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rangefinder
thinking of buying a range finder for deer hunting this year. i pretty sure i want one that figures in the angle of the shot.... i think its called "arc" hopeully trying to stay under $300 anyone have any recomendations ?
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RE: rangefinder
I don't know what they cost but leupold was the first actual rangefinder to figure exactly the angle for true range I think-it might be that I just like almost anything that leupold comes out with.
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RE: rangefinder
I really like my Nikon 800. The guy at the Sportsmans Warehouse only recommended the Nikon or the Leica, and I didn't want to pay that much for the Leica. But, it was BY FAR the best one there. My Nikon gets the job done though. The guy said he has heard a lot of complaints about the Leupolds and their TBR thingy.
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RE: rangefinder
Love my leica, never had a problem. I like the red led in the lieca. opticsand battery management is much better then my bushnell. Big plus if you range the same object/distancethe liecareturns the same distance each time, many others i have used do not.
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RE: rangefinder
ORIGINAL: skeeter 7MM Love my leica, never had a problem. I like the red led in the lieca. optics |
RE: rangefinder
For bow hunting, it is more important to have a range finder that is accurate to 100 yards and a good reflective range - especially in bad conditions such as rain and snow than it is to have one that is good to 800 yards with all kinds of fancy knick knacks and do dad's.
For shooting with a rifle, a 800 yard range finder is good if you live someplace where you can see and shoot 800 yards. But is not as much use if you hunt someplace where you only shoot 100 to 300 yards. For those situations, again, it isn't as important - what gee gaws and knick knacks it has as it is it's reflective range. How it performs in the rain and snow. I like the Bushnell and also the Nikon, both good range finders for the money. |
RE: rangefinder
I bought the Bushnell Elite 1500. The new ones have ARC but are much more than $300 I'm afraid. I really like the Leica better, the red is just so nice, but when I bought mine the Leica were not guarenteed waterproof, and I HAVE to have waterproof.
Anywho, since I'm a rifle guy out west, I'm ranging deer and elk and coyotes out past 500 yards a fair amount. Ranged some elk at 700 yards last fall, though that's too fartoo shoot by a long way in my opinion, still nice to know just how far they are. I wanted one strong enough to give me a solid read out to 400 yards on deer and coyote size game so that's why I got that one. Works pretty well for me, little big, but not bad. Rainguard is nice too. And, as a test, I ranged a white metal building at dusk once at 1,572 yards, that was cool. |
RE: rangefinder
I have the Nikon Monarch 800 and love it. Fast target aquisition, very accurate, waterpoof, and less than 300 bucks. I use it for both golf and hunting.
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RE: rangefinder
I bought the Nikon Monarch 800 when they first came out. The eye cup fell off the first season, the rubber on the top by the trigger button fell off pretty quick. It still works but I was frustrated at how easy parts fell off and got lost. Once the eye cup was gone it was hard to get the eye relief right.
I bought a Leica CF1200 this fall. It has MUCH better glass. The 7x glass is much muchclearer than looking through the Nikon. It ranges farther, Although 800 vs 1200 who cares, I'm not shooting anywhere near that distance. Leica battery life is 2000scans vs 600 to 1000 for most range finders. But the battery does cost more. It uses Lithium camera batteries vs AA or AAA I like the scan mode on the Nikon. The Leica has a onepush of the button,one reading. I've never had much problem with angle of shot with a rifle in reasonable distances. Bowhunters in Tree stands, or Sheep/Goat hunters on very steep cliff may find that an important feature. But the normal angles that I shoot Mule Deer and Eld at, it's not important to me. |
RE: rangefinder
Painted Hourse
How much did that Leica cost compared to the Nikon. Did you try to replace those rubber parts? Mine are still fine but I suspect they will need replacement some day. Rubber wears out but is essential to make a button waterproof. |
RE: rangefinder
That was 2 other features about the 1500 was it runs off a 9v battery (best would be AA's but 9v not bad either) and it has 7x optical. Also, it has a bullseye mode that ranges the nearest reflection, and a brush feature that ranges the farthest object (like ranging a deer through some heavy brush). It also has the normal ranging as well. Oh, and a backlight is good for dawn or dusk, something most others don't have (but the Leica has the red LED so don't need a light).
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RE: rangefinder
ORIGINAL: Painted Horse I bought the Nikon Monarch 800 when they first came out. The eye cup fell off the first season, the rubber on the top by the trigger button fell off pretty quick. It still works but I was frustrated at how easy parts fell off and got lost. Once the eye cup was gone it was hard to get the eye relief right. I bought a Leica CF1200 this fall. It has MUCH better glass. The 7x glass is much muchclearer than looking through the Nikon. It ranges farther, Although 800 vs 1200 who cares, I'm not shooting anywhere near that distance. Leica battery life is 2000scans vs 600 to 1000 for most range finders. But the battery does cost more. It uses Lithium camera batteries vs AA or AAA I like the scan mode on the Nikon. The Leica has a onepush of the button,one reading. I've never had much problem with angle of shot with a rifle in reasonable distances. Bowhunters in Tree stands, or Sheep/Goat hunters on very steep cliff may find that an important feature. But the normal angles that I shoot Mule Deer and Eld at, it's not important to me. I also have a nikon and i have had no problems so far the scan mode is very nice and it gives you a reading up to half a yard there are a lot of good range finders out there and its hard to pick the one that suits you i just went in the store tryed am all out. o ya an i think the price was around 250-300 |
RE: rangefinder
I just bought Nikon 800 over Leuopold and Bushnell, cool so far
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RE: rangefinder
Bought a Nikon 440 2 years ago and I love it. At most normal bow ranges, the angle compensating is not a big deal. Usually it is + or - about 1 yard maybe 2 ..... not enough to worry about .... or at least for me to worry about after about 20 years of bowhunting.
The 440 was 199.00 in camo, and it ranges to 437 yards. It is accurate and does everything I need it to. Nothing wrong with the others out there ( for the most part ) , but $ for $ I got a great unit, and I can used the rest of the money for a new gun and scope. Good luck |
RE: rangefinder
I do something different and I'm wondering how many of yall also do this? When ranging a distance to another tree,I range to that tree but at my exact height-not to ground. That gives me true range and I learned to do that before they ever came out with angle compensating rangefinders.
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RE: rangefinder
my Nikon 440 has been fine so far. my only complaint with it is thefurthest i could get it to range a deer sized animal was about 380 yards. i wish i would have bought the Nikon 800. i may not shoot over 380 yards but i would still like to know the distance.
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RE: rangefinder
I bought a Bushnell Yardage Pro 450 Sport for $148 for use with bowhunting. It works great for what I need it for. I'll also be using it for ML hunting this year. Both will be for deer hunting. It has the built in rain / brush scan. This feature works okay, but could be a little better. All in all it is fine for my needs. I could see where a better one could come into play depending on the weather conditions. But hey, I bought another gun with the money I saved.
chris |
RE: rangefinder
So here's a question? I just bought a Nikon 1200 Monarch Gold, for Coyotes and Bowhunting, If I'm in my treestand and I range something that's 38yrds away and I'm apprx. 20' in the tree is the yardages that this is giving is it any less accurate than the Bushnell with ARC? Thisis a real world scernio that I just did,Iranged first before Ihad my rangefinder to a spot then I walked it at 37yrds so I thought that was pretty close, However this I quess does not take into consideration the 20'.
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RE: rangefinder
I've never tried any other brands. This is the first one i"ve own. The Bushnell will range anything past 4 yards very accurately. I can't speak for the Nikon. Maybe someone else will chime in again.
chris |
RE: rangefinder
LEICA 1200 is the way to go ..either the old model or the new CRF., they are troublefree and if you ever decide to change to another one they hold their value.Nice to see that Leupold is making their RFs in China.
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RE: rangefinder
Yes, the ARC will help, especially for bow hunting from a tree stand. In that scenario the animal ranged at 38 yards is actually 32.31 yards away from the base of the tree, which is what your hold should be.
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