If you don’t use a spotting scope to gain an advantage at hunting, you should start using one soon. If you are planning to buy a new spotting scope and don’t know which one to go for, you came to the right place. Buying a spotting scope is not as easy as buying candy from a shop. You need to consider a lot of things before you pull the trigger.
Budget is one of the keys to decision making. For those who have a budget of $300, welcome to TargetChaser. Don’t worry I got you covered. I will give you some of the best spotting scope under 300. Keep reading and you will find them in no time.
Best Spotting Scope Under 500 Dollars
Best Spotting Scope Under 300
1. Creative XP 20-60x80mm Spotting Scope
| Magnification | 20 – 60x |
| Objective Lens | 80 mm |
| Eye Relief | 17 – 12 mm |
| Focal Distance | 32 ft |
| Prism Type | Bak-4 |
| Shock/Waterproof | O-ring Sealed |
| Warranty | Lifetime |
Creative XP is not a new name in the scope industry. Don’t confuse them for XP-pen the graphics tab manufacturer. This scope is suitable for bird watching, digiscoping, hunting, and a bit of astronomy.
Creative XP included a decent tripod mount with the scope. Of course, you are more than welcome to remove and use a better one. If you are in this budget range, I don’t think you have a spare 100$ for a tripod.
The spotter comes in two versions. Both versions are 20-60x80mm. But one version uses regular fully multi-coated lenses. The other version uses ED glasses.
We all know how good ED glasses are. If you are taking this for bird watching and light astronomy. I highly recommend you to take the ED glass one. Keep in mind the ED glass version is $250 and the regular version is $150.
The fully multi-coated lenses provide crisp and clean images. The color accuracy is on point. With 60X magnification you can magnify for miles. There is no visible distortion at high magnification. The slight distortion won’t bother you that much.
This spotting scope can be an excellent gift to your loved ones on this holiday. To make this a complete package Creative XP provides some gifts inside the package. They are 1. Tripod 2. Protective Case 3. Cell Phone Adapter 4. Photo Clicker. If you tally them up, all of them can easily generate over 50$ of value.
If you are looking for a best spotting scope under 300 (sure, you are). Then I think you should grab this one while it’s still in stock.
2. Bushnell Trophy 12-36x50mm Xtreme Scope
| Magnification | 12 – 36x |
| Objective Lens | 50 mm |
| Eye Relief | 14 mm |
| Exit Pupil | 3.1 – 1.5 mm |
| Linear FOV @1000 yds | 140 – 65 ft |
| Length | 8.7″ |
| Weight | 21.5 oz |
Good old Bushnell Trophy Xtreme. I mean it’s not that old, but it’s been supporting a large portion of the hunting community for a couple of years or more as a best spotting scope under 300 dollars.
It’s one of the cheapest Bushnell spotting scopes out there. But is it bad? In short, no it isn’t.
Trophy Xtreme features a single Porro-Prism design to process the images. This is a straight eyepiece design. The whole tube is nitrogen purged to prevent from moisture going inside.
The scope has a built-in lens protector. When you use the scope you can just pull it downwards, due to the hinge the cap won’t get lost.
Bushnell gives a small-compact tripod for free with this spotter. It’s an excellent scope from an excellent manufacturer. You can put your money behind Bushnell without having a concern. Their after-sales service is quite good and satisfactory.
3. Gosky Newest 20-60x80mm Spotting Scope
| Magnification | 20 – 60x |
| Objective Lens | 80 mm |
| Color | Navy Green |
| Prism Type | BAK4 Porro |
| Linear FOV @1000 yds | 105 – 52 ft |
| Focal System | Dual Speed |
| Water/Fogproof | Yes |
Gosky is another well-known name to the budget enthusiast. Gosky Newest 20-60×80 is the upgraded version of the Gosky spotting scope. It features better-coated lenses than the previous gen.
It is not crazy expensive over the other one either. The pricing is quite accurate in my opinion. The lenses are fully multi-coated. Gosky also uses Ultra HD glasses to give us more clear and sharp pictures.
The body is made out of magnalium. It’s a mixture of magnesium and alloy. The body is completely waterproof and fogproof. Gosky did a good job with the build quality.
Right above the mounting belt, there is a small knob. With that knob, you can manually adjust the dual focus mode. Dual focus mode is quite fun to use. Try it yourself and you will love it.
Gosky Newest 20-60×80 only comes at 45° angled eyepiece. There is no option for a straight eyepiece. Keep this in mind while purchasing. Without a straight eyepiece still, it’s best.
4. Bushnell Trophy XLT 20-60x65mm Scope
| Magnification | 20 – 60x |
| Objective Lens | 65 mm |
| Close Focus | 32.8 ft |
| Exit Pupil | 3.25 – 1.1 mm |
| Linear FOV @1000 yds | 110 – 55 ft |
| Length | 13.4″ |
| Weight | 42.3 oz |
Another day another Trophy.
Jokes aside Bushnell Trophy XLT is one of the most sold spotting scopes from their Trophy lineup. One thing that I forgot to mention in the previous Trophy, I love their look. I adore their look, the green finish with black texture is one heck of an eyecatcher.
Like the older brother, this one also comes in a durable plastic body. The thermoplastic body has a rubber armor coating all over it. It will protect the scope from drops and scratches.
Even though the housing is not made out of aluminum, Trophy XLT is still 100% waterproof. XLT’s housing is also nitrogen-purged to make it fogproof.
This is also a straight eyepiece scope. The eyepiece comes with 20-60x magnification. The big 65mm fully multi-coated objective lens gathers more than enough light for the Porro Prism to work with. Giving you some of the best vivid and clear pictures possible.
Sadly Bushnell does not include any free smartphone mounts. If you are a digiscoper and planning to take this one, make sure to buy a phone mount for your device.
Bushnell didn’t forget to add the lens cover and a free tripod. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the eyepiece performance and focus quality.
We all know when you crack in the max magnification scope starts to show their true colors. Trophy XLT did that, but their true color was thoroughly impressive. There was almost no noise or distortion on 60x magnification. I can easily recommend the scope to you guys.
5. SVBONY SV46 20-60x80mm Spotting Scope
| Magnification | 20 – 60x |
| Objective Lens | 80 mm |
| Eye Relief | 19.2 – 18 mm |
| Exit Pupil | 4 – 1.3 mm |
| Linear FOV @1000 yds | 105 – 51 ft |
| Prism Type | Bak-4 |
| MIN. Focal Length | 29.5ft |
You may or may not have heard about Svbony before. They are known for their astronomy cameras. Svbony SV46 is not an astronomy camera, but it can work as an astronomy spotter.
With HD lenses and Dual focus mode, you can easily see the glazing starts on a starry night.
The extended sunshade also gives extra protection from sun glares. To prevent sun glares further, the lenses have multiple layers of anti-glare coating on the scope.
The large 80mm objective lens gathers plenty of light during the day. Thanks to the HD lenses, the scope can perform quite well during dusk as well.
SV46 has an IPX7 waterproof rating. Don’t try to submerge it, but it can withstand light rains here and there. The high magnification is perfect for bird watching and target practicing. It can help locate prey while hunting too.
You don’t get any tripod or hard carrying case for free, but inside the package, you will get 1x Soft Carrying Case, 1x Lens Cover, 1x Eyepiece Cover, 1x Cleaning Cloth, and 1x Instruction Sheet. What more can you expect from under 300 dollars in spotting scope?
Right above the mounting belt, there is a small knob. That’s the focus control knob. You get dual focus control on this scope. If you don’t have any personal beef with this brand, then I can easily recommend Svbony SV46 to all of you.
6. Leupold SX-1 Ventana 2 15-45x60mm Scope
| Magnification | 15 – 45x |
| Objective Lens | 60 mm |
| Eye Relief | 20 – 21.5 mm |
| Water/Fogproof | Yes |
| Linear FOV @100 yds | 121 – 63 ft |
| Length | 13.50″ |
| Weight | 30.60 oz |
Leupold Ventana 2 is a compact 15-45x60mm spotting scope. This kit comes in both angled and straight versions. One thing that the budget spotting scope lacks is good low-light performance. Leupold being Leupold, they made a spotting scope that performs quite well during low light.
Leupold’s Twilight Light management system automatically makes their product produce better low-light results than other similarly priced products.
You mix that with fully multi-coated lenses, you get a killer combination. This combo performs quite similarly to ED glasses.
The sunshade of SX-1 Ventana 2 is retractable. When you are not facing the sun, you can retract the sun and have a better field of view.
The housing is made out of aluminum and has a glossy black coating all over it. Pro-tip, if you buy the straight version you get a strong and well-built tripod from Leupold for free.
7. Hawke Nature-Trek 20-60×80 Spotting Scope
| Magnification | 20 – 60x |
| Objective Lens | 80 mm |
| Eye Relief | 20 mm |
| Close Focus | 3.5m |
| Linear FOV @1000 yds | 108 – 60 ft |
| Length | 15.7″ |
| Weight | 46.2 oz |
Hawke Optics is not a new contender on the market. They have been making quality optical products for a long time now. One thing that you might not know, Hawke is a British brand. Nature-Trek is a 20-60×85 spotting scope.
That means the max magnification on the scope is 60x and the objective lens is 85mm. The base magnification is 20x. That’s more than most riflescopes’ max magnification.
All of the lenses are fully multi-coated with multiple layers of anti-glare and other good stuff. This scope produces some of the best-quality pictures that I have seen in this price range. The sharpness of the picture is quite high.
The mounting belt is 360° rotatable. You don’t need to tilt your head to find the perfect angle. Simply mount the scope at your desired angle.
The eye relief is quite good too. Even though the eyepiece is not interchangeable, I don’t think you need to change it either. This a good scope and from the link down below, you can purchase it from anywhere in the world.
8. Celestron TrailSeeker 65 Spotting Scope
| Magnification | 16 – 48x |
| Prism Type | Bak-4 |
| Eye Relief | 18 – 15 mm |
| Close Focus | 18 ft |
| Linear FOV @1000 yds | 136 – 68 ft |
| Eyecup | Twist |
| Tripod Mount | Rotating |
It wouldn’t be the best spotting scope under $300 guide without featuring this Celestron Trailseeker 65 spotting scope.
Celestron has been making spotting scopes for decades now. Their spotting scope even made it to the space station of NASA. Celestron TrailSeeker 65 is not a NASA material, but it is a perfect scope for people like me with a small budget.
While the scope comes at a straight and many different angled eyepieces, you can choose 3 different packages to buy the scope with. One package includes the scope and some accessories. While the other one includes a universal phone mount. The last package includes a tripod made specifically for TrailSeeker.
The lenses are fully multi-coated. It provides quite a good performance. Nothing groundbreaking, but it’s more than acceptable. The low-light performance on the other hand is more than decent.
Celestron did a good job with the coatings, I didn’t notice a single ray of glare from the scope when I was using it. If you decide to buy this scope, make sure to choose the right-angle eyepiece that suits your needs.
9. Konus 7122 20-60x100mm Spotting Scope
| Magnification | 20 – 60x |
| Objective Lens | 100 mm |
| Color | Green |
| Exit Pupil | 5 – 1.67 mm |
| Linear FOV @1000 yds | 88 – 44 ft |
| Length | 18.8″ |
| Weight | 7.8 Pounds |
Konus 20-60×100 is the cheapest spotting scope on today’s list. Coming at below $220 this scope offers a lot for the price.
First of all, the huge objective lens. It’s one of the largest if not the largest objective lens at this price point. A 100mm objective lens is nothing to joke about. Field of view and terrain vision is insane on that huge of an objective lens.
With proper coating that monster can gather enough light to use it in any lighting condition (as long as it isn’t pitch black). You need to keep in mind, it’s huge. It’s not compact by any means. But Konus is not overweight. The weight balance in the spotter is spot on.
Konus unfortunately doesn’t give a free tripod. But the scope does feature a 360° rotatable mounting belt. You have the freedom of choosing any tripod with the 80$ that you will save by buying this.
If you plan to do digiscoping, then you need to buy the other accessories separately. If you have a strict budget of $300 to work with & You want the best spotting scope under 300 dollars, then get this one and spend the rest on accessories.
10. Meade Wilderness 20-60×100 Spotting Scope
| Magnification | 20 – 60x |
| Objective Lens | 100 mm |
| Eye Relief | 21 – 18 mm |
| Close Focus | 32 – 33.5 ft |
| Prism Type | Bak-4 |
| Optical Coatings | Fully Multi-coated |
| Water/Fogproof | Yes |
The final scope on today’s list is from a brand called Meade. It’s another cheap 100mm objective lens spotting scope.
The scope of this size is not compact or lightweight. You must carry a tripod alongside them. Huge spotting scopes like this are best for sightseeing and birding. Add a phone mount and you can do digiscoping too.
All the lenses of the scope are fully multi-coated. In between those coatings, there is also nitrogen purging involved. The scope won’t be fogging on you anytime soon. If it does make sure to send them back to warranty ASAP.
With that big of an objective lens, you have lights for days. With that much power, there also comes some responsibilities. I am glad to see Meade decided to double on their anti-glare coatings. Cause I didn’t face any glaring issues under a 42°C hot sun.
The prism design is the most common one among the budget lineup Porro Prism with BaK4 glass. It is worth every penny, as long as you invest some money on a good tripod. I repeat, a tripod is a must for this scope.
Best Spotting Scope Under 300: Conclusion
I wish I could continue for a little bit more, but you and I both know I gave more than enough options. All of them are tested to be good and reliable. Unlike your shopkeeper, I won’t deny a request from you. Make sure to throw them down in the comments. Till next time stay safe, keep chasing.
Hi, I’m Brent Hansford. A writer turned hunter & now sharing my love for the sport through writing. As I practically breathe weapons, I firmly believe I’m capable of providing you with new knowledge about firearms and hunting. My mission is to help more people get better at hunting & master the weapons. Let me help with unleashing the beast within you!
