trueoutdoorsman

Well, Iim heading out now, continue on enjoying yourself, I actually have a life, and I'm heading to bed now.

AR Bowhunter

Wash, outdoors does have the upper hand on you. He is a whole year older than you, was thinking he might be10 or 20 years older.

Now back to the question with someone that has used one of those products. I have used the Leuopold RX-II had one for a year. The arc I do like find it useful in some situations especially steep terrain. The rangefinder got to where it would not hit a target but maybe 3 of 10 attempts. I returned it an got a Nikon an it is fast an will hit a target every time.

bigbulls

I don't personally use either but sell both.

We have hadabout 4 or 5 of the Leupolds not working and brought back for return or repairand as of today none with the Bushnell.

The Bushnell is a whoooooooooooooooole lot more user friendly. The Leupold is extremely confusing to get set to the correct function and God forbid if you accidentally hit a button and need to get back to where you were.

Sure these "ARC" type of range finders aren't necessary in every scenario when aiming at a 9" target from 20 yards but they will tell you exactly where to aim and on longer shots or with a rifle they may mean the difference between a clean kill and a miss. If you are like me and prefer to get 30 feet up in a tree, a 20 yard shot is a very steep angle from which to shoot.

Oneshot7

Just stick with the 400 models for $125 from Bushnell and not worry about that arc crap. I have never shot over or under a deer, because my rangefinder can not shoot an arc to find that actual distance.

childers

i dont think they are necessary. i think that you should know how ot glass the measurements

childers

somebody is really full of themselves and feels threatened haha

Paul L Mohr

For bowhunting I personally wouldn't spend the extra money for that feature alone. It simply will not make a difference. If you are missing your mark at bowhunting ranges and normal stand heights it has to do with improper shooting form, not miss judging the distance. You would be better served getting a decent 3-D target and practicing different shot angles out of a stand.

I have not looked at range finders recently. I got a bushnell a few years back and it works fine for my purposes. Except I have an older model that will not range under 20 yards. The thing I noticed is that most of them have pretty crappy optics in them. My bushnell is like looking through one of those half inch crossman bb gun scopes. I say look at them and get the one that has the best optics. I really wish I would have ponied up the extra 100 bucks when I got mine and purchased a Leica instead. It had MUCH clearer optics, and at a higher power. Plus the read out was easier to see, it ranged farther and it ranged closer. What was I thinking?

I looked at the cabela's site and the leicas they have are pretty darned expensive, they were only like 400 bucks when I got mine. Maybe you could look for an older model or a used one and save some cash.

Now if you were going to gun hunt at longer ranges in steep places maybe it would be worth it. But in that situation you are still going to have to figure out what the angle will do to your bullet trajectory as well.

And without looking at the two, I think I would pick the Leupold. Looks to be about the same money, but it has more features, probably has better optics and you have the Leupold warranty.

Another thing to keep in mind, when you bow hunt you probably will not be ranging deer before you shoot them. Most range a perimeter around the stand that they are comfortable with and then wait for the deer to step into it. At least that is how I do it. Good luck ranging a deer, putting the range finder down, then picking up your bow, drawing and shooting. It works ok for gun season, but I don't think you will pull it off in a tree stand with deer 20 yards away.

Paul

Paul L Mohr

You have 10 posts and 5 of them are in this thread with you slamming on a member that has been here for years and actually presents himself as being older than he is. And another promoting your own website. (is that a voilation of the rules?) If I had to pick who the A hole was I think I would be leaning towards you. Way to make a first impression[:-].

Paul

FireDiver

Let's see.......he asked if anyone had tried these units and what we thought and which one would we recommend.

I skipped the "had tried" part of his question and went straight to "what I thought".....so I did give him what he wanted.

Here is "what I think" in a little more detail.

This diagram was created using distances straight from the Bushnell website. I am not bashing Bushnell.....I am just using a picture to further detail my opinion of the technology...especially for a bow hunter.

They give you "line of sight" and actual distance on the website and in the commercials. What they fail to give you is the height of the hunter. Using their numbers.....the hunter would be over 66' up in the tree!!!!!!

Drop the hunter down to an average height of 20'.....and the line of sight on a 23 yard shot drops from 32 yards to 24 yards.

BigGamerz

Ihave used the Leupoldrx3, andI have used my cousinsARC, and I would agree with FireDiver andWashingtonHunter that they are not worth the money. There is no doubt that a rangefinder should be a part of yourbowhuntinggear, but there is little to no benefit for a typical archer. If money is no object, I wouldsuggest the Bushnell because it is much easier to usethan the Leupold.