thinking of buying a range finder for deer hunting this year. i pretty sure i want one that figures in the angle of the shot.... i think its called "arc" hopeully trying to stay under $300 anyone have any recomendations ?
I don't know what they cost but leupold was the first actual rangefinder to figure exactly the angle for true range I think-it might be that I just like almost anything that leupold comes out with.
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read a post on varmints den by a guy who's an optics dealer, he said the new loopy's were pretty dismal, I've used several rangefinders and you get what ya pay for, I like my leica 1200
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I really like my Nikon 800. The guy at the Sportsmans Warehouse only recommended the Nikon or the Leica, and I didn't want to pay that much for the Leica. But, it was BY FAR the best one there. My Nikon gets the job done though. The guy said he has heard a lot of complaints about the Leupolds and their TBR thingy.
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A golf course is a willful and deliberate misuse of a perfectly good rifle range.
Love my leica, never had a problem. I like the red led in the lieca. opticsand battery management is much better then my bushnell. Big plus if you range the same object/distancethe liecareturns the same distance each time, many others i have used do not.
For bow hunting, it is more important to have a range finder that is accurate to 100 yards and a good reflective range - especially in bad conditions such as rain and snow than it is to have one that is good to 800 yards with all kinds of fancy knick knacks and do dad's.
For shooting with a rifle, a 800 yard range finder is good if you live someplace where you can see and shoot 800 yards. But is not as much use if you hunt someplace where you only shoot 100 to 300 yards.
For those situations, again, it isn't as important - what gee gaws and knick knacks it has as it is it's reflective range. How it performs in the rain and snow.
I like the Bushnell and also the Nikon, both good range finders for the money.
I bought the Bushnell Elite 1500. The new ones have ARC but are much more than $300 I'm afraid. I really like the Leica better, the red is just so nice, but when I bought mine the Leica were not guarenteed waterproof, and I HAVE to have waterproof.
Anywho, since I'm a rifle guy out west, I'm ranging deer and elk and coyotes out past 500 yards a fair amount. Ranged some elk at 700 yards last fall, though that's too fartoo shoot by a long way in my opinion, still nice to know just how far they are. I wanted one strong enough to give me a solid read out to 400 yards on deer and coyote size game so that's why I got that one. Works pretty well for me, little big, but not bad. Rainguard is nice too. And, as a test, I ranged a white metal building at dusk once at 1,572 yards, that was cool.
I have the Nikon Monarch 800 and love it. Fast target aquisition, very accurate, waterpoof, and less than 300 bucks. I use it for both golf and hunting.
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I bought the Nikon Monarch 800 when they first came out. The eye cup fell off the first season, the rubber on the top by the trigger button fell off pretty quick. It still works but I was frustrated at how easy parts fell off and got lost. Once the eye cup was gone it was hard to get the eye relief right.
I bought a Leica CF1200 this fall. It has MUCH better glass. The 7x glass is much muchclearer than looking through the Nikon. It ranges farther, Although 800 vs 1200 who cares, I'm not shooting anywhere near that distance. Leica battery life is 2000scans vs 600 to 1000 for most range finders. But the battery does cost more. It uses Lithium camera batteries vs AA or AAA
I like the scan mode on the Nikon. The Leica has a onepush of the button,one reading.
I've never had much problem with angle of shot with a rifle in reasonable distances. Bowhunters in Tree stands, or Sheep/Goat hunters on very steep cliff may find that an important feature. But the normal angles that I shoot Mule Deer and Eld at, it's not important to me.
rangefinder
