i would try and save up 150 more dollars and purchase bushnells out and back combo, where you get an awesome rangefinder, decent 10x42 binos, and a mini 3 location gps(great for trailing). $299 at cabelas....i love the rangefinder and use the binos in my truck, although i use nikon monarchs in the tree and the gps is handy as well!

I totally agree...

I have never really used binos very much in the woods, but I use my range finder quite a lot honestly...

I am not the conventional 30yd and under type of guy so being precise in yardage for me is absolutely necesarry.

Go to ebay and see if you can find em both used at decent prices. If not go with a rangefinder for sure. You owe it to the animal to do all you can to make a clean quick kill. For me its a big difference between 32yds and 39yds!

Ryan, tough call, but honestly when bowhunting my binos don’t really help me kill animals which is the real goal here, where a rangefinder will absolutely increase my odds of killing animals. I almost feel at some point you need a rangefinder to bowhunt either for practicing, or hunting. How are you going to range your practice shots on the ground or in a tree? Even if you eventually dont need a rangefinder, you need one to get your guessing distances down to verify your right or not.
Your question was IF I had to choose one over the other, a Rangefinder would be my first choice. A rangefinder also increases my confidence level after getting in a stand and marking a few spots, even if I’ve been in a stand before, I always do a quick refresher around my stand. I can honestly say using Rangefinders to practice with, and to hunt with, has absolutely increased my success.

^diesel pretty much stated my own opinion. I bought a rangefinder a couple years ago and I feel it's made a great difference. You don't always have a chance to mark off how far your shooting lanes are in each direction, and with bowhunting 5 yards can make the difference. If you take a few minutes to range things around you when you climb into the stand it really adds to your confidence level and will help more with the ultimate goal of putting one on the ground.

Well can anyone suggest a good range finder for what I can afford? Those wild game halo"s are like 140 locally and I think cabelas has a good deal on them also. Anyone got any suggestions for a broke college kid hahahaha. I'm looking for something that is good up to like 60 yards and is waterproof.

Ryan.

binos for sure

Binos... no question.