Laser range finders??

[tiny68]

Anyone have experience trying to use a range finder on wild hogs to measure distance? I have access to a place that is over run with them. There are nice enclosed stands with shooting lanes about 20 yds wide in 3 directions going out for almost 800 yards. Some hogs appeared yesterday afternoon at an estimated 575 yards (based on the Mil-Dots in my scope and assuming the the largest hog was 30" tall). However, but the time I did the calculation they had past through the clearing before I got a shot. All others I saw crossed in a run with no chance to range and fire. Never have owned a laser range finder and have only borrowed friends in the field to set up targets at exact ranges for distance shooting.

Tell me - do these thing work as they claim or do they exactly require something be reflective in some way?

Thanks, Tim

[barrel-nut]

They work pretty well. I have this:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/343643/bushnell-legend-1200-arc-laser-rangefinder-6x-black

Which is a Bushnell Legend 1200, and I can range trees and bushes out to about 1000 yards under good conditions, 800 or less under most conditions. A large hog should make a good rangefinder target. At extreme distances, though, you run into a couple of problems; first, it's hard to hold the rangefinder steady enough to keep it on target, especially offhand. Works better if you can rest against something solid. The other thing is, the "aiming circle" becomes quite large at these distances, due to the relatively low magnification. To work around this, take several readings, and it should become apparent which ones are on target. Also, most have a scan mode, where you just hold down the button and slowly sweep it across your target. Disregard the longer, background readings. It will be apparent.

The long and short of it is, yes, they work, and they help take some of the guess work out of longer range field shooting. ;)

[Edd Panzella]

Any animal crossing a shooting lane will be gone before you can range it and then grab your rifle. You have to prepare by ranging trees, rocks, ect at various ranges at which you expect to see game. Then when you see an animal near a previously ranged reference point you can shoot quickly before it's gone.

[Eric in NC]

Any animal crossing a shooting lane will be gone before you can range it and then grab your rifle. You have to prepare by ranging trees, rocks, ect at various ranges at which you expect to see game. Then when you see an animal near a previously ranged reference point you can shoot quickly before it's gone.


+1 or in a situation like that you can even measure manually and set up colored markers (like painted "for sale" signs) at 300-400-450-500-550 etc.

[sniper15545]

Ditto I have the 1000 yard Bushnell Scout and they really work great!!! A friend of mine has the 1600 yard leica woow its really nice but at $700.00 it should be compared to my $280.00 scout.

[Alleycat72]

We use a rangefinder for hunting. On the long range hunting we use a tractor and bush hog for a ranging target. Before season we cut strips every 50 to 100 yards out to the max distance. We constantly range while the guy in the bush hog listens to the radio. A lot of times game will not range as well as a tree that’s close. Close at 800 yards may be 100 yards away. The cut strips just let you count. It’s a lot of work, but we have made kill shots farther than I will ever admit. The hardest thing about making a great shot is that no one would believe you if you told them.

[handirifle]

Any animal crossing a shooting lane will be gone before you can range it and then grab your rifle. You have to prepare by ranging trees, rocks, ect at various ranges at which you expect to see game. Then when you see an animal near a previously ranged reference point you can shoot quickly before it's gone.


+1 on this, and it applies even more so if you ever bowhunt. Got my mule deer this year using that exact same method. Sitting on a hillside, and laser'd every opening I could, and did it again about every 15 min or so. The repeats were to burn it into my brain, so I didn't have to try to remember when the moment came. It did. The buck I shot crossed one opening in about 3 seconds, at a fairly quick walk. Crossed the second and last opening too quick to even get the crosshairs on him. When he took one step back into the clearing and stopped to eat an acorn, I had the hairs on him, knew the range (180yds) and squeezed. He ran 50 yards and piled up.

Mine is an old one and only ranges to 250, on good conditions, but they are worth every penny.

[MrMajestic]

They definitely work however the more you pay they better they work! I have a Leica 1600 after two Nikons, a 400 & 800. The Leica is head over heals better. Range and check look angle, plug into Shooter App and fire! OK its not quick. ;)

[zap]

I looked at several before buying. I tried a nikon 900 and could only get about 500 yards out of it. I got a great deal on a new leica 1200 about 5 years ago on ebay.

I am extremely happy with it. The clear glass is worth the extra money. I can spot ground hogs at 700 yards pretty easy with it.

But, I will agree with some of the comments above, ( holding still to get a good reading). It is also much easier to range some thing if it is on a hillside. If you miss the target your trying to range, you will likely get a reading on the ground next to the critter, but if your hunting a very flat area (like most of my ground hog hunting ground),and you shoot the laser beam over the animal, you could be getting a much farther reading than it actually is. On a long shot, (over 400 yards)that is critical because a 25 yard different reading can mean several inches in drop at that distance.

[geargrinder]

I like my Bushnell Arc 1600 binoculars so much I don't use my Swaro Laser Guide anymore. I've been able to range with both of them to over 1 mile.

[Russ]

When hunting out of a tree stand I set up a range card by drawing a picture of promenant features and then use a range finder to get the distance to them and mark the ranges on the picture. I do this in a 180 degree half circle around my stand. I have also printed off images of my hunting area from Google earth and used this instead of a hand drawn picture. By doing this I can tell within 5 yds how far to the animal. I only do 180 degrees because my stand is on our fence line and I can't hunt on the other guys property. Learned this trick in the military many years ago.