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What is you choice in rangefinders

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What is you choice in rangefinders

Old 11-07-2004, 10:00 PM
  #1  
Nontypical Buck
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Default What is you choice in rangefinders

I'm in the process of purchasing a new laser rangefinder. The Bushnell Yardage Pro 800 compact seems to fit my hunting needs. What brand do you suggest and what are the good points and limitations of your choice?
Good Hunting...
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Old 11-08-2004, 07:32 AM
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Default RE: What is you choice in rangefinders

What was my choice, or what would I rather have? There is a difference. I own a bushnell yardarge pro 400. It works reasonably well and I like it. One of the best purchases I have ever made for archery and hunting and general.

However I kick myself in the but every time I use it for not getting the Lieca model instead. It was about a hundred dollars more (400 vrs 300 at the time) and but the performance is much much better. The read out is easier to read and the optics are waaay better. Oh well, maybe next time. My bushnell works reasonbly well for what I want it for. I wish it ranged lower than 21 yards (most newer ones do). It also doesn't range as far as it says it will, unless you plan on shooting a reflective road sign. And when it starts to get dark out you can't even read the display because it is black. The lens as also fogged up on me before in the winter.

I got at cabela's so I could have taken it back and traded up, but it seemed like when I wanted to I never had the extra cash. Oh well.

Paul
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Old 11-08-2004, 07:35 AM
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Default RE: What is you choice in rangefinders

I have had many Bushnell models with pretty good luck over the years. I bought the new Nikon Monarch 800 rangefinder, and it is great. Waterproof, Fogproof, 6x optical, and it is the smallest I have seen. Check it out.
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Old 11-08-2004, 07:37 AM
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Default RE: What is you choice in rangefinders

The only time I tend to find myself using a rangefinder is when I bowhunt...not when I riflehunt. I also do not normally hunt in rainy conditions. Those two issues and the fact that I like a relatively compact design lead me to the Bushnell Yardage Pro Sport model. It is the least expensive of the Bushnell line and one of the smallest. Its drawbacks include poor optic quality, no zip or rain mode and it is not waterproof. I have not found any of these to present a problem for me while I am bowhunting but I can see where it might be a problem for some.

Hope this helps.
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Old 11-08-2004, 07:42 AM
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Default RE: What is you choice in rangefinders

I have a Nikon 400. It works great for Bow hunting. Its really small. Good or bad I dont know I guess I haven't lost it YET!!!
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Old 11-08-2004, 08:05 AM
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Default RE: What is you choice in rangefinders

I've had a Bushnell YP600 and now a Scout .................and I have 2 buddies with Leica's ..........and the Leica's are awesome ! They make either of my Bushnell's seem like POS ! The Leica's are faster, have a red led that you can see in low light, the optics are better, and they are very precise (you can shoot through a hole in a fence and get a reading back from a tree line..........try that with a bushnell and see what happens.........fence,fence,fence[8D] ) !!

If I had it to do over I would easily lay down the extra cash for a Leica...........no question about it !!
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Old 11-08-2004, 10:49 AM
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Default RE: What is you choice in rangefinders

Dont know much about them. Dont Have one. Never thought of purchasing one for bowhunting. Are they essential.
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Old 11-08-2004, 09:39 PM
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Default RE: What is you choice in rangefinders

I am very prejudiced about this issue. The best range finder I have ever had is the one between my ears. I've come to the realization that for 90% of all Pa. bowhunting shots are taken at less than 30 yards. And today's modern bows generate enough speed that ranging anything between 5 and 30 yards is totally uneccessary. For the other 10%?? It takes an exceptional archery to be able to consistently make longer shots. So, my opinion is that if you need a range finder then the animal is out of range.
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Old 11-09-2004, 08:24 AM
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Default RE: What is you choice in rangefinders

Well I bought mine because I can't judge yardarge to save my own life. I'm getting better, I can pretty much guess at 20 yards off the ground, but in a tree it's a different story. The difference between 20 and 30 yards out of a stand is very hard for me to distinguish. I use my range finder for all sorts of things. Like sighting in and setting my pins. If I set my pins at 20, 30 and 40, I would kind of like to be sure they are really set at those distances, not what I think are those distances. And using a tape measure is a major pain in the butt. I also use it when sighting in a rifle and target shooting. If I want my rifle to be zeroed at 130 yards the range finder comes in pretty handy for that.

I don't really use it when gun hunting, since my gun is set up to shoot effectively at the longest shot I have. From 25 yards to 150 yards all I have to do is put cross hairs on the vitals and it will kill the deer. I don't really use it while I'm bowhunting either. There is no time to whip out a range finder and use it when a deer is near your stand. I range a perimeter around my stand at 20 or 25 yards keeping a mental note of what objects are what distances. If a deer walks into that circle I know where to shoot.

For me the difference between 20 and 30 yards is the difference between missing or wounding a deer, so guessing doesn't cut it in my book. I only have a 26 inch draw with 60 lbs of pull, and I shoot heavy arrows. I may have a "fast" bow, but that doesn't mean my set up is fast. I'm sure I could learn to judge yardage, I get better at it every year and playing with the range finder helps. However I decided I wanted to hunt instead of waiting until I was 45 and could judge yardage dead on. The range finder lets me do this. Would it be better if I went out and guessed at it and wounded deer instead? I prefere to kill what I aim at, not hope I do before I release the arrow. If I don't think I can make the shot, I don't take it.

I could do the same thing by pacing it off on the ground when I set the stand up though, and put markers around my stand. The rangefinder is much easier though. In all honesty I bought it to practice with, not to hunt with.

Do you have to have one, no not all. Is it a help, for some it sure is, and I'm one of them.

Paul
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Old 11-09-2004, 10:40 AM
  #10  
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Default RE: What is you choice in rangefinders

I have the Nikon laser 400, great rangefinder, don't have any complaints. It ranges from 11 yards to 495. Like Paul said, it not only helps with hunting but it also helps when sighting in rifles and bows. It is also very useful for shotgun or blackpowder hunters, distances can be very important between 150 and 200 yards with a blackpowder.
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