Where it will make the absolute difference is when you first setup in a new spot, you can range different trees, stumps or land marks around your stand to see exactly how far things are and when it comes to crunch time, you won't have to guess at the yardage. That's where rangefinders are the best. Not really when you have a deer coming up to you and your trying to figure out it's distance away. Are they a fancy gadget? Depends on how you look at it. If your a great judged of distance once your in a tree stand, then no....you probably don't need it. But if your like me and have a tough time judging just how far something is. Then it's a great tool(toy) to have.