New Range Finder, what are yall's thoughts and/or experiences?

Hey guys I have bowhunting since I was 15 and I am 22 now, still a lot to learn; I hunt in NC and we can bait with corn here so a lot of my setups are over corn. I like it but I had a scenario last friday afternoon that I am sure many others have encountered. I was sitting in my stand and at 445 I had a really nice 8 pointer come in, I got my bow up and everything ready and he came in and stood facing me about 10 yards outside my corn, he was 35 yards or so from me but I had no shot. The wind was pretty good for this setup, blowing in my face. I think he was more or less checking does because he simply walked off and I let him get about 50 yards away and grunted at him twice. He turned, waited and waited and came all the way in to 18 yards of me. I was about to draw but he was behind some stuff so I still didn't have a clear shot, I just needed him to take 2.5 more steps! He stood there for probably 3 mins, turned and walked off. I then had him broadside and a clear shot at what I thought was 35 yards so I adjusted my pin (I shoot a single pin) and drew on him, I put right where I wanted it to but it just didn't seem right. I was unsure of the distance and the way I was taught to hunt growing up, ethics and safety are my first concerns when it comes to any kind of hunting. All in all I let down my bow and he stood there for 5 or 6 minutes broadside but I DONT OWN a rangefinder! So I felt kind of bummed at the end of the hunt because I really wanted to harvest the animal; however, I thought I made a good decision not just estimating the distance and letting one fly. I felt also that if I did have a range finder, I was 99.9 percent sure he was inside of 40 yards and i feel comfortable at that distance shooting an animal. I just didn't have the 100% certainty that he was at 35 yards and a range finder would have solved that problem.


So what rangefinders do you guys like? I dont want to spend 500 dollars on one but I would like something nice that is going to last me a long time and works great. I don't mind spending money on something top of the line as long as it works and you all have had good results with it.

Let me know what works, I have been doing some research myself, thanks guys and good luck.

Also happy holidays!

Pat

 

I like my Vortex. It's simple, accurate, and one-handed. The lifetime warranty and being waterproof helps too.

 

I use a Nikon 550 riflehunter and it is an awesome piece of equipment. I don't go into the woods without it. And they're really cheap right now.

 

I have a Bushnell Scout 1000 ARC. I have never had any problems with it. It has an archery mode and rifle mode. Under the rifle mode you can enter your caliber and it will give you the bullet drop for the yardage. It is suppose to go out to 1000 yards but the farthest that I have gotten it to read is 571 yards. I got mine on sale at D***k's for $210.

 

The halo Z8X 150$

 

I have a Leupold Full Draw and so far liking it real well.

 

I like my Nikon, Archer Choice...does the trick. I am def a fan of Nikon optics, great value and quality.

 

Vortex

 

I got mine on amazon for $75 it works great, it has really helped me this year a lot.

 

x2 for the Scout 1000 ARC. Pretty nice range finder, easy to use and has separate bow and rifle modes. The bow mode has ARC out to 99 yards, and the rifle mode ranges out to 1000 yards.

 

Bushnell ARC 1000. Has both bow and rifle and even on the bow setting it will still range things out of bow range, where others I have owned wouldn't. I have owned a couple different brands as well as a couple of other Bushnell's. IMO the Bushnell's are the best that I have had. Still have the Bushnell's but have sold or traded all the other brands.

 

I have owned my Nikon Archer's Choice for a few years now and I love it. The 2013 model ranges out to 600 yards.

 

same here I really love mine and have had great experiences with it

 

i have a leupold and have used it for about 6 yrs without any issues, little spendy up front but nice

 

I have a Bushnell Bowhunter with ARC. The new ones are the Truth model. I think mine say Chuck Adams edition. Works great..got it new for $130 on Ebay.

 

Was at bass pro today to check them out and honestly I looked at the nikons, bushnells, and the vortex they had. I really liked them all; however, the vortex was really really nice. But it is also pricey compared to the others. I am going to wait until after the season goes out to see if any deals pop up on any, bushnells were great and the nikons were also. I will have to keep looking around and toying with them. Thanks for the input everyone

 

I use a Nikon ProStaff 550.

 

The new Leica 1000 with arc is dang awesome. I love it

 

My 550 stopped working this season after just 3 years. Won't read ranges beyond 25 or 30 yards. I sent it back to Nikon and they are charging me $129 to fix it. It's cheaper than buying a new rangefinder but Nikon has lost me as a customer in the future.


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I wonder why that would be. I've had mine for 4 years now, and not a problem at all. The battery life is still full and mine goes from 11 to about 630ish yards. You might of got a faulty one.