You can learn to deal with it . . . In such situations angled eyepieces will cost you the quick look you needed. Obviously a hunting scope should be at least relatively compact and relatively light. Rubber armoring isn t essential, but it helps . . . None of these things make a spotting scope less useful on the bench.
Magnification is a more difficult decision.
In my experience, a spotting scope of about 20X has enough magnification to answer most questions you will ask of a spotting scope. Sometimes that s not enough power to perfectly count points on a distant deer, and you may not be able to count the annual rings on a wild sheep s horns, but 20X will serve you pretty well. The problem with more power is that you can t always use it. At the range or during casual varmint hunting two hunters can switch off shooting and spotting. I am always assuming that a spotting scope is used on a tripod, the steadier the better.