Range Finder

[Marc]

Has any one of you had any experience with range finders for rifle hunting? I’m originally from out east and was blessed with the opportunity to move to BC. This mountain hunting in BC is throwing me off for distances. We could never see that far back home. If I’m going to make a shot I want to make sure that my rifle is going to be on target. I don’t want to make a bad judgment and hit him high or low. 8O Has anyone used a range finder and what are your comments on any certain type I should or shouldn’t get.

Thanks.

Marc.

[bone-collector]

yes marc we use them all the time, I havent found any bad ones yet only bad prices , a bushnell 800 is plenty as it will pick a hard target @ 600 yards and a metalic target at 800 , depending on size of hard target , we use them guiding for the hunters , alot of them have the same problem you are

bushnell yardage pros are about the most popular and afordable I think , that I would purchase :D

[grizz]

Marc
I have a Bushnell yardage pro 800 and have been happy with it.It will even pick up the float distance when we are prawning.We tried that to test it out.If you want to try one before you buy you are welcome to borrow mine anytime.
grizz

[Steeleco]

I have a Bushnell Yardage Pro Sport It's about 1/2 the price of the nice ones but works fine. I find myself only using it for a little while once I've climed into a newish area, I scan to fixed landmarks and put it away. The best thing in the year I've owned it, is my ability to judge distance, I take it in the bush when I go scouting or just bush wacking. I now know the differance between 200yds and 300yds. One of those toys you never needed till you own one, but now I can't leave home without it. Buy the best you can afford you won't be sorry. steeleco

[Marc]

Hey Grizz I may take you up on that offer for the spring bear season if you dont mind, or are you going out too?

Marc.

[grizz]

Marc
I don't generally go out for bear and I only go once a year on the Island for deer.If you want to pick it up sometime just to get familiar with it you are welcome.I often take it with me even if I just go for a ride.It can sure make a liar out of most people on distance judging.
Grizz

[Marc]

Thanks for the kind offer Grizz, I'll probibly take you up on it in the spring. I'd like to do the ultimate trial on it on a bear. :D That's if you let me.

[Nails]

Has anyone used a rangefinder during a rain storm and what kind of results did you have?

[dizzydan]

Nails I beleave there is a rain mode on them. DAN>>> :wink:

[Nails]

Hi Dan I have heard they have a rain mode. I did not explain myself very good. I wanted to know how waterproof or resistant are they. I have heard some models are waterproof but don't know for sure. If anyone has used it in the rain, and had it damaged.

[StoneChaser]

Todd, I use a Bushnell Yardage Pro Legend, and love it. IMHO it is the best bang for the buck on the market. It is very light and compact, it is waterproof, and it floats. Furthermore, it is reliable. I have ranged deer out past 600yds, and rocks and trees over 700yds. It will hit a reflective target over 900yds (haven't tried it though). They are $427 from Higginson powder, a great value. I have packed numerous other models, but never owned one before due to the cumbersome nature of the others. This one is small enough that you WILL pack it.

StoneChaser

[Nails]

Thanks StoneChaser, I have been leaning towards bushnells. I know there a trade-offs with each manufactors models. I want to be able to use one in the rain and not have to worry about it.

[Foxer]

A rangefinder is a great thing - but to be honest with you it's still important to learn to rely and use your max point blank calculations to your advantage.

On a deer, you can strike about three inches high or three inches low and it's going to still be a fatal shot. For most guns, that means out to about 300 yards you just point and shoot. That elminates a lot of guess work.

Take the 30-06, with a 165 grain bullet at a leisurly 2800 fps. You're max point blank is about 273 yards. That takes care of 95 percent of your shooting - IF you learn to trust it and don't try to compensate for distance. If you think the animal is way out there - say between 300 and 400 yards - you simply shift your aimpoint to just above the shoulder The drop is such that even if you've screwed up your distances badly, it's still a fatal shot. At 400 yards that bullet is going to still strike the lower lung area and possibly the heart, if you screwed up and its actually 275 yards its' going to hit the shoulder area (sure, a little meat loss but not much at all, and that's only if you screw up by a fair bit.).

Rangefinders are Awesome for training the eye - and they're great for those times when you have lots of time to zap a few 'landmarks' in a feild so that you've got a better idea of distances.

The vast majority of game in bc is still taken under 200 yards, and 300 yards is a long shot in the bush under hunting conditions even if you have a pretty decent rest. Learning to work with and trust point blank zero calculations and specific aimpoints will do more than anything to help guarantee the hit is a kill in the field. If you're shooting more that 300 yards in the woods - you'd better be a pretty practiced shot :) a rangefinder would be invaluable then, but you'll need a lot of skill to take advantage of that info.

[bone-collector]

haha ok I have to ask Warren do you actualy think all that out when getting ready to shoot a critter? or just throw the rifle up and drop the hammer ?

Warrens modern hunting methods-BORE the moose to death with theory :lol: :lol: :lol:

j/k bud

[Foxer]

haha ok I have to ask Warren do you actualy think all that out when getting ready to shoot a critter? or just throw the rifle up and drop the hammer ?



Haha indeed you ole gastro-intestinal anomaly :lol:

I do all the thinking long before i go out - the whole point is to not have to think at all in the field - just point and shoot and let your rifle do it's job.

I don't doubt you've seen the 'range' syndrome in the feild with a newbie suffering from a good case of buck fever - they dial up the scope and try to compensate for range with their gun and either go way over or way under. I just have to decide if it's under 300 or between 3 and 4 hundred. I know the gun will be within 3 inches plus or minus out to 3, and if i put it on the shoulder i'm good to 4 and change.

And it's hardly a modern idea as you well know :)

And i do NOT bore the animial to death .. i just bore it to the point where it realizes it's just easier to let me shoot it. There's a difference. :lol:

[bone-collector]

hmm actualy no I just throw it up and shoot , never thought of it before :lol:

[todbartell]

I got a Bushnell Yardage PRO500, it works out in the field to about 350 yards on trees and deer. I've tagged highly reflectable signs out to 800 yards. But 400 is about max under good conditions in the field on big trees. :idea:

It's a big clumsy thing, weighs 16 ozs with the battery. :? I'd much prefer the more compact, and powerful Bushnell Legend. http://www.ls2.com/forums/images/smilies/yup.gif

[416]

l own a bushnell yardage pro-800 and besides being 1st genereation read (read big) l have no complaints. Infact because of its reliability l haven't changed it out. My partner has a Lecia and yeah, if l was doing it over again l would buy the smaller more powerful units, but mine has given me distances right out to 999 yards!!! Its as fast to aquire as any of the more modern ones l had it up against and other then its size l can't justify buying a new one.
Between the range finder and a properly decked out hunting rig you can cover alot of area from one posistion.

[GoatGuy]

Now that I'm using my second bushnell, first one crapped out after two years, I wouldn't buy anything other than a leica. Had a couple hunter's with them and wow am I impressed. Clearer, picks up targets much quicker and picks up targets way farther. I've had days where my rangefinder wouldn't work any farther than 300yrds. If a range finder only goes to 300 yrds. what good is it to you? You can shoot that far with most rifles nowadays without having your bullet drop much more than 6-8".

[rock]

Has any one of you had any experience with range finders for rifle hunting? I’m originally from out east and was blessed with the opportunity to move to BC. This mountain hunting in BC is throwing me off for distances. We could never see that far back home. If I’m going to make a shot I want to make sure that my rifle is going to be on target. I don’t want to make a bad judgment and hit him high or low. 8O Has anyone used a range finder and what are your comments on any certain type I should or shouldn’t get.

Thanks.

Marc. Dont leave camp without one, Bone collector right , Bushnell is reasonably priced, and simple to use and if your borrowing grizz Im sure you will be buying one in the future....:)

[boxhitch]

My rangefinder is a Leica 800. Size does matter, this one is with me all the time, though I use it less and less. They are a great learning tool, test yourself and friends all the time, soon you will relie on it less. Now I use it more to settle a disagreement about range.
Foxer - Very true about PBR. Most flat shooters can be zeroed at 300 yds. and get 99% of the shots in the KZ. Just remember the POI at 150 is high. Most hunters like to have their rifles 0'd at 200, so their is no correcting at shorter distances, knowing that this is good for most occasions. Thus the adjustment (holdover) for the rare long shot.
I think alot of the error occurs because lots of hunters don't realize the correct distance in the field (even on 200-300 yd ) Try judging a moose when you can only see 12" of the back, or a buck wwwwaaayyyy across an open cutblock which has as much vertical as horizontal ground. Rangefinders tend to make liers of us all, sometime or another.

[Thunderstix]

I bought a Yardage Pro Compact 800 in the Fall of 2000 after a moose hunting trip on the south side of the Skeena. There was myself, my buddy, and his uncle. We split up at the convergence of 3 logging roads. I went down, my buddy went up, and the uncle went horizontal. I had walked mybe 1/2 KM down the hill when I heard BANG......BANG......BANG......BANG................ ....BANG.......BANG! Holy smokes! How many moose did these guys shoot?! I ran back up the hill, pack and all on my back as I was excited. I got to the top to find the uncle standing there also excited. "I have a moose down" he exclaims! We go where the spent cases are laying on the ground and he proceeds to point at a tree down a nasty steep slash and tells me the moose is laying at the bottom of it or there-abouts. What was all the shooting about I ask. Well, he says, the dang moose was 300 yards plus. I look at the tree and say that it is at the most 170 yards. Not a dang chance he says. I climb down to the moose (10 ugly minutes), gut it, and come back up as it is now getting dark. We will come back tomorrow to pack it out and also to bring the uncles range finder which was in camp. That night we talk about the shot and continue to disagree about the distance, but in a friendly way. The next day we go back, he puts the range finder up and then looks at me sheepishly and says, "154 yards". Yikes! He had been holding just over the mooses back and had in fact only hit it once out of 6 shots. After that trip I thought man I have to get a range finder. After getting one, I would test myself on distances and found that I failed miserably at times, especially over water. I am a lot better now at judging but nowhere near as accurate as my range finder.

[Fred]

I found the same thing after I got my Yardage Pro T,Stix! I showed it to quite a few people and sort of challanged them to guess a distance of their choosing. Only 1 guy in about 20 or so challanged was even close and he was almost dead on but that was only at about 150 yards. The ownership of a rangefinder can be a real eyeopener! :lol: Fred

[Thunderstix]

And an income provider if you are a betting man:grin:

[barehunter]

I have a yardage pro sport and have used it for a few years with good results in almost all conditions ( it's less effective at long range in heavy rain and fog ). It has been a great tool for learning and practicing yardages.

[hoochie]

Have you thought about a Mil Dot scope? fairly pricey, but it lets you do all the calculations based on how many mils the object takes up in your reticle.

object in yards x1000 divided by the number of mils.... easy

[oldtimer]

Foxer... As a bowhunter only willy has taught me well. don't leave home without your range finder !! I borrow his, a bushnell yardage pro I believe. for a novice bowhunter a 5 yard miscalculation will lead to frustration. I find a nice spot to sit and wait, get the yardages of objects around me and then wait. This makes me much more confident than my guesses would. Mike

[Ryan's A Mess]

I have a Swavorski?? Did I spell that right?? I have read distance on deer up 1600 yards, too far to shoot but nice to know how far you have to get to get a good close shot. Works fairly well in the rain, but craps out over 450 yards in the fog.

[huntersdad]

Hey
I had a poor mans range finder on Van Isle. The logging slashes would only be 1000ft. max from the spur line. Easy ranging 333yrds max. Now with the invention of the longline, they yard from one side of the valley to the other. I guess I will have to buy one of those new fangled lasers.

[Bow Walker]

I'm waiting on my Yardage Pro Trophy in camo right now. Waiting a bit impatiently I might add.

Bought it from Canadian Camo - online - $275.00 I have been looking and pricing for a couple of months now and finally decided on the one from Can. Camo.

After reading all the specs, weighing one against another, and finally coming to a decision, I bit-the-bullet and put up the cash. It should be here this coming week, I hope.

They are a MUST (in my opinion) for bowhunters. A slight miscalculation in yardage estimation (only 5 - 8 yards) will mean the differnce between eating venison steak or having to making soup from the tracks and poop.