The Beginner’s Guide to Using a Spotting Scope

The Beginner’s Guide to Using a Spotting Scope

The Beginner’s Guide to Using a Spotting Scope. My experience using a spotting scope had been practically nil. After half a day with the new TORIC Spotting Scope, I feel comfortable enough to use it on a hunt. 

The idea of using a spotting scope has always been slightly intimidating to me. I assumed they are only for serious western, big-game hunters. So, when I received the new TORIC Spotting Scope from TRACT, I was apprehensive. Not so much about figuring out its inner workings; that I would figure out. The apprehension boiled up from a place that told me I’d find no viable use for the scope. And when it came to write about it, I’d have little to say.

I’ve looked through a spotting scope exactly once in my life. That time I didn’t have to make any adjustments to see the elk my guide wanted to show me. I simply looked. Through the years both before and after that experience the thought of owning a spotting scope has not crossed my mind once. I spend my time outdoors hunting deer a little and birds a lot and fly fishing in between.

So when it came time to take this souped up monocular for a test drive, you may start to see why I was apprehensive. From everything I’ve read over the years, I was practically told by various outdoor writers that a spotting scope shouldn’t belong to a guy like me, who isn’t chasing elk in the mountains and antelope on the plains. It would be an unnecessary piece of equipment that might collect dust in a closet. 

They were wrong. And I was wrong for approaching this with such a narrow-minded attitude. Even though you won’t find me at the range shooting 1,000 yard targets, I can tell you with full sincerity that owning a spotting scope makes sense for someone like me.

The TORIC 27-55×80 Spotting Scope

The first thing you will notice about any TRACT product is the unboxing experience. The packaging is heavy duty and well designed. There is a note from Jon and Jon just inside the box, thanking you for choosing TRACT, providing their contact information, and telling you where to go on the website to become proficient with whatever product you’ve ordered. TRACT has reduced their carbon footprint by omitting unnecessary plastic and paper in the packaging. A direct to consumer (D2C) company is slimmed down and streamlined so that they’re able to manufacture awesome products at reasonable prices. Everything they do reflects this.  

Checkout the unboxing of the TORIC UHD 27-55×80 Spotting Scope

Setting Up the Scope

Setting up the spotting scope is pretty straightforward, having run into just one difficulty. The tripod adapter plate comes with two bolts. One is threaded through a slide rail and the other in a single fixed hole. The former, which is the smaller of the two, screws right into the base of the scope. The second, at first appearance, serves no purpose. 

After a quick call to Jon and Jon (again, their phone number is right inside the box and these guys always answer the phone or call you right back), I learned that the scope’s mounting plate is actually able to receive either screw. The smaller one as mentioned. Or the larger by removing a bracket from the female part of the scope’s base plate. All you need is a common household flathead screwdriver. 

Easily threaded the bolt you choose not to use out of the tripod adapter plate. I chose to use the bigger bolt for more stability. Bigger is not always better but when it comes to the strength of joints it certainly is. I have no doubt the scope would sit firmly on the tripod with the smaller of the two bolts but if both options are at your fingertips, why take the chance. After this one little hold up it was smooth sailing and quite fun at that. 

Carbon Fiber Tripod

Before I jump right into my experience using the spotting scope, I want to mention an important accessory. The carbon fiber spotting scope tripod that was sent along with the scope has helped make the experience much more enjoyable. It’s lightweight and sturdy. The legs slide in and out like silk. The head pans left and right and up and down very smoothly. Plus, I can remove the spotting scope and attach my DSLR camera to shoot photos or video. Better yet, I can attach my iPhone to the scope with the phone adapter and make photos and videos that way. More on that shortly.

Into the Mountains

I first tested out the TORIC Spotting Scope in my kitchen. Someone had stapled an inconspicuous piece of paper to a telephone pole down the street and my natural curiosity begged to know what it said. Within minutes I was able to discern the when and where of a local yard sale that I did not attend.

The second time was a bit different. I left my house before dawn on a cold morning and headed out into the rugged southern San Juan Mountains to give this scope a real run for its money. (Yes, I live in Colorado, but only for a short time, hence my delay on elk hunting). On a high ridge overlooking a river valley I watched two bald eagles. They were perched in a cottonwood tree above a deep hole in the river. 

It was dark. The sun had not risen above the horizon. Down in the valley it was even darker. I first spotted the eagles with my naked eye. The white heads against a shapeless background was easy enough to see despite them being several hundred yards away. It was the spotting scope that allowed me to see such subtle movements as a head twitch or the thermals catching and slightly moving a tail feather. Such unbelievable luck that I was able to stand there for about ten minutes watching these magnificent birds until they took flight and disappeared around the bend.

For the next hour I glassed the canyon floor below me and the peaks above me as the sun peeled back the shadows. I glassed standing, the tripod’s handle allowing me to easily pan from one place to the next. I glassed sitting, the smooth legs of the tripod made it easy to quickly adjust the height of the scope. Any intimidation I’d previously felt about using a spotting scope dissipated like the fog. 

I imagined myself elk hunting. What it would be like to spot a nice bull a half mile away and pursue him on foot. If, by this time next year, I am able to report that I’ve spent ample time in the elk woods, it will be because using this spotting scope literally helped put me in that place. 

Field of View

My first spotting scope experience while elk hunting several years ago was brief indeed. My time behind the scope was only extended by my inability to pick up the bull the guide had spotted. He’d be gone by the time I looked through the scope because he was slowly ambling along and each time the guide would hone in on his position, . 

What’s readily apparent in the TORIC Spotting Scope is the wide field of view. Sitting up on that high ridge I watched a magpie several hundred yards away in the river valley below. He was creating caches for food ahead of the winter storm that was heading our way. I had zero problem staying on the bird as it skipped around the meadow. Even when the scope was cranked up to 55x. 

Easy Adjustments

The multi-position quick stop eye piece allowed me to quickly maximize my eye relief, which I’d guess was in the three-inch range. The focus dial was super smooth and I was able to quickly and easily focus on distant animals and landscapes. Plus, it is positioned perfectly where I’d naturally rest my hand. In fact, when I was increasing the magnification with my right hand, being right eye dominant, I was able to slightly adjust the focus as the image got nearer. In terms of ease of use, the TORIC Spotting Scope is an A+.

The Phone Adapter

This thing is, put simply, fun. I was a hardcore skeptic at first. The nova grade phone adapter to me seemed like another gimmick to draw users to a product. For many of us, our cell phones are a centerpiece in our daily lives, so why encourage its use in the outdoors. 

But then on a Friday evening I noticed a nice mule deer buck chasing does in my backyard (wildlife in my little town are as prevalent as people). By the time I put on my shoes and got outside, he was taking a little break. He’d bedded near a cottonwood tree about a 100 yards away. I wanted to show my friends back east this beautiful muley buck. All they’re used to seeing in large part is raghorn whitetails. 

I did a quick once-over on the Phone Adapter’s instructions, set my phone in the vice, and connected the adapter to the scope within minutes. I watched and made numerous photos and videos of this buck and several other deer near my house. 

Darkness closed in without my realizing it. The temperature dropped into the low 30s and I was in a tee shirt, but didn’t care. I had more fun getting visually close and capturing my experience with these animals than I could have imagined just a short while earlier. In fact, my plan is to create a one- to two-minute video that I make exclusively with the Spotting Scope.

When & Where to Use a Spotting Scope

I don’t know if you can say that this Spotting Scope can and only should be used in specific locales. Sure, you most often see them in the expansive west where high-powered optics are a must to spot game from long distances. Yet, if you want to set up on your back porch and be able to see a warbler blink, who’s to tell you otherwise. 

The older I’ve become the more I absolutely love watching wildlife. Birds interrupt me multiple times throughout the day simply by landing on a tree outside my office window. I find myself spending way too much time combing birding websites learning everything I can about our feathered friends that make up the avian world. It’s even worse when deer walk into the field behind my house. 

I guess I mention these things to reiterate the fact that there’s no wrong answer to where or when the use of a spotting scope is appropriate. Take it from a former skeptic: using a spotting scope can truly get you closer to nature and wildlife in degrees that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. If you love the outdoors like I do, then I see no wrong in that!