i have owned nikon prostaff for years...gr8 entry level scope...now i own a zeiss diascope 20x60x85mm...WOW i should of spent the money years ago! i have always owned zeiss binos and rifle scopes and last year i bought a zeiss rangefinder....i will never own anything else.... worth EVERY DOLLAR

I have the 12x24x50 and 20x60x80 from Burris and both are great spotting scope and I would recemend them to anyone looking for a real good scope and the prices will not break the bank as well.

I use the Nikon Prostaff. WOrks good for me but I don't really use it a bunch though. Don't remember how much I paid for mine got it some years ago but price ranges vary widely on spotting scopes depending on quality and brand.

I have a Burris compact 12x24x50 its works great i used it this year, but i have to be honest unless your doing some serious long range scopeing, a good pair of binos will do you just fine. where i hunt it mountains and pretty wooded and i had just as good visiblity using my binos. also remember with the high powered scopes you will need a tri pod to keep it steady and if your in the back country thats just added weight thats not nessesry.

After a lot af research, thought, nail bitting & second guessing I bought a Leupold Gold Ring 12-40x60 earlier this summer to replace my old and faltering Cabelas brand scope.  After 2 mule deer hunts, a cow elk hunt and an antelope hunt where the scope lived in my day pack for 2 to 10 miles a day, I have absolutely no regrets over buying it.  The optics are clear and bright, to power range more than enough for hunting purposes, focus & power adjustments easy and positive to use and it's weight means that the scope goes in the day pack instead of waiting to be used in the truck.

Those big Zeiss & Swavroski's are a miracle to behold when looking thru them but they are so big & heavy that with a tripod big enough to stablize them, I don't honestly think I'd care them very much.  That & I get a bad case of heartburn just thinking about dropping one or accidentally knocking one off a rock while looking at that far off critter.

I'd be brand loyal to Leupold if I could afford it all the time, but alas, sometimes I have to buy something less expensive.

CVC, I agree 100%.  Brand loyalty is most often the best way to spend more money than you have to.  The Leupold spoting scope was an investment that I plan to give to my kids after I 'm no longer able to hit the hills in a serious way. After suffering with the previous much cheaper scope for 10 years, I now realize that should have bought quality the first time, regardless of brand.  I've got to admit that Leupold does have very good equipment that's reasonably priced and that's American made (that's a BIG consideration for me anymore).  They also have products that most of their competition don't offer - try to find a fixed power 4x or 6x rifle scope that isn't made of tin foil sometime.  I picked up this scope at Scheel's Sporting Goods in Reno for about $100 less than anywhere else, including the internet.

One thing about the Leupold spotting scope is that I heard a few years ago that they are not made by Leupold but are imported from Japan or Germany witch one I do not remember.  Just who the manufacture is I didn't hear. 

I just got my Nikon Prostaff 20-60x82mm scope in the mail yesterday and I love it. I think you could not go wrong with it. It is a little heavy and big to be considered a backcountry scope but the optical quality is amazing. It is definitely worth a look. Good luck in picking a scope. Let us know what you get.