Question about range finders

bradm · Post by **bradm** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 1:52 pm

I plan on buying one for christmas. Is it really worth the extra $180 to get the trajectory compensator? do you find that while your in a treestand and will not be shooting past 40 yards that there is a significant difference?

Dumbazz · Post by **Dumbazz** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 5:51 pm

I have sat in numerous treestands and ranged numerous trees at the base and then at eyelevel with me in the stand. No difference. Or atleast not enough to make it worth the money in my opinion.

LondonDave · Post by **LondonDave** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 6:55 pm

I've always been a little skeptical about the whole concept. Back at the beginning of the season after I put my tree stands up. I climbed up with my bow, target bag on the ground. Ranged it at 15 yards with my regular old nothing fancy Bushnell Sport range finder. Aimed at one of the spots on the bag putting the scope about 1/2 way between the crosshairs and the 10 yard chevron and it was bang on. I did this twice with the same results.

I'm sure there are mathematical formulas that will tell you why the ARC thing works but I just don't see it.

Dave

crazyfarmer · Post by **crazyfarmer** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 7:35 pm

i dont see the need for it.. as long as im within 1-2 yards im not missing no matter what the angle.

a good one for the money is the archers choice one.. i believe its around 200 bucks. It says its only good for 99ft(which is perfect for bow), but ive ranged out to 150 yards with no issues

Galgo · Post by **Galgo** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 7:46 pm

Not worth it for bow hunting INO.

F

wabi · Post by **wabi** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 11:03 pm

I have never had any problem with just ranging the target from the stand and using that yardage. Most of my stands are low (12-15') and at that height there is very little difference in the actual distance and "horizontal" distance.
I simplified my system even more this year. I took the rangefinder and from the ground placed several "ranging" markers (old tree branches, small rotten logs, etc.) at 30 yard intervals. I sighted my Phoenix with the crosshair dead-on at 25 yards. A shot with the crosshair in the center of the kill zone at any deer inside those markers is going to be fatal! If I have time to figure out the exact range I can adjust the hold to compensate, but so far I've just centered the kill zone & shot - and both those deer are in the freezer now.

ninepointer · Post by **ninepointer** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 10:08 am

Good thread, I've been asking myself the same question.

So, a few weeks ago I applied the pythagorean theorem to my treestand heights (15 -18 feet) and various shooting distances ranging from 10 - 40 yards and the results were negligible differences (0.9 yards - 1.1 yards) between the horizontal distance to the target and the distance of arrow flight.

This led me to wonder why so many vertical bowhunters talk about the need to adjust for angle (shoot low) or use pendulum sights when shooting from treestands. (By the way, a few years ago I missed (shot under) what could have been my first crossbow buck at 15 yards because I listened to the "aim low" advice

) So, anyway, I cruised some bowhunting websites & forums and I came to the following conclusions:

1) There's a whole lot of people posting on the web who have never bothered to calculate the hypotenuse using the pythagorean theorem, and they mistakenly think that the downward angle accounts for a huge difference in distance or rate of arrow drop. Simply not true.

2) The tendency to accidently over-shoot a target from a treestand (hence the advice to aim low) is mainly an afflication of vertical bow-hunters. It has more to do with poor shooting form and an inconsistent anchor point, resulting from shooting downward while bent at the waist (nobody practices shooting from this position).

Any guys with vertical bowhunting experience, feel free to chime in

bradm · Post by **bradm** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:08 am

Alright, thanks alot for the input. its most appreciated.

beretta96D · Post by **beretta96D** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 3:00 pm

My uncle is a swat instructor for LEO's and he said they work for their intended purpose which is from a 30 story building to street level, but that angle is so severe and the distance so short a mistake can happen. For typical hunting, we'd never shoot that far or have that much angle to deal with.

Rich · Post by **Rich** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 5:50 pm

I have the Leupold RX-II and use it strictly for bowhunting. I have found less than a 1 yard differance between actual and the compensated range. A range finder without ARC will suffice in bow hunting situations.

Rich

Phoenix_Tom · Post by **Phoenix_Tom** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 10:25 am

ninepointer wrote:Good thread, I've been asking myself the same question.

So, a few weeks ago I applied the pythagorean theorem to my treestand heights (15 -18 feet) and various shooting distances ranging from 10 - 40 yards and the results were negligible differences (0.9 yards - 1.1 yards) between the horizontal distance to the target and the distance of arrow flight.

This led me to wonder why so many vertical bowhunters talk about the need to adjust for angle (shoot low) or use pendulum sights when shooting from treestands. (By the way, a few years ago I missed (shot under) what could have been my first crossbow buck at 15 yards because I listened to the "aim low" advice ) So, anyway, I cruised some bowhunting websites & forums and I came to the following conclusions:

1) There's a whole lot of people posting on the web who have never bothered to calculate the hypotenuse using the pythagorean theorem, and they mistakenly think that the downward angle accounts for a huge difference in distance or rate of arrow drop. Simply not true.

2) The tendency to accidently over-shoot a target from a treestand (hence the advice to aim low) is mainly an afflication of vertical bow-hunters. It has more to do with poor shooting form and an inconsistent anchor point, resulting from shooting downward while bent at the waist (nobody practices shooting from this position).

Any guys with vertical bowhunting experience, feel free to chime in

Another reason for "aim low" in bow hunting is to compensate for the string jumping deer as it crouches before the jump. I've allows believed this to be too much to compensate for and aim straight for the heart / lungs.

DuckHunt · Post by **DuckHunt** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 6:01 pm

If you hunt high (>20ft) it can be more difficult to judge close ranges (<25 yds). A rangefinder helps. One with angle compensation is preferred, but not necessary. I hunt in mountainous terrain and have had a deer in a draw be more than 50ft below my stand.

To me it only helps in extreme situations. In these situations you can still have problems if you haven't practiced very short shots (<15 yards) from a high stand. Most of us don't have a 10 yard crosshair. If you use your 20 yard crosshair at a deer 10 yards from your tree and you are 30 feet up, you will hit way high.

Knowing he is only 10 yards away is only half the problem.

You may want to check eBay for rangefinders. I picked up a Leupold RX-II for $210 last year. They still sell routinely on eBay for <$220. You can save yourself $100 and possibly end up with all the rangefinder you need.

DuckHunt