MOTOWNHONKEY

I range all my spots as part of my preseason routine. I put little flags in the ground that match the color of my pins (red,green,orange). When the buck comes in there is zero guessing. Red flag 20 yds, Green 30 and Orange 40. If there is an opening to shoot I put a flag there. I still carry the rangefinder though because its something can tinker with to pass time by. It's gospel guys, go buy you some little flags on a wire.

brucelanthier

Correction: I was thinking with my gun and not my bow. I would not take a 43 yd shot. But, I would need a rangefinder to tell me it was 43 yds .

jmbuckhunter

When I saw this in the morning I never dreamed it would go on this long. I never leave home without mine.

C-WOODS-SHOOT

I hate carrying alot of extra things in the woods. I don't take binoculars, calls, rattling antlers, and rarely any food. But one thing I never leave behind is my rangefinder. The main reason is because I also believe in heavy arrows that only fly at about 235 fps.

I take mine on camping trips and step out in the woods in the morningto practice judging while the rest of the familyare still asleep.

As far as these "one pin out to thirty yards" people go, when I was heavy into 3-D and shooting 295 fps second there was always a difference from 10 to 20 and from 20 to 30. When I'm shooting at a dot, 11 ring , or a tuft of hair on the side of a deer that is exactly where I want to hit. Not an inch or two high or low. I guess this mentality has carried over from 3-D to hunting and that is another reason for the rangefinder.

Anybody who has shot 3-D alot knows there are certain conditions such as lighting (someone mentioned this earlier), elevation , color of target, and size of target that can cause bad estimations. Even the best of estimators mess up now and then. I don't want that time to be on the biggest buck of my life.

I would agree that if you don't plan on shooting past 20 yards you probably don't need one although I would still use mine to find 20 yards just for peace of mind.

GR8atta2d

I don't know of anyone arguing that point. Kudos to those of you who shoot known (shorter) distances. I think that's why a lot of statements are generic as in "I do this".

But from my stand-point..I see the lists of stuff, a lot of you post of what you "pack" in on every hunt. If your bringing stuff for every scenerio why not bring the range-finder? Perhaps the question should be just that, "Why do you NOT use a range-finder". In Rybo response would be..I shoot only close shots at distances inside 20 yards..and that would be a valid answer!

HuntingBry

This is one of the main reasons I use it. A lot of things can happen in bowhunting. The deer can move, the wind can gust, that little branch you didn't see can reach out and grab your arrow, and more. So if I know exactly where I should expect to hit and something does happen there is more margin for the other things that can happen. And if I bury the arrow right where I put the pin, all the better.

As far as only shooting 20 yards and in, that is a personal choice. I know my limitations are far beyond that, but I don't push it too far because of the reasons above. On the other hand, I am not going to limit myself to short shots for no reason because there is always that perfect chance that could happen and I want to be ready for it.

Of all the gear I could trim back on that I take with me, my rangefinder would be one of the last things I'd leave behind.

GMMAT

I was shooting the Ally when I took that buck.

Itdid hit2" lower than I aimed. He went 40 yds.

atlasman

I cannot tolerate a margin of error that high.





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curth83

i got one this year for my birthday. i dont think i will ever hunt without one now. it just gives me a little sense of security knowing that if i missed the shot i couldnt blame it on a misjudged distance.

gutshot

So Atlas are you saying that "every" shot that you take you have NO doubt exactly where your arrow is going to hit. I have a hard time believing that. JMHO