Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Rangefinders?

I have a Nikon that works just fine but I have heard a lot about the units including angle adjustments such as shooting out of a tree stand or extreme slopes what is everybody’s real life experience with these are they worth the money? And if so what brand/model?

I've got a Leupold rx1400i with the TBI function. It's a year old and was half the price of my last similar unit.
I'll pass this one along to one of my kids when I get a new one in a couple years. They have always worked great and are pretty reasonable in price. Carry an extra battery in the bino case just in case. I would recommend the one I have hands down.

I think I have a vortex 1800. Haven’t had any issues with it. In fact I like it.

When I started shooting at longer ranges (over 500 for me) I realized that my Leupold range finder wasn't going to do the trick. It would range things like large rocks or building, metal, etc. But on smaller things or just soft ground, it would often fail. 500 yards would be very iffy.

I bought a Leica Rangemaster 2400R and am amazed at what it will do. I gave the Leupold away. Sitting on the hill I watched a Propane truck laboring past and tossed a range at it. It was over 800 yards. The last time I ranged it it was over 1600 yards!
Deer, trees or just a dirt patch are easily ranged.

What range finder you should get will depend on your individual needs.
Think about that and buy the best you can afford.

I have Nikon, Vortex and Leica, Nikon is easiest to use followed by Vortex and the button on Leica is pretty stiff so it's hard to keep it steady. Don't need anything over 1000 yds. Don't shoot anything over 400.

Your Nikon must be damn old. I have an old Nikon 1000 riflehunter LRF that has angle comp and it works great. I believe I've had that for about 10 years now. Also, if you are shooting out of a tree, why do you need a LRF? Unless you are overlooking a canyon and can make some very long shots from your treehouse.. Now, I don't know what ranges you will be shooting, your op is vague. Are you going to be shooting steel at 1,000-2,000 yards? If so, I'd look at a Leica 2400. Plenty of range finder for anyone and pretty affordable, for what you are getting. It has an angle comp setting on it as well. Any good rangefinder made these days is going to have that feature. Even the cheap azzed Bushnells do. The big difference is how quick and accurately they pick up on different objects and at what distance they pick up/range different things. The Leica is golden when it comes to speed and at very far distances. After comparing the Leica's to different range finders, the others don't even compare. The 2400's I bought were new and cost $500 with an in store coupon of $100, so they ended up costing me $400.00. I like them so much, I am thinking about buying a pair of Leica range finding binoculars. My current 2 pair of Leupold 8x32's have some issues and I am going to have to send them in for service, so I have been looking for a better binocular. Since I have been impressed with the glass and ranging capabilities of the Leica, the geovid range finding binoculars seem like a very good addition/solution. That could also be an option, if you also need a good pair of binoculars. Kill 2 birds with 1 stone..

I used the Leica 2400 to range a bunch of elk at 1644 yards.... just for the heck of it.

Range finders are just as good at telling folks when NOT to be shooting!

I agree. However, you know there will be some guys thinking they might be able to hit an elk at 1644, if they ranged one at that distance. I would not even attempt it, as I have shot at 1,500 yards and know first round hits are difficult. Second round hits, not so much if you can see the splash.. That is only on steel. Animals deserve more respect than that though. 1 shot 1 kill... This is the reason I mentioned the binocular/range finder combo in my previous post. If a guy needs to kill 2 birds with one stone, that may be the way to go. I'll be buying a pair tomorrow, since they are on sale at a good discount..

I have a vortex that I love

Sig kilo 2400 abs and am very happy with it

I have a Leica 1600 and am happy with it. If I needed another one, I would look at Leica again as well as maybe Sig

Been using my old 15/16 year old Leica with no issues. Dang thing looks like it went thru WW3 but just keeps on ranging. Very bright in daylight or low light. If It ever craps out or I get a wild hair and buy a new one I will very likely buy the Leica 2400.

I have an old Nikon 400 that I've had since 'yard' was designated as a distance. It's only good to about 380 yards on a good day. It's best use it for setting up targets on BLM land for practice. I've thought about a new one but at my age, how much use would I get from it? On my last 3 elk and 4 deer, my longest shot was about 150 yds.
That said, I've rarely used it on a live animal. Usually I'll range a rock pile or tree to get an idea of how long a shot would be.

I have a Swarovski

Like it very much

Furthest game animal I ranged, with a good sun angle on him, was an antelope at 1178 yards

Well, let's see - could be the OP also archery hunts???!!!!!

I'm quite happy with a Leica 1600, as well. Though, as duke61 says, the button is a bit on the stiff side.

Bushnell Tour V2 with angle indicator. It doesn't care if I need a 30-06 or a 9 iron.

Sig K3000, very satisfied with it. I have not tested maximum ranging capabilities, but I have frequently ranged between 700-800 yards. That's farther than I will currently shoot. If you're looking at a range finder, I'll encourage you to consider range finding binoculars. It has cost me opportunities in the past to switch from binoculars, to range finger, to scope - never made it to scope and the opportunity was over. Very satisfied with the Sig Binoculars - biggest downside is you will likely want to then pickup one of their scopes to link with the range finder. For me, that made it a multi-year purchase.

Rangefinders are advertised to the yardage they will do on reflective targets under near perfect conditions. Theoretically. Animals really aren't "reflective" except maybe Dall sheep and the like.

My rule of thumb now (with limited experience), is to get something that will theoretically range to 3X the distance you are willing to shoot. This will cover the non-reflective bit, plus a margin to tell you how much more you need to close the distance.

My experience with a Bushnell 400 and a Leupold 800i is that under fairly adverse conditions, they are mostly dependable on non reflective critters to about half the advertised range. Farther under better conditons to 2/3 or so.

My next pair will be at least 1500 yds or meters on a reflective target, since I am willing to shoot to 500, under good conditions.