Range Finder

[LostJock]

I’m in the ‘to each his own’ camp here, and I like rangefinders. I use them in most aspects of my professional life, in varying circumstances. I like my data, but not at the expense of intuition.

Surely though pacing is only marginally more accurate than a good guess? Pacing changes with terrain, fatigue, slope, load carried etc.

 

[John Gryphon]

if you need to but do you need to range find a roe buck at fifty yards

No boggy of course not,that`s a straight up head shot.
I have seen where an RF is a great helper in situations,especially cross gully shots.

 

[Sika-Hunter]

I wasn't sure whether to start another thread but being another piece of technology and having some really good reasons for and against on RF what are peoples thoughts on using Thermal spotters? I have never used one but on several occasions have tracked my shot deer into thick cover just using blood trails some prooved more difficult than others especially the diminutive Muntjac .
The practises I use came from training and experience but I do know folk who have spotted shot deer with thermal in thick cover and retrieved them much quicker.
Good piece of equipment or lazy tracking?
M

 

[bogtrotter]

I wasn't sure whether to start another thread but being another piece of technology and having some really good reasons for and against on RF what are peoples thoughts on using Thermal spotters? I have never used one but on several occasions have tracked my shot deer into thick cover just using blood trails some prooved more difficult than others especially the diminutive Muntjac .
The practises I use came from training and experience but I do know folk who have spotted shot deer with thermal in thick cover and retrieved them much quicker.
Good piece of equipment or lazy tracking?
M

Never used one but can see the merit if used ad you describe, open to misuse though.

 

[Sika-Hunter]

Misuse, spotting deer in forestry before you can physically see them? does this take the skill out of spotting deer with bino's or quietly stalking ground and glassing as you go?

 

[stevenedwards]

Misuse, spotting deer in forestry before you can physically see them? does this take the skill out of spotting deer with bino's or quietly stalking ground and glassing as you go?

I agree. Use one to see what is about particularly on new ground but I don't carry one at the same time as the rifle. Just in case I'm tempted by the dark side.

 

[sharkey]

I shoot most deer using rangefinders these days. The hardest thing for me is finding ones which work well at less than 60m rather than 600.
A couple of photos for you guys amusement. The red deer had been free fed by the home owners for a couple of weeks each afternoon to get them in range of the window. This one was several years ago & I think I relocated half a dozen just that afternoon. Having the rangefinder in the scope is so much faster more accurate & you are less likely to loos it. This is the first model that Burris did & it is still the best for this type of work.

 

[Wardy456]

I see more and more clients with Range Finders or binoculars with built in range finding ability.
For long range shooting fine but for stalking I just don't get it what happened with learning to judge distance,that was a part of
learning the kraft
I can judge distance out to 300 yards or so,further that I will normally take a shot and a lot further than I am going to allow a client to take one , the majority of shots taken stalking are sub 200 yards,and the biggest proportion considerably less.
Its not difficult to learn to judge distance out to 200 yards just a little practice and you will find you do it automatically so why the need for for Range Finders is it a case of " must have all the gear whether I really need it or not" or are people just too lazy to put in a little practice in judging distance,or am I missing something.

Surely it better they are confident with the shot? If they know the distance they will be much more confident. Just a thought.

 

[Swedish]

I needed a decent set of binos so since I had a decent budget available I chose to get some with a built in range finder. I don't always use the range finder and I've always considered myself a good judge of distance. However I do test myself sometimes over new or tricky terrain and I'm surprised at how wrong I can be.

 

[bogtrotter]

Misuse, spotting deer in forestry before you can physically see them? does this take the skill out of spotting deer with bino's or quietly stalking ground and glassing as you go?

No not what I was thinking of.

 

[J111]

To be honest I prefer it if a stalking guide has a rangefinder on the hill. Where I stalk I am trusted to take longer shots and once we get out over 200m it is important to know exactly what range the beast is for a successful shot.

As an example I was out with a very experienced stalking guide who does not use a rangefinder and we spotted a roe laid up in cover using thermal (another story). He said it was 250m, I had time so I got out my rangefinder which confirmed 195m. The outcome of the shot could have been completely different if I had held over for 250m.

 

[Dunwaters]

I can't see any problem with range finders other than its something else to fiddle with .
Nowadays it seems to go like this, spot deer with Mark 1 eyeball, confirm sighting with binoculars, deploy sticks/bipod ignoring the perfectly placed mound or tree beside you, check the range, locate deer through the scope, fiddle with magnification and parallax for a while, look back at the guide for approval and then settle down for the shot, fail to locate deer through the scope because it's wandered off or died of old age and boredom.
Use one if you want to or need to but don't forget that the object of the exercise is an accurate shot ASAP.

 

[Scapegoat]

I carry mine with me, as has been said many times above, there are situations where the lie of the land means estimations are way out. Most woodland stalking is well within the PB of the rifle, so no real need to use them to confirm,. but I tend to use them to map out parameters and ranges if I'm in a high seat or plotted up waiting in "ambush".

 

[Uncle f]

Not seeing a problem with rangefinders/binos I use them all the time and will continue to do so. To accurately judge distance is not something I’m not great at so why make it more difficult. I stalk mainly in woodland and field edges. Each to there own.

 

[ChesterP]

When I were a lad, we used to guess t'ut time by countin' from when we left t'ut ouse, and distance to beasty by lookin' at t'ut sun, through t'ut clouds and then seein' what angle t'shadow from beasty's hindquarters made on t'ut ground before downing t'ut animal wi' sling-shots. I don't know, these new fangled rifles and these new fangled rangefinders...completely unnecessary if y'ask me!

Joking to one side, I was taught to estimate distances, accounting for dead ground, using bracketing (how near does it look and how far could it be?) then taking an average. I used to think I was pretty ok up to 600yds or so but never for accuracy called for when taking a shot, except to maybe 200 yds. Even being 20 yards out only makes around 2.5 inches difference at 200 yds to a typical .308 155gr load, so really, to that distance there's little need where deer are concerned. On the hill I can see where extended shots may be taken you'd want to be sure.

I carry one for two reasons: 1) because on some shots which may look like 200 yds, its possible with lots of dead ground to be 40 or more yds out with guesswork and on a small animal, that's too much a margin of error. 2) for smaller vermin shots even at 200yds, precision is really needed.

In my case, I use a light and compact Leica unit which doubles as a monocular to scan the ground if I'm not using the bins. It's also dead useful when setting out practice targets at ranges up to 600 yds for fun.

 

[sako751sg]

Its called progress.

Someone knowing the distance instead of judging the distances makes for a more confident shot imo and isnt a bad thing when the target is live.

 

[Big_Sparky]

As someone with years of shooting experience (work related lol) but zero stalking experience and also very new to the whole FAC process etc I do find it interesting that it seems reasonably easy to get hold of a firearm for hunting of various types without having any shooting skills as such, whereas joining a target shooting club and getting regular access to a range and training perhaps seems more complicated. Guess my old employer may be to blame for my attitude but when it comes to shooting (or anything else for that matter lol) repetition, repetition etc etc....!
Ps.... I’m not advocating for changing the FAC process btw before anyone shouts at me more that I find @bogtrotter ’s experience of poor shooters worrying!

 

[Sharpie]

I wouldn't be without my rangefinder binos, even though they are not the best optically (Bushnell) but they are what I could afford at the time.

Even woodland stalking, distances can be deceptive. E.g. my first roebuck was taken down a forest ride. My guide reckoned it was no more than 100 yards, point and shoot. It was actually 180, requiring some holdover, then it ran maybe 20 yards into the wood. Ranging back to from where I shot it. Pacing it out based on guestimates and we could have been looking for it all day.

Likewise a muntjac at the edge of the wood, over open land. Guide thought it maybe too far, but actually ranged at 120 yards.

My binos also measure and can compensate for vertical angle (cosine rule), which could be important if not shooting horizontally, e.g on a hill.

Also checking a field zeroing range, set up with a tape measure to supposedly 100 and 200 yards, actually nearer to 110 and 220. That doesn't really matter but its nice to know these things.

Tip: use a retroreflector such as a car warning triangle or even a bike reflector to get a strong unambiguous ping when measuring distances. E.g a bike reflector on a peg set at your shooting position and a 180 degree compass bearing back, should take you close you to where your target was.

Just walking around and ranging things helps you develop your own skills in guesstimating distances. Maybe this comes naturally to old-hands, but I'm not that skilled. And a decent guide should not be embarrassed by having their judgement tested, and complimented when correct.

 

[ChesterP]

As someone with years of shooting experience (work related lol) but zero stalking experience and also very new to the whole FAC process etc I do find it interesting that it seems reasonably easy to get hold of a firearm for hunting of various types without having any shooting skills as such, whereas joining a target shooting club and getting regular access to a range and training perhaps seems more complicated. Guess my old employer may be to blame for my attitude but when it comes to shooting (or anything else for that matter lol) repetition, repetition etc etc....!
Ps.... I’m not advocating for changing the FAC process btw before anyone shouts at me more that I find @bogtrotter ’s experience of poor shooters worrying!

That seems back to front in all honesty. It is relatively easy....dead easy in fact, to become a member of a shooting club and more difficult to obtain an FAC, let alone "...get hold of a firearm for hunting..". Not sure where you get your information from? Bogtrotter wasn't having a swipe at anyone's shooting experience or expertise, merely the ability to judge range. Less haste before posting perhaps?

 

[Big_Sparky]

That seems back to front in all honesty. It is relatively easy....dead easy in fact, to become a member of a shooting club and more difficult to obtain an FAC, let alone "...get hold of a firearm for hunting..". Not sure where you get your information from? Bogtrotter wasn't having a swipe at anyone's shooting experience or expertise, merely the ability to judge range. Less haste before posting perhaps?

Well - perhaps. Except I think you’ve possibly missed my point - perhaps I’ve explained myself badly!! Firstly, information is from what I’ve read online plus a mixture of what I’m finding out as I go along - excuse me if that’s wrong! But I’ve looked at several target clubs in my “local” area - I mention that as there aren’t any actually locally as such - many of them basically won’t even accept an application for membership without a personal recommendation from an existing member - which, when you aren’t local in real terms and (in my case) don’t know any members - almost impossible. So, to go down the route of joining a target shooting club and then once accepted, serving a probationary period etc before being granted full membership which would then allow for such good reason to be used on an FAC seems, to me, to be far more difficult than the route I’ve gone down of getting permission from several local landowners to go hunting on their land and therefore having that as good reason on my FAC application.

As for my comment regarding the OP’s post - I’m referring to the mentions of him not permitting clients etc to shoot over certain distances as to their ability - which I think is exactly what he said.

And as to less haste when posting - you’ve lost me!