I'm looking for a scope that will let me know the range of the animal by how it fits in the scope. To clarify I know that if a deer fits in the fine part of my crosshairs on 6 power( my scope has the fine hairs in the centre then the thicker ones in the outer part) from tip of tail to tip of the nose then I know that the deer is 300metres away, I know this because I shoot at life size deer targets. In cabelas catolog they have a scope with different size circles that you match up to the deers chest and use that crosshair. Has anyone used this type of scope or something simular?
Range finding scopes?????
- Thread starter deerslayer
- Start date
I used an older Tasco with BDC on my moose gun for years.
Never really used it much as a range finder.
On this one you adjusted the X power ring till the animal fits between the crosshairs then looked in a slot on the scope which then gave you a distance read out depending on animal size. You then dialed in your elevation to the yardage indicated & shot dead on the crosshairs.
Never really used it much as a range finder.
On this one you adjusted the X power ring till the animal fits between the crosshairs then looked in a slot on the scope which then gave you a distance read out depending on animal size. You then dialed in your elevation to the yardage indicated & shot dead on the crosshairs.
- Location
- Saskatchewan
What you need is a milldot scope... do a search in the optics forum to find all the details... but pretty much.. its cross hairs with dots running up and then across each "hair"...
So many dots from the ground to the chest of the deer is so many yards... it takes a bit of practice but its simple.
Or just get the new bushnel range finder scope... its a scope with a built in range finder... all in one tube
So many dots from the ground to the chest of the deer is so many yards... it takes a bit of practice but its simple.
Or just get the new bushnel range finder scope... its a scope with a built in range finder... all in one tube
I'm having good luck with a laser and my Leupold B&C reticle.
Northman999
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Yukon
I've found that scopes like you describe are basically too much of a pain in the butt to use in real life situations; mildots as well actually. My advice is buy a Leupold RX-IV (Approx $400 on sale) if you can afford it, or just practice learning to judge distances if you can't. I'd stay away from inexpensive rangefinders; my dad bought a Bushnell that is supposed to read to 600 yards, but it's only accurate out to 300 in real life conditions - and who needs a rangefinder for closer than 300 anyways?
I've used a Redfield 3x9 accutrac for years, (1982) and have made some shots that I never would have contemplated with a conventional scope. BDC's offer an advantage at yardages over 300 due to the fact that you usually have lots of time to make a reasonable range estimates using the scope properly. For the accutrac it is as you say where you dial the animal until it fits between the stadia hairs, read the yardage on the post.. and then crank the yardage dial up... the only problem is that the distance measured is 18 inches.. the approximate size of an average whitetail measured from the top of the back to the bottom of the brisket.. However, what is the approximate thickness through a moose or an elk? Here is where you need to do lots of long range estimating until you can do the math in your head to make the best estimate at the yardage. A modern range finder would greatly help in this area. The next question is, can you make the shot just because it is a known distance? Shooting over 300 yards is not for the unskilled and unpracticed... Shoot longer yardages because you can.. not because you want to see if you can..
So one has to ask themselves.. can I really shoot that far and make a humane kill? And If I can't.. why go to all the expense.
Last thing I would want is a gut shot animal or a leg chopped at the knee running around.
So one has to ask themselves.. can I really shoot that far and make a humane kill? And If I can't.. why go to all the expense.
Last thing I would want is a gut shot animal or a leg chopped at the knee running around.
- Location
- Saskatchewan
Please explain...
~~~~
From my experience once you know the mill dot.. its simply a matter of holding over so many dots and then ... bang. No fumbling to get the rangefinder... get the caps off ... nothing.. it saves time and could save the shot.
For example.. my 243 with the 10x Bushnell 3200 elite
100 yards-dead on
200 yards-1 mil high
300 yards-1.5 mil high
That's of course for adjusting for bullet drop.. when it comes to judging distance..
3 mills from spine to chest is 100 yards.
2 mils from spine to chest is 200 yards.
1.5 mils from spine to chest is 300 yards.
he is saying they arent good as range finders. since you have to do some complicated math to figgure out the rough yardage.
(hight or width of object in yards or meters x 1000 divided by size of object in mils gets you your rough yardage. and m not sure about many people but i cant divide 3000 by anywhere from 2.25 to 6 in my head while hunting and needing to take a shot
(hight or width of object in yards or meters x 1000 divided by size of object in mils gets you your rough yardage. and m not sure about many people but i cant divide 3000 by anywhere from 2.25 to 6 in my head while hunting and needing to take a shot
i've got an old bushnell with both a bdc and range finder- you have dual stadia wires in the reticule and adjust it intil the animal fits in the wires and look at the window, or so i've been told- i've never used it in that fashion- i'd rather use my coincidence range finder or a lazer
- Location
- Saskatchewan
Just to be clear... I have no sniper fantasies... this is just the way I find easiest to hunt... No clicks of MOA involved... just hold up a dot and fire. It gets tough sometimes to lazer then make the scope adjustments...
I admit, the calculations can be a bit tough in the field... as mentioned earlier... but I put a couple hours in at the range and worked it all out. Now its just second nature.
True, its not for everyone, but to say that I have sniper fantasies as a reason for hunting the way I do is somewhat offensive.
A person was asking for opinions and options... I was just giving my opinion and another option.
An variable scope can be used as a crude rangefinder on broadside animals- You just need to know how large the animal is. Say it's a deer, about 18- 20" top of back to bottom of chest, and you are using a 3-9 scope.
You put a 18" target at various distances, and record it in comparioson to your reticle. So say it's at 200 yards, and it fills the top of the post to the crosshairs at 3X. Record that. Do it again at 300 yards. It's 5X. Record it. Etc. Then hold accordingly, because you already know your bullet drop, rigth?
This works pretty good, but probably loses precision at distances over 400 yards.
Mildots and extra crosshairs work pretty good, too. But you still need to know the distance, and they are not 100% precise, since the manufacturer of the scope doesn't know if you are using a 300RUM with a sleek bullet or a 308 with a jelly bean. Mildots sure work for "ranging" if you can see the bullet impact and the corresponding dot.
I think the easiest, least complicated and most precise method is to use a rangefinder, know your bullet trajectory, and use turrets on your scope.
Range, adjust turret, point and shoot. No guesswork, no memorization, no need to see the animal broadside to check the range.
You put a 18" target at various distances, and record it in comparioson to your reticle. So say it's at 200 yards, and it fills the top of the post to the crosshairs at 3X. Record that. Do it again at 300 yards. It's 5X. Record it. Etc. Then hold accordingly, because you already know your bullet drop, rigth?
This works pretty good, but probably loses precision at distances over 400 yards.
Mildots and extra crosshairs work pretty good, too. But you still need to know the distance, and they are not 100% precise, since the manufacturer of the scope doesn't know if you are using a 300RUM with a sleek bullet or a 308 with a jelly bean. Mildots sure work for "ranging" if you can see the bullet impact and the corresponding dot.
I think the easiest, least complicated and most precise method is to use a rangefinder, know your bullet trajectory, and use turrets on your scope.
Range, adjust turret, point and shoot. No guesswork, no memorization, no need to see the animal broadside to check the range.
