wvnimrod

I have been doing research on rangefinders,And have read countless reviews on them,And have heard many complian about Low Light performance or Lack of Angle Compensation. And I agree that not everyone needs Angle Compensation,but if its available why not have it? but we all would benifit from Low Light Performance,since early morning and Late evening are some of the most productive times.And that is my Question,Which do you feel is more IMPORTANT?
1.Angle Compensation
2.Low Light Performance
I know that both would be GREAT but,finding one that has both under $300 is not that easy! I have narrowed my choice down to two
1.NIKON LASER 800 (it has a LCD backlight to help in Low Light)but dont have A/C
2.NIKON 550 RIFLEHUNTER (it has Angle Compensation)but I've read compliants about its Low Light performance(No Backlight)
So what do you feel is most Important and WHY?
Or do you Know of a rangefinder with BOTH features for under $300?

bigcountry

Unless you are a long range rifle hunter that hunts mountains, the angle comp is about useless. The examples they give with ARC is about silly. You would have to be hunting on the side of a cliff for those examples to fly. For most hunters who climb 20 ft in a tree, the difference in shot is 1 maybe 2 yards up to 40 yards.

What is most important to me is clear picture, waterproofness, and ability to reach out to 1200 yards. I have the bushnell legend for bowhunting, and looking into the leica LRF1200 for rifle.

RacHunter

That is not true at all. If you hunt in steep mountains the angle compensation is a must. If where you hunt is mostly flat or rolling hills then angle compensation is not going to be that important to you but if you hunt steep areas or plan to in the future make sure you get angle compensation. You will be glad you did.

MoNoFletch

I was in your situation- I found that I didn't need the biggest and baddest range finder. I bought the Bushnell Scout 1000 for $99 and it is awesome! It only goes to 400 (I think) but I only hunt thick hardwood river bottoms, so shots are 75 or less. I would start with a cheapy and see what you like.

bigcountry

Well, I have killed deer in flatwoods, penelton, grant county, and wayne county, and can't say I could ever blame my range finder for high shots.

Grew up in Mingo county, you will find mostly in WV, its silly

wvnimrod

IMO in a normal treestand setup 20-25ft you would have to be on such of an incline for the angle compensation to be useful that you would have to start thinking about weather you will be able to make a good clean shot! I think that if you have to hunt that much of an incline and I know some do, that a groundblind setup would be a better choice,and would give you less of an angle to the animal. I mean if your already on an incline why compound the situation by climbing 20ft higher?

IMO its our responsibility as hunters to due everything we can to make a good clean kill,and IMO a shot at that kind of angle with a BOW is not a good shot, there is to much room for error,and to much of a chance of wounding animals! Even if you do know the exact yardage!!!

bigcountry

A lot of people things the shots are mostly affected 30-60 yards, but the biggest differences is close shots. Just a quick calcuation, shows if you are 24ft in a tree, and a deer is 10 yards from the tree stand, he is 6 yards from the tree base, you should have used 6 yard pin. But at 20 yards from the treestand, you should have used 18.3 yards pin because the deer is 18.3 yards from the base. At 30 yards, 28.91 yards. 50 yards, same as 49.3yards.

so your exactly right.

RacHunter

I live in Flatwoods but I do not hunt here. I grew up in Wyoming County. I do most all of my deer hunting in Wyoming County and a little bit of hunting in Boone County.

OK, so your normal set up is 20-25 feet high. My normal set up is 25-30 feet high, the reason that angle compensation is so important when hunting steep terrain is that the deer can very easily be 50-60 feet or even more below the base of the tree you are hunting in. I do not know anyone that puts their treestand 90 feet up a tree but I do know that several of my setups are exactly like this: 30 feet up a tree with the deer trail being 60 feet below the base of the tree. This is exactly the same as being 90 feet up a tree.
As far as a good clean shot. The angle would be no different than being 25' up a tree and shooting 12 yards. I also practice year round and always shoot from each treestand setup before hunting it.


Its kind of hard to explain but when your hunting really steep terrain a ground blind is just not a option because its way to steep to set one up. Typically if you can find a old skid road or something crossing the steep sections that is exactly where the deer travel so you cannot set up a blind there you must go up the mountain and set your treestand on the steep section and them trim out a couple of shooting lanes. The hunting in these areas is very hard and requires a lot of extra work but the big bucks make it all worth while.


If you are trying to set your stand so that you are watching two trails one uphill from you and the other one down hill from you. You must set your stand high otherwise the trail uphill from you will be at eye level to the deer and they will be looking right at you at very close range.

I will post below a typical situation I run into when hunting steep mountains.

RacHunter

Here is a example that I ran into this year:

After setting a treestand I ranged the deer trail below me. The rangefinder (with no angle compensation) tells me to shoot it for 34 yards. My treestand was 25' up a tree that was on a hillside and the deer trail was 45' lower than the base of the tree I was in.

When I shot my practice shot out of the treestand I was shooting high so after a couple of shots I tried shooting it for 25 yards instead of 35 and hit dead on. That is when I decided I had to have a angle compensation rangefinder. Awhile later when I went back with my new rangefinder the exact same shot read 24.6 yards.

I totally agreee that alot of people do not need a angle compensation rangefinder but I can also assure you that there are people out there missing shots because they do not have one. In the above example that is almost a 10 yard difference
and that is huge.

In the area I hunt the example above is a very common example for a treestand setup. It will also be very helpful in the area of Colorado where I elk hunt. If you hunt flat land or gradual rolling hills I am sure this would not be much of an issue.

That is exactly why I think it is very important to make sure people understand when this type of rangefinder can help them. If we just say things like:

then we have not really helped other hunters do everything they can to make that good clean kill we are all looking for.

As far as the shot angle goes.
The example I listed above has the same shot angle as a 12 yard shot from a 25 foot high treestand, it is a very common angle and not extreme by any means.

SILVERTIP-CO

I had a Cabela's 1200 that I really grew to dislike. Sold it for a pittance and bought a Bushnell 1500 and it works super duper. Neither had the ARC angle thing, but then again I paid attention in trig class so I just do the calcs in my head. Good luck on your search.