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Howdy! everybody;

Wondering if someone could help me out with something? Is there any cheap alternative to those high priced range finders. Seems no one sales those mechanical ones any more. What about the cheap nock offs they use for golf? I would appreciate any help, cause I really am bad at judging distance from my tree stand.

God Bless/Good Hunting!


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Are you looking for one for archery or rifle? I never saw a mechanical one but I would be interested in how they work.

Back when I had a lot of time to spend on hunting, I was pretty good at judging archery distance. I have gotten worse and the bows have gotten better (longer shots possible) so I broke down and bought one for archery hunting last year. I think it was around $150 and it works pretty well at archery distances but the display is sometimes hard to use.

What I always did in years past was sight to paces instead of yards. (For me, they turned out to be fairly close). When I got to my stand, I would walk off to a couple landmarks like a boulder or a tree and remember the distance. That way you could use them as a guide in estimating range.

Now, if you are talking about a rifle, I have no idea. I just ordered a range finder this morning so I can try to improve my accuracy at distance. I ordered the Sig Kilo 200 for $350 shipped. That seems to be a pretty good deal and they are running a special right now (normally $499.). My guess is that they are clearing inventory for a new model.

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I never saw a mechanical one but I would be interested in how they work.
They were very popular for archery 20 years ago. They work with a series of lenses and mirrors. You look through an eye piece and what you see is light coming in through 2 lenses on the front. You adjust a knob until the light from both sides in in sync, that is, you're not seeing double. When they're in sync, you look at the adjustment knob which tells you the distance. I can say from experience that they're nowhere near as accurate as a laser.


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I still use my TL-75 optical rangefinder. I've had it for about 30 years. Always works, doesn't need battery's and tuff as nails. If you drop it hard enough to knock it out of calibration you can easily recalibrate it.
And they're cheap! Perfect for short range use. The accuracy is excellent but it depends on the user. They can be found on eBay. Search TL-75 rangefinder.

Last edited by whackem_stackem; 01/14/18.

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I've been buying camping, hunting and backpacking gear (and everything else) for 60 years. That's not an exaggeration. One thing that I learned a long time ago is that it's cheapest to buy the best the first time. You probably expected someone to make that comment and you are probably going to ignore it. But you will learn eventually.

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Originally Posted by landlord44
Howdy! everybody;

Wondering if someone could help me out with something? Is there any cheap alternative to those high priced range finders. Seems no one sales those mechanical ones any more. What about the cheap nock offs they use for golf? I would appreciate any help, cause I really am bad at judging distance from my tree stand.

God Bless/Good Hunting!


They don't sell mechanical ones anymore because no one wants them, DTDT. Junk. The old prism style compared to a laser is like a horse drawn cart compared to an automobile.

You can find really good slightly used Lasers here in the classifieds for 100 bucks. They are not expensive.

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Originally Posted by Kenneth
Originally Posted by landlord44
Howdy! everybody;

Wondering if someone could help me out with something? Is there any cheap alternative to those high priced range finders. Seems no one sales those mechanical ones any more. What about the cheap nock offs they use for golf? I would appreciate any help, cause I really am bad at judging distance from my tree stand.

God Bless/Good Hunting!


They don't sell mechanical ones anymore because no one wants them, DTDT. Junk. The old prism style compared to a laser is like a horse drawn cart compared to an automobile.

You can find really good slightly used Lasers here in the classifieds for 100 bucks. They are not expensive.

What are you talking about? Have you ever used one?
Optical range finders have a lot of advantages over laser.
1- no battery
2-lighter
3-practicly indestructible. I have dropped mine out of a 18 foot tree stand and it hit a rock at the bottom. Still worked.
4-they will range anything, no false reading, you can pick out a single branch or weed and get precise readings.
My son has a new Nikon laser. We have compared them may times. On easy to range targets they are totally comparable. On small or soft targets my optical blows away his laser.
The only down side to them is that their accuracy is very much dependent on the operator. It is much easier for a dummy to use a laser.
For the general public a laser is a better buy but to call them junk is just plane stupid. How do you think the Navy and Army knew where to aim their big guns before the invention of lasers?


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of course I've used them, clearly stated that.

battery, 3 -5 year life span,,,, what a hindrance. 3 bucks from Walgreen's.

practically indestructible, yes, just like a laser.

A better buy, Laser, your words and all here will agree.

Navy and Army, what are they using now? Laser, Why? Way better product in all directions.

I haven't seen a single person using an optical in years, And we all know exactly why.

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Originally Posted by whackem_stackem

And they're cheap! Perfect for short range use. The accuracy is excellent but it depends on the user..


Those statements don't even belong in a sentence describing a range finder,,, short range? depends on the user? cheap?

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Ive got a leupold I paid 169.00 for, its been good for everything I've used it for. im not a long range hunter.

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Originally Posted by KC

I've been buying camping, hunting and backpacking gear (and everything else) for 60 years. That's not an exaggeration. One thing that I learned a long time ago is that it's cheapest to buy the best the first time. You probably expected someone to make that comment and you are probably going to ignore it. But you will learn eventually.

KC




Good advice. I spent around $175 on a rangefinder for archery but was too cheap to buy a long range model. I finally broke down and got the Sig Kilo for $350. If I had gone right to the Sig, I could have saved $175. I'll keep it as a backup for archery since I already have it.

I don't always buy "the best" but I believe in buying for the long haul.

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browse the sales ads. I picked up a leica 800 for $160 4 months ago.


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