Spotting Scope
A high-magnification telescope used to observe targets at distance: read impacts, judge wind via mirage, score competitions.
Spotting scopes run 15-60x magnification, much higher than rifle scopes. The shooter (or a partner spotter) uses one between strings to confirm hits, read wind off the mirage at half-distance, and call corrections.
For long-range competition, a quality spotter (Swarovski, Kowa, Leica, Vortex Razor HD) shows you clearly where your bullet landed and reads the mirage between shots. Budget glass struggles most in heat shimmer and low light, which is exactly when the read matters most, so it pays to buy the best spotter your budget allows.