Night vision scope - do i need a rangefinder?

[Suilven]

Thinking about a night vision scope for deer. I haven't decided on which model but will be between hikmicro and dnt zulus.

Use will be on clearfell for the hour before dawn, hour after dusk, laying out rather than wandering round looking for a target. All shots likely to be well under 200m.

I know the ground pretty well so can I get away without the rangefinder function? I might have answered my own question

I don't have a rangefinder built into my thermal.

Does the rangefinder bring an element of flexibility or is it a function that seems useful but doesn't get used in the real world?

 

[Mike1979]

For me less is more. Less stuff to faff with and more time to get on and shoot the deer. If you know your ground I wouldnt bother.

I got a Hikmico Alpex A50E and didnt want the LRF as its another thing to think about. At 250 yards just allow for bullet drop and off go you

 

[HonestJohn]

These days it’s almost hard to find a new unit without lrf, and it’s hard to judge distance well through digital optics. So I’d say, yes, and it also helps resale value. In 2 years, no one will buy one without, whether new or used.

That said, do you really need digital in legal shooting hours? I’ve never found light to be lacking until literally 55 minutes post sunset type thing.

 

[Suilven]

Cheers Mike I think that's where my head is at too. Wondered if shooting in the dark added a factor that I hadn't thought of.

 

[Suilven]

These days it’s almost hard to find a new unit without lrf, and it’s hard to judge distance well through digital optics. So I’d say, yes, and it also helps resale value. In 2 years, no one will buy one without, whether new or used.

That said, do you really need digital in legal shooting hours? I’ve never found light to be lacking until literally 55 minutes post sunset type thing.

Thanks, hadn't thought of resale value.

First step might be to have a look through a digital scope in the dark, only played with them at the game fair so far..

 

[Mike1979]

Cheers Mike I think that's where my head is at too. Wondered if shooting in the dark added a factor that I hadn't thought of.

Personally I much prefer good glass to digital but I also like to be able to see what Im shooting nice and clearly and digital makes that so much easier on first and last light no matter how good your scope is.

Distance is much more difficult to judge and a LRF will help but I find the more stuff there is the more things get in the way of shooting. Horses for courses

To be fair I bought the NV for foxes more then deer though the last 4 roe were with the NV. I possibly would have shot them all with a day scope but 2 were not far off heading into cover when it was just legal light (still dark)

 

[20-250]

Rangefinder is all well and good on a rimfire or air rifle, but why bother on a flat shooting centrefire?

 

[takbok]

I've recently bought a little digital NV scope with LRF and find it quite handy, especially if I put it on my .22.

Can easily head shoot deer at 100m or more when not visible by eye anymore. Not as good as an optical scope in daylight, but good enough to place the shot accurately out to decent ranges.

It's very hard to shift a 2nd hand NV scope especially without LRF. Don't buy anything with the expectation of selling it for very much.

 

[Foxyboy43]

If you are only shooting out to two hundred I wouldn’t bother. However if greater distances are likely something like a Zulus with a LRF and Ballistic Calculator is a very useful bit of kit - it really does do all the holdover calculations for you…

 

[Mike1979]

Rangefinder is all well and good on a rimfire or air rifle, but why bother on a flat shooting centrefire?

Still have a good bit of bullet drop between 100 and 400 yards .nothing shoots flat

 

[Foxyboy43]

Hmmm.
On the subject of holdover and distance - just to demonstrate the margin of holdover required at distance and for interest - video stills from a non-Lrf/bc Pard008P @ 300 yards; a Lrf/bc Zulus5-20 @ 315yds and a Lrf/bc Zulus5-20 @ 360yds.
All shots resulted in stone dead foxes. Rifle was a Remington 700 in sainted triple deuce zeroed at 100 yards and sending a 50gns Vmax trundling along at 3,150 fps.

 

[20-250]

Still have a good bit of bullet drop between 100 and 400 yards .nothing shoots flat

I have no desire or need to shoot deer or anything else for that matter 400 yards away.

 

[Mike1979]

I have no desire to shoot deer 400 yards away.

Me neither. Just commenting on the "flat" part and not needing a range finder for CF rifles

 

[Smellydog]

I don't know about non lrf NV units other than my ds35/50. However it does allow you to load ballistic data into it and then I manually dial the range in. Press a button and I get a suggested hold over.
I've used it simply guessing ranges and it works out pretty close!
Possibly with a cheap golf course range finder id be all set.

 

[tarponhead]

I have the same quandary- but only for foxes after the light has gone, so a day night scope on my .17 looks ideal. I’m amazed at how cheap they have become - Optics Warehouse - £400 or less gets me in the game. I don’t like hold over - it makes me test my field craft by getting within range of my zero - but that’s just me. I can see the fun/interest in having ballistics included, but strictly necessary? Not in my case. Let us know what you buy and how you get on.

 

[nun_hunter]

I have no desire or need to shoot deer or anything else for that matter 400 yards away.

You don't need a range finder then. Luckily variety is the spice of life and everyone's needs/wants are different.

If the OP is genuinely never going to shoot over 200m then they probably don't need it either. If they want to use it on a rimfire later or have a greater chance of maximising resale value then spending the extra on an LRF makes sense.

 

[75]

I’ve never found light to be lacking until literally 55 minutes post sunset type thing.

Fine in summer months and long mornings and late evenings when I reach for the glass but murky, overcast mornings in mid winter in thick woodland I find I have an extra 20-30mins legal shooting time with the Alpex.

For the OPs question - you will prob find a RF helpful on something (thermal or scope or even binos at a push) - I find it tricky to estimate range in the dark, especially at the edge of what I'm comfortable shooting. The difference between 175 and 225yds on a windy, murky morning is hard to estimate (for me) and might be the difference between me taking or passing up a shot.

 

[Merlyn]

Best glass scope you can afford, and then zero the rifle for an inch high at 100 yards. Everyone did it that way for donkeys years, and you are OK up to about two hundred yards with just point and shoot. If you want, you can read up on the theory of what was called 'point-blank zero', and it will explain how using this method never lets your bullet go above or below the kill area on a deer at sensible ranges.

 

[Suilven]

Thanks @Merlyn that's my current approach with glass during the day. I have a 6x42 schmidt and a variable zeiss. I have a leica rangefinder so can range and shoot to mpbr as standard practice, just keen to understand what i need when it's too dark for my glass

 

[slider]

I would recommend a LRF for night vision shooting as its difficult to gauge distance (for me anyway)