bwortman

I am looking to buy a rangefinder for rifle and bow hunting Deer. I am not sure what distance I want yet, But I think I would like to get one with scam mode.

Does anyone have any experience with any of the laser rangefinders such as thi nikon Buckmasters or Bushnells. Good or Bad Experienses Will Help!

Thanks!

Two Beards

Nice to see another Iowan...welcome to the board! I've had my Bushnell Yardage Pro 400 for 5 or 6 years, fits my needs perfectly for bowhunting and have never had it fail to work. The farthest I've ever been able to range anything is about 300 yards(wonder why they call it a 400???), but they may have improved on that by now.


TB

halcon

The Nikon 800 works great so far just got it before the start of the season .

DeerThug

I just got the Bushnell sport a few weeks ago. It's a nice of enough unit for the the price. It has X4 optics with perma focus which after about 75 yards aren't the clearest. It will distance a deer up to 200 yrds. with a minimum of 10, +/- 1 at 100 yards. For the bow, it's more than enough. For rifle, I would probably go with something a little more up scale if you plan on shots over 200 yards. (I don't know where you would do that in IA but hey, I'm from IL)

PABowhntr

I have the same model as Deerthug and I couldn't have said it better myself.

coloradojones

I agree with DeerThug and PABowhntr. I bought one of the Bushnell Sports a few weeks ago after reading the advertisements that it would range out to 800 yards. I have been disappointed with the actual range that it works at. This model will work fine for bowhunting, but I don't think it's strong enough to be effective for rifle hunting. I wish I had spent the extra $140 or so to get the Yardage Pro 800.

MJL927

I got a Bushnell Scout last year and love it. It's about $299 ($100 more than the sport) and has the scan mode you stated you wanted. It'll reach out to about 700 yards or so. (Who needs more than 700 yards for hunting?) I like how it fits nicely in one hand. I use it primarily for bowhunting, range a perimeter of trees then put it away. That tree is 30 yards, that tree is 25, etc. I had some fogging of the lens problems during a particularily foul week of weather but beyond that no issues.

-Mike

spectr17

Hey Bwortman,

I've got a webpage with info and reviews on many rangefinders at http://www.jesseshuntingpage.com/rangefinders.html

~spectr17

IL-Cornfed

I am still using the Bushnell that came out first.It's the Lytespeed 400,the Yardage Pro 400 now.Still functions perfectly.

The ORB

Yeah I'd also recommend Jesse's hunting page for a good start point.
I was trying to choose between the Bushnell Scout and the Leica LRF800. I tried both in the store and liked them both. The Scout is the perfect size and will fit in the palm of your hand, although the Leica is also fairly compact. The optics on both looked pretty good, although the Leica was better. In the end I went for the Leica (even though it cost $399 - ouch), based on the better optics and based on advice that it will range better over long distances during bright days when the Bushnell may struggle.
Haven't used the Leica in the field yet, but it seems great so far and the optics are superb. It has ranged trees around 700 yards with no problem.