Distance judgement
 

Hey guys, I will eventually get a laser rangefinder,but for now, I'd like to use my resources and/or senses. Trying to get off chreap on it this year. I was just wondering what you recommend doing for a rather accurate range judgement. Thanks

Just practice...As you walk look at an object ahead and guess the yardage, then pace it off...At the stand site, mark trees, use one slash or orange tape for 10 yards, 2 for 20, etc...When you practice, move around, change where you shoot and don't pace it off...Finally, we used to use judo points and walk through the woods and shoot at objects or even squirrel and rabbit hunt with our bows...After awhile you'll realize there is really no need for a bow finder, especially with today's bows...

Not sure if this helps.

When I installed my tree stand last week-end, I also took with me a 75ft electric extension cord. Once I was done installing the stand, I tied the cord to my stand and essentially went as far as I could with the 75ft cord in all possible shoot directions and marked the sports with small rocks/branches. (nothing too obvious ...) That way, when I see a deer ill have a visual point of reference as to the distance. How is that for "getting off on the cheap"? :)

You could try something like this, http://www.golfoutletsusa.com/forgan...6-9E8FD936C1B1

measure out and mark land features for reference until you get a range finder

So what is a good basic rangefinder that does not break the bank? I am interested in getting one but do not like the prices I am seeing on them.

I thought there was a rule
 

against using anything not electronic, especially by newbies. Kidding, a little.

The problem is practicing, and taking the time to practice. It isn't learned in a day.

Reminds me to eyeball practice distance, this month, while I go on one of my many summer hikes. But for some, I think there is a ban on off season exercise, too. Those one place hunting stands seem to be in vogue.

Not sure how to best express this but here's a try. My question is have you been struggling with clean kills that have been the result of misjudging distance? If not, may be a rangefinder is not necessary. Here's my logic ....

I bought a range finder 3 years ago. A great one. Spent a bunch of $$$. Had to have one. Everybody else did. However, it stays in my pack more than it does out. And I have been surprised that I have found it of such little value. But hey, I went over 35 years hunting without ever even contemplating a ranging device. So ... duh !!

I am not claiming to be any good at judging distances. Certainly no better than any experienced hunter is. But apparently I had been getting by OK.

I thought I'd use the range finder extensively archery hunting. And that is where it has been used most, but it is very seldom that I have found it practical to take the time to range or wise to move as much as it requires to range ... before the shot needed to be made. So .... I guess I wasted my $$$, except for those rare times when I need to know "Is it 300 or 375?"

For years I never did have a range finder...ended up missing several Deer because I'm lousy at judging distances! I had a friend help me put up my ladder stand one year and he marked of several distances for me with his range finder and it helped me later on when I continued Bow Hunting.I finally broke down and bought me a range finder about 2 years ago,so what I do when I'm up in one of my many ladder stands is to range several different distances before any Deer come in so I'm ready in case one shows up un-expectedly.I waited til I caught a nice one on sale at the local Bass Pro Shop..ended up with a nice RX-600 Leupold for around $180.00 when they are usually around $200.00 plus tax!

Honestly you're just wasting time NOT getting a laser rangefinder (or at least borrowing one from someone who has an extra you can borrow or "rent" for the year). The reason I say that is they are THE greatest learning tool you can have for learning how to estimate range. With only a few weeks of frequent use you'll be surprised how good you can get at estimating different objects at range. And I mean just that, don't worry about ranging animals, instead range rocks, fenceposts, unique trees, old stands, barns etc... ANYTHING that jumps out at you and is fairly easy to get a sense of scale with by looking at. (Trying to get a sense of scale and judging range while lying down or in very steep terrain is super tough.)

After awhile you'll be able to get pretty close (within 50 or so yds) all the way to distances as far as 400yds in open terrain. After that it gets awfully difficult unless you have some point of reference like a fence or powerline with known distances between sections/posts.

Good luck,
HL

Real early season I go out and pace off 30 yards and 45 yards around my stand and mark them with ribbon. Red is 30, the 30yd pin on my bow is red. And Green is 45, again the 45 pin on my bow is green. Anything under 30 I can estimate using the 30 yard ribbon. I've found with using this method it'll help ya get better at estimating in general.

I would pace of several reference points from your stand / blind. I have a cheap laser rangefinder. It does not have the ARC compensation. I usually just range several trees around my stand so I know the general range. Sometimes it helps to mark these with a small piece of marking tape and thumbtack. This is for bowhunting. As for firearms seasons I use my TC Omega. I stand hunt in wooded areas so I have my ML sighted for only 50yrds. I know I am in the pipe 0-100 so I have no real need to know the precise distance. But as for the bowhunting I like to know my distances. I thing I paid $150 for my rangefinder. If I were going to buy another I would get one with angle compensation built in.

Like many others I'd advise going ahead and buying a rangefinder. Bushnell has one thats $149 and works great for your porposes. It doesn't have the angle compensation, but I'm beginning to think that was just a marketing ploy anyways. The reason I'd suggest going ahead and getting the rangefinder is simply ethics. In my opinion hunting is about taking an animal with the least amount of suffering possible. depending on your bow speed a few yards can make a huge difference. As other have said, once you get used to ranging distances you will begin to judge much more accurately and can use the rangefinder much less. As for walking off distances, this is better than nothing, but it stands to reason that a 6'5 man and a 5'6 are going to have vastly different strides which mean their 20 yard walk off is going to be even more skewed... Point is unless you practice stepping off exactly 3ft in each stride this method doesn't necessarily work. Get a rangefinder, learn to judge accurately, and never take shots outside your comfort zone reguardless of whether you know the exact distance or not.

i would HIGHLY recommend biting the bullet and buying the range-finder...however if your not gonna buy one mark off points where u can expect shots to come from in your stand. Also, if you happen to hav a spot hogg get the new tagged out sight accessory! cheap and effective

Here are several options:

1) Pre-measure all of the landmarks around your stand. Make a notecard with a map of the territory around your stand with these ranges noted.

2) Practice "off the cuff" estimation by eyeballing it. Go out to a field, and just start paying attention to how big different objects appear at different ranges, i.e. if I outstretch my arm, the width of my thumb is about as tall as a fencepost (or a deer) at 250yrds. Another fun trick to practice this is to throw a baseball, watch how far it flies, then measure it out. It's a great exercise for specifically focusing on how much ground is between you, and a specific range. Granted, you can't throw 100yrds, but you'll learn to estimate 50yrds REALLY accurately, then you can start counting multiples of that. If you throw a baseball about 20 times, you'll easily know when you see a deer whether he's JUST close enough to hit with a ball, or if he's twice as far, or half as far.

3) Use your reticle to estimate yardages. Almost ANY reticle can be used to estimate range if you know the sub-tensions of the reticle. If you know the subtensions of your reticle between the heavy bars of a Plex reticle, then you can calculate the range. Mil-dot scopes are great for this, assuming you can accurately estimate the height of your target, and the subtension that it scribes in the scope (is it 1/2 mil or 0.6mil?).

4) Use the parallax setting on your scope to help you estimate ranges. We all know that the markings on the scope are NOT accurate, but if you place targets at known distances, then dial in the parallax adjustment to bring them into focus, you can re-calibrate your parallax dial to pick out ranges accurately. Then when you're in the field, you can dial your target into focus, and read the setting. I wrap a piece of tape around my scopes Adjustable Objective dials and mark the proper ranges myself. I measure out 100yrds, then dial in the best focus I can, then mark the tape, then 150, and mark it again, 200, etc etc. Then when I'm in the deerstand, I can turn the AO until I find the proper focus, and compare that to my previous calibration. Combine that with eyeballing the range, and it's pretty dang accurate.

Combine these 4 techniques and you won't have ANY investment on the table, but you'll have a pretty sound system for accurate range estimation.

Guys hunted with rifles for over a hundred years before laser rangefinders came on the scene. We're way too reliant upon technology these days (coming from a professional engineer who's still south of 30). If a guy could knock down a buffalo with a Sharps .45-90 at 500yrds with a lead flat point slug back in 1880, I'm pretty confident that a guy with a Ruger M-77 .30-06 can knock down a deer at 200yrds without a laser rangefinder.

One thing to keep in mind, is the point blank range of your weapon. Point blank range for a .30-06 is about 200-250yrds for whitetail deer (sighted in at a range between 100 or 200yrds). The average hunter shouldn't be shooting past 200yrds anyway, nor should he NEED to shoot farther than that. What this really means is that if you're shooting a .30-06 with 150grn bullets trucking 2900fps, and you estimate the range at 150yrds, and you hold 1.5" high, but the deer is ACTUALLY at 200yrds (30% error), you'll only be off the mark by about 2", still placing the bullet on the deer's heart, let alone the lungs.