Expert Review Long range shooting necessity - Leupold 12-40x60mm HD Golden Ring Spotting Scope

Let's get this out of the way right away, yes this is expensive for a spotting scope. If you're a one tag a year hunter then there are a ton of options half the price of this Leupold spotting scope that would probably suit your needs better.

With that being said, if you're the type of sportsmen that is traveling thousands of miles for the perfect bull elk and spending a considerable amount of time just to take one or two long distance shots, it'd be very difficult to find a better spotting scope than this particular 12-40x60 HD Golden Ring from Leupold.

Why???

For starters, it comes in a sweet custom case with everything from a tripod, soft cover, strap, window mount, and even a camera mount for all you digiscopers out there.

Clarity. This is the most important selling point for me on majority of optics especially with binos or spotting scopes. Not to sound cliché but in true Leupold fashion the edge to edge clarity is second to none in spotting scopes in this price range which is extremely important when glassing a herd of game where you want to have the best view of every elk/tom/mountain goat in your field of view.

Along with the crystal clear clarity of this spotting scope, the 60mm objective has excellent light transmission for those times more often than not where daylight isn't working in your favor.

The build quality of this specific Leupold scope and all of their "Golden Ring" line of optics is phenomenal. Every knob, mag ring, and eyepiece turns and moves with, for lack of a better word, precision that leaves no doubt in your mind that the $1,200ish price tag was worth every penny.

If that wasn't enough, the full lifetime warranty means that this scope will be able to take whatever you can throw at it and live on for generations to come in your family. As far as warranties go, it doesn't get much better.