Range Finders

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graylake

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Okay guys, with the main hunting season starting to rap up for another year, and varmint season just starting I want to find out how everybodies new range finders performed.

A lot of people have bought new range finders this past summer and now lets find out how they have worked. What did you like and dislike about them.

I am sure there are more than a few guy and gals out there starting to look for a new range finder. Including myself.

Thanks


Graylake
 
Bushnell Elite 1500 ACR - works good, its powerful and easy to use, only complaint is it doesnt have as nice of optics compared to Leica or Swarovski, but its good enough

Id reccomend it to anyone.

I got to try the Leica 1200 CRF Rangemaster and its a great lil unit. $100 rebate until Dec 31st too

Swarvo laser RF is great too, super optics, big complaint is the display which is hard to read in daylight but would be great for dawn/dusk.

Leupold RXIII - half as good as the Bushnell Elite and more money. I could not reccomend this model.
 
Any experience with the Bushnell Yardage Pro Quest? That is Bushnell's binocular/range-finder combo, sort of like a (very) poor man's Leica Geovid.

I'm curious too see how the Quest compares to the Elite 1500 since they both cost about the same.
 
p-17 said:
Any experience with the Bushnell Yardage Pro Quest? That is Bushnell's binocular/range-finder combo, sort of like a (very) poor man's Leica Geovid.

I'm curious too see how the Quest compares to the Elite 1500 since they both cost about the same.
Click to expand...
It is an "OK." unit. I had one but sold it as where i was hunting I did not really need a range finder. It is a heavy unit. Field of view using them as binos is limited. I would not buy another.

Rob
 
Hey todbartell-:
Read your thread where you were testing some rangefinders.
How good did the Bushnel 1500 work out past 1000? Is it consistant out there? Compare to Swaro?
Bang-for-buck is of course important, but I need something that works out there.
 
I've got no complaints with my Leica Scan 900. Never misses a beat. Still I would probably have bought the 1200 if they were in stock at the time. You might have a problem if you are red/green color-blind reading the LED.
A hunting friend who is also a CGN member couldn't get a reading past 400 yards with his 1500 Bushnell, including the side of a red hip roof barn. Wholesale sports gave him his money back, so he wasn't out anything.
 
You might want to have a look at my thread " Rangefinder giving bogus readings" Apparently I didn't spend enough.
 
Not to hi-jack but....
Since we're on the topic-
Whats the most reflective (effective) target for a laser rangefinder to read?
My scenario is ranging stuff at the far end of a rangefinders capability, say a way-out-there gopher patch. Rather than leave the truck there and walk a mile back to range it, what would work?
Seems to me I read something once about a tinfoil covered carboard? Or painted target-board....dark or light???
 
thanks guys that is the stuff I am looking for.

I am thinking about the Leica 1200. I have the old style bushnell 1000 but it is so big and bulky that I find I am leaving it in my truck more than taking it with me.
 
I have been using the standard Elite 1500 for a few months now. I can't say enough good things about it. I have ranged deer out to 580 yards and trees to over 1000. The longest distance I have recorded with it were some rock cliffs 1600 yards away across the Fraser from where I was hunting. It is light, easy to use, and uses plain old 9 volt batteries. The fog-proof lens coating really work. It hasn't failed in temperatures ranging from as high as 24c to as low as -32c. All in all it is a very good unit
 
I've used the Leica Geovid (still have it) 10x42 and the 1200 monocular model; Swarovski 8x30 Guide and one of the Bushnell 1000 yard models.

If your going for single device, multi use, the Leica Geovid is hard to beat. In the monocular line save your money and buy the Swarovski Guide.

I am hoping they will be making a laser binocular ......
 
I've got the Leupold laser binocular, the one without the electronic compass. I think that it's discontinued, in any case Epps had them on for a super price a few months back, packaged with a Wind River spotting scope.

Cool toy, replaces both binocular and rangefinder, lots of fun to use.....but....

The binocular is of the fixed focus type. You focus once for your eyes and after that everything from about 20 yards to infinity is in focus. This is handy for hunting (no frantic one-finger focussing in sub-zero weather that has stiffened the focus wheel action) but the binocular quality is not quite up to a truly high-line unit like Zeiss or Leica. The eyepiece spacing is accomplished by pulling the collapsing halves in and out rather than folding in the middle like most binoculars, and this takes some getting used to. In order to fit them back into the case, they must be fully collapsed, so you have to readjust them each time that you take them out. Don't like that at all.

Thay claim to be fogproof and waterproof and my limited use of them in our recent cold s***ty weather doesn't make me dispute that.

The laser rangefinder works well to at least 450 yards or so. I forget what they're rated for, but they will certainly range anything that I will ever need to for hunting purposes. The 8x magnification seems to make it easier to pinpoint the laser placement for ranging distant objects better than the 6x on my older Bushnell scout.

They're not heavy but they're bulky. I'm sure that they take up less space than a separate binocular and rangefinder, but not as much less as you might think. Keep in mind that they're only 8x32, not 8x40 or 8x50.

I've already killed two batteries (cr123a). I don't know if they are wasteful of energy or if it's just so convenient to have a rangefinder in hand all the time that I'm overusing them. Honestly, that's where I think they shine. You can sit on stand, or pause while walking, and guess the range to various targets, then confirm the accuracy of your guess instantly. You can get to your stand and know the range to various landmarks exactly, without pacing the distances off and stinking up the place.

The best thing I can say is that I'm going on a caribou hunt next year and will be taking these as my primary binocular...with some spare batteries and a backup compact binocular just in case.

John
 
I've had the yardage pro scout for the last 2 seasons. It was working just fine untill a couple of days ago. I was in the front yard, about to get in some practice with my bow and since the yardage markers were under snow, I pull out my rangefinder to confirm that I was 20 yards from the target. I got readings of between 15 & 427 yards. The battery indicater said the battery was good but I spent $17 to be sure but the new battery didn't help. I have been trying to reach someone on bushnell's 1-800 number but that part of their customer service sucks. I haven't been able to find an Email address, if anyone knows one, please pass it on.
 
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