Homemade Shoulder Mount for a Spotting Scope
Spotting scopes are a great tool for getting a closer look at anything in the outdoors. For anyone interested in taking photography, birdwatching or hunting seriously, having a powerful and steadily mounted spotting scope is essential. Because of the high magnification of a spotting scope, it is near impossible to get a clear view of your target by holding the scope by hand. As an alternative to a tripod, which can be heavy and difficult to set up, making a shoulder mount from some cheap and accessible materials is an easy solution for stability.
Gutter Guard
A gutter guard or support bracket (the rounded metal guards that fit around a drainage gutter to hold it in place) is a perfect shape for the shoulder mount. The rounded part fits snugly over the shoulder, and most already have holes for bolts already there.
Tape or glue some foam lining to the rounded part of the gutter bracket so it fits more comfortably and snugly on the shoulder.
Bolt in another piece of metal onto the guard (can use a mounting bracket for bookcases) to create the optimal length of the shoulder mount. The eyepiece spotting scope should be just at eye level.
Modified Chin-Up Bar
Those chin-up bars that fit over a doorway are a good option because of the shape and adjustable handles (this works best for the kind that have hooked handles). This kind of mount would theoretically go over both of the shoulders and provide another point of stability (although is a bit more cumbersome than the gutter bracket.)
The hooked handles would fit over the shoulder and the bar going across (which normally hooks over the door frame) is the crossbar on which you could mount the spotting scope. The most stable option would require drilling holes through the bar for bolting the scope's platform.
PVC Pipe
The connectable plastic PVC pipe can also be a good solution, though it does require the most amount of goods from outside the house. Straight PVC pieces comprise the handles while a curved "elbow" piece serves as the shoulder mount (another option is putting the curved piece underneath the armpit for stability rather than over the shoulder).
Put a bolt up through the handle pipes that can screw into the spotting scope.
Tags: over shoulder, shoulder mount, gutter bracket, Homemade Shoulder, Homemade Shoulder Mount, hooked handles
