Range finders

[Dean2]

One more Leica 1200 vote. They are 7 power, excellent glass and will range large game over 1000 yards and fit in the shirt pocket. Glass is so good, even at first light, I no longer carry binoculars when hunting big game, unless we are in the mountains glassing all day long.

Gophers etc to 500, but you have to hold them steady and a rock or mound close to a gopher well past 1000. Like the other guys, tried many others but the Leicas are the right rig for me.

[chigger]

thanks for the reply's.
i'll specifically look for the ones mentioned above.

[TOU]

Leica Geovids: Oh my...$3,200+ Man I would love a pair but it'll have to wait a few years.

[GLWenzl]

Leica Geovids are awesome but I can't stand the weight and perfer just the Leica RF better.

I also have the Zeiss Victory PRF and was better except I still like the smaller package of the Leica, arthritis kills my shoulders when ranging all day...

Ive also had Nikon and bushnell years ago and don't miss them

There should be a review I did on this link when the Zeiss first came out.


http://www.cabelas.com/product/Zeiss...2724516&rid=20

[Danny]

What about getting one of the mechanical ex military rangefinders? I have heard they are accurate. Are they just too big to be practical, or not?

Danny

[TOU]

I was deer hunting in Canada last week with my nephew & brother in law, they were using a Leupold® RX-1200i TBR with DNA Laser Rangefinder

http://www.cabelas.com/product/leupo...tt=rangefinder

On sale, it was $279 delivered. Granted I have very little other experience rangefinders but it worked well for their applications & seemed like a lot of hardware for the money spent. I wonder if it would work well on coyote & squirrels? I'm curious, does anyone have experience with this
specific rangefinder?

[SmokinJoe]

I have Leica Pinmaster (made for golf) and last year acquired a Leica Geovid 7x42, which I love for PD trips. They are big & heavy, but relatively easy to range when you get some distance. I use the Pinmaster for deer hunting where distance is seldom over 300 yards here. The 7x42 Geovids can be had for around $700-900 in excellent condition if you are patient & look around a bit.

[bburrell]

I have a Leupold range finder that I use quite a bit in shooting coyotes prairie dogs and ground squirrels. I use it differently in each scenario. Since you mentioned ground squirrels, I will only comment on how I use it for them.

For the most part I am shooting in flat, tilled Fields. Very hard to get ranged in those conditions. If I can, I will try to get a range on something like a sprinkler pipe, tractor, a rock, etc. and then estimate the range of the squirrel that I am shooting. I often set up a shooting stand either prone or table and shoot for some time. In those cases, after I have shot for a while, I will walk out to where the dead squirrels lie and range back to my shooting bench. That gives me an idea of the range that I'm shooting them. From then on it is a matter of simply identifying which range sector I am shooting in.

Unless you are shooting in a flat field, after you get out about 100 or 200 yards, there is almost certainly something that you can range. Once you range that object, you can estimate how far your squirrel is from it and get a general idea. It's not perfect, but it works, and it's fine.
Burt

[Kevin Gullette]

You guys are trying too hard.

I'm a little bit lazier...........

Kevin

[Rick in Oregon]

Long time PD and squirrel shooter here, and I've gone through a progression of rangefinders since they first came out.

I've used the most excellent (and spendy) Leica Geovid, and like montdoug sez, they're the absolute best available. But for much less, I've had great results with my Leica LRF-1200, having used it for both big game and rat shooting. I can range rat mounds out past 500, farther if there's good height to the mound. One thing I've learned in all the years since my first unit, is that for ranging dinky targets 'way out there', it HAS to be held steady for any degree of accuracy/repeatability.

Here's how I solved the sore elbows after long periods of glassing from the bench issue. For ranging small targets past 300 yards, it really helps:



A small piece of light gauge steel with a 1/4-20 nut welded on the back to attach to the spotting scope tripod, a couple of rubber bands to secure the LRF and wha-la, done.

Works great, quick 'n easy to adjust, comes off quickly for walkabouts and the cost was basically zip.....the best part.