Rangefinder question
01-26-2018, 11:21 AM
#2
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: south eastern PA
Posts: 15,436
You should know the ranges you are shooting at and the ranges you are practicing at. You can pick up a decent range finder for around a hundred bucks or less that will be good enough for archery distances. Unless you are very very good at estimating distances and few people are, you should have a range finder.
03-28-2018, 03:13 PM
#3
Fork Horn
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 218
Have to agree with Oldtimr knowing your range is very important in archery. Even if you site in at a range trying to guess distance while hunting is very hard. A few years back I got permission from a farmer to hunt deer bothering his yard. It was a great oppertunity the first deer I saw was eating hay right by his corral. So I walked down the fence got to the end of the fence there is the deer at what I thought was 30yds. Easy shot that is my first pin and I shoot and miss. I quickly get another arrow and assuming I had done something wrong concentrate and shoot again another miss. Load another arrow but this time use that thing hanging around my neck and range oh he is 40 yds sure did not look like it. The deer ran off unscathed laughing all the way. The tuth is I actually really thought the deer was may 25yds wich is what my top pin is set for. Long story short spend the money and get a range finder. Maybe spend the extra coin and get one the gives actual horizontal distance not just the angle distance. This can help if hunting coulee's or even in a tree stand.
03-28-2018, 04:19 PM
#4
Typical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: IN.
Posts: 530
For starting, no. Not at all. Tons of practice at known yardages. I would guess most of us here stated shooting bows long before rangefinders were readily available and we done just fine. But eventually if you decide you are going to stick with archery then get a range finder, they are useful.
08-10-2019, 05:30 AM
#7
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 12,746
Lets put it this way. I archery hunted a long time before I got a range finder. I started archery hunting way before compounds came out. Today a combination of a lot of practice at extended known ranges with a compound bow and a range finder are a deadly combination. My practice sessions usually include shooting out to 70 yards. (My pins are set in 10 yard increments from 20 - 70 yards.)
My advice is get a decent range finder when you can afford one. But if you can't afford one, don't let it stop you from hunting. Just practice your distance judging. Find a couple known distances and pace them off to see how many natural steps it takes. Then when you're out walking, pick out an object, guess the yardage and walk to it. Remember too that terrain makes a big difference. Twenty yards in the woods seems a lot farther than 20 yards in a parking lot. Another trick is when you set up your stand, step off distances in several directions and put orange reflective tacks in the trees so you can see them from your stand. From them you can better estimate distance to an animal within that perimeter.
To clarify my above statement. I don't /won't shoot at an animal at 70 yards. That is only for practice which magnifies any errors in my shooting. My maximum range for a calm relaxed animal is 49 yards.
To clarify my above statement. I don't /won't shoot at an animal at 70 yards. That is only for practice which magnifies any errors in my shooting. My maximum range for a calm relaxed animal is 49 yards.
Last edited by bronko22000; 08-10-2019 at 05:33 AM. Reason: clarification
