Range finder

[kodimack]

Do you use a range finder? What brand do you have and how do you like it.
Been thinking of getting one ,or is it a waste of time if most of your shots are 200yards and under.:confused:

[todbartell]

if you're not shooting long range it's probably not worth getting one, unless you shoot a bow :wink:

Rangefinders have evolved from paper weights to useful tools. My first (2002?) was a Bushnell Yardage Pro 500.....it was heavy, and ranging a deer past 250 yards or trees at 400 was not gonna happen.

Next was a Bushnell Elite 1500 ARC (2006).......great unit for ranging, but still fairly bulky

2007 I got a Leica 1200 CRF, super compact and lots of reach...ranging a moose at 800 or trees at 1100-1200 yards was not uncommon. My first one lasted two seasons when it packed it in, and wouldnt range past 400 yards. Leica replaced it with a new one, it was ok for a while but I ran into the same problems. Talking with other Leica 1200 owners it seems I had some bad luck, since they are known to be good units. Sent it in and despite being past the warranty cutoff, they mailed me a new one. Good on Leica. I sold it

Tried a Leupold RX1000 this fall. It's ok for ranging, not spectacular by any means...for the life of me I couldnt range a coyote at 400 yards a couple weeks back. Nice and compact however, we'll see how things go

[Steeleco]

I use a Leupold RXII. I wouldn't buy another one as it's been problematic.
Under 200yds it's almost a waste, BUT the amount of times that 250 yd guess as been off by LOTS has made mine worth the money!!

[Lillypuff]

I have an old bushnell 800 I think and was a big waste of money and extra wieght it just sits in my pack only time it comes out when sitting and glassing for hours on end. I will never buy another range finder

[todbartell]

the technology advances are quite huge. If you have a need for one, and have the $$ for a good unit, you should go check out some of the new toys. You may be impressed

[pappy]

I had a bushnell yardage pro 500 and it finally packed it in after 5 or 6 years, I can't remember when I got it. It always worked when I needed it to, I used it for crossbow hunting and practice. I used it for practicing out to just over 500 yards with rifles. The last month or so before it died it was horrible at picking up targets past 40 yards, so I knew it was gonna quit soon. Now I'm also in the market for a new one, so I'll be checking this post later on, thanks for starting it.

[srupp]

leica 1200

[35 Whelen]

I just got a Leupold RX600 for Christmas. No frills, like slope compensation or any other of that stuff that clutters up the viewfinder. I am very happy with it. Ranges very well. It says it will range a deer to 400 and a tree to 600, so if I can't get a range on an animal, I will range the closest tree or rock next to it. Sure takes a lot of guess work out of estimating, especially in the north where stunted spruce makes it look like a kilometer away. I like mine, and it got great revues. Voted best bang for the buck.

[Frank]

Good thread!I've been looking and was going to purchase the leupold RX600 due to the excellent reviews found online.Then the young fellow at WSS showed me the Leupold 1000 TBR...(true ballistic range.)Apparently this takes into count the arc of your bullet?For example strait line of sight with the lazar may be say 400M looking down a steep hill.It also displays a TBR number,say 325M for example,and this is the number you use as a distance for correct shot placement as I understood it.Several different setting for most popular caliber/loads.Does this make sense to you?Does anyone have one of these and if so what do you think?

[The Hermit]

I had a Bushnell Yardage Pro and it was okay for the money but bulky. Then I bought a pair of Leica Geovid binos with the integrated range finder so sold it. Then upgraded my binos to the KOWA Genesis and had to buy another rangefinder... went with the Leica 900... very compact and works pretty good way out beyond any shot I'm ever going to take! ;-)

[cwocarsten]

I have a leica 1200. hunting camp last year I ranged an Elk at 1330yds, so I'm happy with it. Still have my Bushnell 800 that I am happy with too. I may sell the 800 or leave at it my cabin.

[yama49]

I have a zeiss, and it ranges out 1500, very quick, small recticle, and light.. I am happy with it. My next unit will be a rangefinder bino combo to get rid of some gear... jmo

[ROEBUCK]

I used to have a swarovski range finder which was excellant but very expensive so i sold it and baught a nikon archers choice rangefinder with incline, its great value and im pleased with it so far.

[hunter1947]

I just bought a new rang finder last year for $300.00 I bought it for bow hunting for the start of last bow season.

The make is a bushnell scout ARC 1000 I like this new range finder to no end here is a picture of it.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/P1090067.JPG (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=22177)

[Piperdown]

Leica 900 for me have had it for 5-6 years works great. Maybe bartell just had some bad luck.

[fearnodeer]

Funny thing my buddy just showed up yesterday with a swarovski range finder and i tried it out, it works great and very light. We talked about what uses it could have abd the best one i liked was if you were hunting and just sitting you could find a lot of the distances you were glassing to save you time if something came out. This range finder claims to be accurate to 1100 yards and yesterday the longest that we tried to spot was 990 yards and it worked fine. We also started playing a game quessing how far away something was then using the range finder to see who was closes, this i found good practice and going to keep doing. Don't know if this will help but its my first experiance with one.

[bcfarmer]

I currently have a couple of bushnells. I bought a scout about 8 plus years ago. Seemed alright at the time. Good for bowhunting, not so good for longer range animals.

Last year I purchased a 1200 with arc. I find it is small, compact and very easy to use. It comes with a CD with different bullet brands,weights, and speeds which you can match to your own rifle. It will then tell you the hold over for your rifle at that distance. ( practice at the range to verify)

Without it, I am not sure I would have gotten my goat.

They are tools, IMO, not 100 percent necessary, but fun to play with. It all depends on your own hunting, and or shooting abilities.

[pescado]

Leica 1200. Light, easy to use, works well.

[uraarchr]

Got the Bushnell Legend 1200 ARC last year .Works awesome to even 1200 yds plus.Consistently gives readings to 700-800 .The only time I have trouble is in a heavy mist.It's very small and fits in most of my pockets.A huge leap from the Bushnell Yard Pro Sprt 450 I had.

[waistdeep]

I have the Zeiss Victory 8 x 26 PRF and find many times i can just use it for a bino as well. quick and easy to aim shoot and read.

[2007st1300abs]

I just purchased a Leica CRF 1600, and I am very happy with it so far!

[quaywe]

I just finished doing the research on rangefinders, admittedly with an archery focus, I have developed an excel spreadsheet with my results complete with links to both the Cabela's & LaserRangeFinderReviews(dot)com reviews for each rangefinder.

If anyone wants a copy I'll gladly email it upon request, just send me a PM ...

I ended up purchasing the Nikon Riflehunter 550 ...

Some of the Bushnell's specs were very close to the Nikon's but a significant percentage of the purchasers reviews had horror stories about failures right out of the box and after a few months of usage, they also noted that Bushnell was extremely difficult to deal with regarding warranty issues.

I had friends that use Bushnell and they were happy but the negative issues relating to warranty & early failures were enough to point me to Nikon, besides it's really hard to beat their (Nikon's) reputation when it comes to Cameras and other optics.

Cheers,

Geoff