Quality optics are a staple of any western hunting adventure, and Leupold’s SX-4 Pro Guide HD Gen 2 is a great model to have in your optic arsenal.
by Jace Bauserman
I learned quickly in my western hunting career that nothing is more critical than quality glass. You can have the best rifle or bow and boots that protect your feet and don’t give you blisters. You can have a pack that hugs your shoulders and waist like a pillow and will haul a load. Still, you can’t kill what you can’t see.
It was my first sheep hunt. I wasn’t the hunter, but gladly volunteered my time to help a buddy achieve a lifetime goal. Like many western hunting ventures, sheep hunting means lots of time behind the glass: binoculars and a spotting scope.
My sub-par Nikon 8-power binos weren’t cutting it. I was looking at the same terrain as my buddy—the same rocks, boulders, and bushes, but he was finding sheep and I wasn’t. He was also finding elk, mule deer, and even shed horns.
I learned a lot on that trip. I saved some money the following year and didn’t update a single piece of gear aside from my optic selection. My purchases include a quality 15-45×65 spotting scope and a solid pair of 12-power binos. I also invested in a sturdy, lightweight tripod and a binocular attachment that allowed me to attach my binoculars to my tripod.
That fall, I glassed more game than I ever dreamed. I learned to slow down and grid; attach the binos to the tripod for stabilization and pick the terrain apart. When I found an animal, or what I believed to be an animal, I switched to the spotting scope. It was a game-changer!
In March of 2025, my two friends, Rafe Nielsen and Shawn Skipper, and I took a flight across the big pond to Spain. The goal was Southeastern ibex and the Spanish Iberian mouflon. In addition to testing some of Browning’s new X-Bolt 2 rifles, we were testing the limits of a few Leupold VX-6HD Gen 2 riflescopes, BX-4 Range Gen 2 rangefinding binos, and the SX-4 Pro Guide HD Gen 2 20- 60×85 spotting scope.
To Read The Full Review On Leupold’s VX-6HD Gen 2 Scope CLICK HERE!
The SX-4 Pro Guide HD Gen 2 20-60×85 Angled
Available in straight and angled models, Leupold’s new spotting scope hits an under $1K price point, features Diamond-Coat, scratch-resistant lenses with Guard-ion lens coating that repels dirt, water, etc., like a Thermacell repels mosquitoes.
This may seem like a strange area to begin a spotting scope review, but I’m tough on my gear. Don’t be me, but I rarely cover the front lens or back lens of my spotter. The SX-4 even includes a front lens flap that’s sturdy and attaches. I seldom use it. Again, please don’t be me! I throw the spotter in my pack or strap it to the side. It bounces around in the back seat of my truck, and throughout a season, fierce western winds knock the scope/tripod combo to the ground multiple times.
I don’t want or have time for janky gear. Guard-ions lens coating is legit, and so is the durable, easy-grip armor housing. Leupold also provides a neoprene cover that slides over the scope for added protection. The design of the cover allows easy access to the rear magnification dial and center focusing wheel.
The Arca Swiss tripod adapter ensures fast and easy attachment and locks down tight in Leupold’s Mark 5 CF-436 Tripod Kit as well as other Leupold models and other non-Leupold tripods. I like the adapter’s length and width; both provide added stability and absolute lockdown.
Under five pounds, the scope isn’t a feather, but it gives you the horsepower you need. It measures a tick under 18 inches long and has a minimum magnification range between 20 and 60. The angled eye-piece (my model) wears a padded, oversized rubber ring, and the eye-piece adjusts to four eye-relief settings, which is ideal for lighting changes throughout the day. Eye relief on low mag is 19 and 17.8 on high mag. The scope also comes with interchangeable eye cups to ensure a customized eye-to-optic fit.
Both the magnification wheel and center focusing dial are smooth, rubberized, and feature ribs for a positive grip in any weather.
The SX-4 Pro Guide HD GEN 2 In The Field
Spain’s Sierra Nevada mountain range is as rugged and rough as they come. The locale of the range we were hunting was dry, dusty, and littered with rocky spine ridges, deep knife cuts, and bottomless canyons. Adding to the difficulty, the tan and black coat of the ibex blended into the tanish/white crumbly rock hillsides.
Still, from dawn to dusk, we located multiple ibex—singles and herds—using a combination of Leupold’s BX-4 Range Gen 2 rangefinding binos and the SX-4 Pro Guide HD.
To Read The Full Review On Leupold’s BX-4 Range Gen 2 rangefinding binos CLICK HERE!
Our guide, Carlos Castro, took one look through the SX-4 Pro Guide HD Gen 2, looked right at me, and said, “This spotting scope will change my business.” Castro now has two SX-4 Pro Guide spotters.
Leupold’s Elite Optical System is well known, and it works as advertised. The system gathers maximum light during twilight times but doesn’t create glare during times of intense sunlight. Colors are bright and vibrant, and the focusing wheel is finite and allows you to obtain maximum clarity.
I have zero science to back this up, other than on a recent sheep hunt, my buddies and I sat three spotting scopes—all set at the same magnification setting—side by side. It was noon, and the August sun was beating down on us. We had two legal rams located exactly 1,182 yards away. While each of us favored the low-light clarity and functionality of our own spotters, all of us agreed that the Elite Optical System outperformed the others in reducing the mirage effect (heat waves) that is common when glassing during midday.
You Hit High
I’d made an excellent shot on my Southeastern ibex. It was over 350 yards, and the goat was on a spine ridge with nothing but blue sky behind him. Days later, full of confidence, I was smiling when the trigger on my X-Bolt 2 Speed LR chambered in 6.8 Western broke. The target was a massive Iberian mouflon.
To Read The Full Review On Browning’s X-Bolt 2 LR CLICK HERE!
“Miss,” was the call from Carlos. “You hit high.”
Carlos watched the bullet’s vapor trail and saw it crush a rock just over the ram’s back. We did have some language barrier issues on this venture—it was nobody’s fault—it’s just the truth. A yard is 36 inches. A meter is 39.3701 inches. Carlos was giving me the range in meters. Three hundred ninety-eight yards (I ranged it after) is 435.258 meters. Carlos told me 435, so I spun the turret and sent it. The next morning, I killed a slammer mouflon at 250ish yards. Rafe provided the range in yards.
The bottom line is: we killed five animals in five days of hunting, and the SX-4 Pro Guide HD Gen 2 was a critical part of each hunt.
As I type this, minutes before it hits the Born Hunting website, I’m on the side of a mountain, set up under a shade tree, doing work. Thank GOD for Starlink! My Leupold SX-4 Pro Guide HD Gen 2 is right next to me, and in a few hours, it will find more Rocky Mountain big horn sheep, and Lord willing, my good buddy Jason will send an Easton through one’s lungs.
