip Heads, and Gimbal Heads.
Among them A pistol grip is often the easiest to use for spotting scopes, it helps to change the scope quickly and aim the scope quicker.
However, for hunting and birding, there is different tripod heads are good for a different approach. For bird viewing, you need to move the scope almost constantly. In that fact, the Panheads provide the best experience.
As you might need to adjust the spotting scope to get the perfect view of your target, and a tripod head with a fluid pan head will make the experience better. A tripod should have the ability to pan smoothly and easily without any jerky movements, which might move away from the target.
How To Choose a Tripod For Your Spotting Scope
Smoother panning and fluid measuring scale:
A tripod should pan smoothly. The ability to adjust the focus with the knob might create some vibration. It is good to choose something that has smooth panning and easily manageable vertical adjustments. Because Without these adjustments, it is very time consuming and frustrating to focus perfectly on the target without any distraction.
Some minor thoughts about How to Choose a Tripod for Your Spotting Scope:
There are knows three different types of spotting scope tripods in the market. The compact spotting scope tripods, the small one or tabletop tripods and the full-size tripods for heavy-duty.
Compact spotting scope tripods are shorter than full-size tripods but much taller for the tabletop tripods. They are most likely to use light equipment because they are easy to carry around and give more stability than the tabletop tripods.
Tabletop tripods are best for then you know you will have other support like in bird watching center you will have the sitting stool and table support for keeping the tripod.
The Full-size tripod is the heavy-duty one. However, they are heavy in weight but their durability and stability are far greater than others.
As it might sound scary that there needs to keep all this factor in mind while choosing the tripod for your spotting scope but it is not rocket science. The biggest tip one can offer you is to try everything before you buy it.
If that is not possible, then read the detailed specs and consider your wanted feature. You can also try to buy from a retailer with a generous return policy so that in case of extreme changes needed you can return them and order the perfect one.
The choice is in your hands. You can try different specs of different materials. As you already invested in the camera and other equipment, you might also consider getting a good tripod. Cause a good one will serve you for the long term.
Also Read:
Best Night Vision Scope Reviews
The Way to Maintain Spotting Scope Vibration from Digiscoping
