How many of you use a rangefinder for hunting?

Bushmaster

My style of hunting demands that you go as light as possible. And like Handloader I tend to limit my shots to under 300 yards. My longest was under 250 yards.

Aah 1895ss...Back from the wars I assume...Good evening...

1895ss

Bushmaster wrote:

Aah 1895ss...Back from the wars I assume...Good evening...

Good evening, Naah we got freezing rain in the area we where at and it's hard to put the paint on the pavement when it's covered with ice so we got to come home for the evening. But we are gone again tomorrow to other parts of the province.

Where I do most of my hunting and the way I hunt, one doesn't have time to use a rangefinder before the shot. So I use it mostly to check my guesstimation of hills, huge rocks etc, while walking the river hills, just to see how accurate my guesstimation's are.

Arizona Hunter · Member Joined: Jul 22, 2006 Posts: 275

I got the rangefinder mostly to range while out predator calling or for potting prarie dogs.
Now did I need it last weekend for deer yes and no. We were glassing some deer and my friend thought they were 300 yards using the Guessing method, but when we both put the Finders on them, it turned out they were at 394 yards!

Anyway when it came time to shoot I knew I could make the shot without ranging it , which later we measured at 175 yds.

Ther is a place in the house for both with the big G getting most of the use.

Bushmaster

There see...You need to get your "Guesstimation Finders" calibrated...

george20042007

Com'n Bushy, out here we golf with .223s. Precise shot placement is important to getting what's left of the ball into the cup Very Happy

Keep it coming...

Dimitri · Super Member Joined: Nov 25, 2005 Posts: 5947

George,

That sounds like Golf'ing that I might actually be able to do! Very Happy

I tried the other golf never managed to hit the ball stright. I got stuck calling "FOUR!" one too many times so gave it up the first couple of days of me trying to play. Shocked

Dimitri

moose2

For hunting I use the Bushnell Elite 1500. My guestimation really sucks to say the least. I can't tell between 300 or 400 yards. Sure maybe the rangefinder is a crutch, but when one is handicapped by not being able to judge distances, I find nothing wrong with a crutch like a rangefinder--tr

squirrelbait

The truth be known, if I had the money I would probably get one. I could never see myself taking a shot at game beyond 250-300yds but knowing the distance more precisely would certainly help with shot placement.
Any yes, Bushmaster, I know my guestimation gadget needs calibration from time to time. I find myself wondering by golf couses from time to time to test myself. I would probably just play the damn thing all the time testing myself.

george20042007

I'd be interested in knowing which range finder really works Confused

The kind we used in the military are way too expensive for me. Is there anything as good for us poor hunters?
Keep it coming...

1895ss

george20042007 wrote:

I'd be interested in knowing which range finder really works Confused

The kind we used in the military are way too expensive for me. Is there anything as good for us poor hunters?
Keep it coming...

Well George my bushnell yardage pro trophy works great and is a good value for the money I figger.......... There are better and there are others not as good but this one does what I need and that is to help recalibrate the quesstimation thingy from time to time.

www.bushnell.com/gener...on=Hunting

moose2

george20042007 wrote:

I'd be interested in knowing which range finder really works Confused

The kind we used in the military are way too expensive for me. Is there anything as good for us poor hunters?
Keep it coming...

George, I been using the bushnell 1500 for better than a year now, and I've found that it does work as advertised. I live on the northern prairies and it will range deer and antelope at better than 800 yards and it will range large objects past 1500 yards. I have been very pleased with it.
I have never used it in heavily treed areas, so don't know its capabilites in those conditions.--tr

george20042007

Yardage pro or 1500 Confused

Two many choices! I can see this is going to have to be researced more. Atleast I have some good recommendations. Thanks guys Smile

Keep it coming...

tracker

I've never used one, but I'm seriously considering so I can learn to range things better.Mostly because I have no frickin idea how far I'm shooting. I was telling some guys about a shot I made and told them it was about 125 yards. My brother-in-law was with me at the time and shook his head and said "more like 225" I didn't think I could see that far never mind shoot.

Dimitri · Super Member Joined: Nov 25, 2005 Posts: 5947

Remember most range finders are listed for the range they can range with a "reflective target".

The guy at Bass Pro (nice guy by the way) said that for feild applications in general you should cut that number in atleast half for what range it can range properly at a darker/less reflective target like deer or trees because most range finders (he showed me the boxes too) listed a max range for non-reflective items like deers and trees at half or less of the listed "max" range it can read out to. Smile

Bushnells Elite 1500 for example lists for reflective items its good out to 1600 yards, but for trees only 1000 yards and for deer 500 yards. Smile

Dimitri

tracker

See? been here one day and I'm learning stuff already, thanks Dmitri