Outdoor RY

If so, what kind?

MichaelT.

Not if you practice and know your ranges.

Not if you limit the distance of your shots to known ranges.

Not if you mark your distances around your stands with some type of marker.

What did everyone do before we had range finders available..... lots of folks still killed deer every year.

So the answer is no..... they are not a necessity.

That being said , I bought one a couple of years ago .... I got the Nikon 440 and I am happy with it. But I get my distances in my stand areas before the season starts and I very rarely ever use one while hunting.

Rory/MO

very good post.

Dubbya

Very true MT, however, they are extremely useful in new environments and in those instances where you don't have the ability to mark distances.

But you are correct. Necessity? No.

Edcyclopedia

I just bought a Nikon 440 last year and like it.

The "main" reason I bought it was to go on a hunt in Texas and I wanted to know when I shooting past 300 yards to compensate for bullet drop.
As an example, I shot a Turkey @ 325 yards and knew I had to adjust by 8 inches to kill that Turkey.
I would get on stand and pick terrain features all around me so I knew the distance I was shooting.
So I believe they are useful for this type of distance or if you have a hard time judging distances in general.
I say judging distances, as I think I do pretty good distinguishing yardage and what has helped me do this is playing a lot of golf.
As anyone that plays golf, or can imagine, knowing the proper distances to select the right club is essential.

I now use the range finder when I set a stand up for Archery, to fine tune the exact distance to 30 yards, which is my farthest shot I will comfortably take.
Als, testing/training yourself with known distances can also help, like when you go to work or the mall and look across the parking lots, etc.
If you know that distance and play it as a game, it will better aid your judging.

kwilson16

They're a very useful tool. If you are hunting a stand often enough to memorize the terrain distances, you're in danger of overhunting that set-up. I range various landmarks after arriving at the my hunting height.

davidmil

Of course it's not a necessity, it can be a useful little toy though. I do mostly climber hunting and usually not from the same trees. The terrain can be from flat, to extreme downhill sideslope cliffs almost. The height is determined by vegetation, winds and each situation is different. When you hunt from 14 feet on flat ground one day and 22 feet on a steep hillside the next, well distances can be tough. I'm thinking of getting one of these new range compensating rangefinders just for the heck of it. On these hills a 30-35 yard shot can easily be shot as point blank one. I already own 2 rangefinders. Of course I don't need one. I hunted for 25 years without one.... but dang they're handy. I always practice guestimating the range first and then range it to see how close I am. Usually I'm pretty good out to 30 or so but once in a while I'm thrown a real curve ball when ranging across a gully, down or uphill. I don't shoot 3D so I really need all the practice I can get. I'll sit out on the back porch or front porch and guess and range just to see how I'm doing. Personnally, when I get beyond 30 my ranging goes to hell.40 yards I'm probably off 5 yards half the time... that's a miss.

royak

Have to have it NO but as stated a very good tool to have with you

Philg

I have and like the Leupold RX2. But I believe there are several other good ones as-well.

virginiashadow

If you practice your shots at various ranges, more than likely you will not need one out to 35 yards or so.