Rangefinder for archery

[Yotekiller]

I have been using the same old Nikon 400 for around 18 to 20 years. It just wont die. I have decided it is time to upgrade to something with angle compensation. The Nikon Monarch 3000 stabilized is on sale right now at Cabelas for $299.99. I know Aaron Snyder has been recommending this model. The angle compensation is supposed to work almost vertically straight up and down. I have heard that most rangefinders can't function with extremely steep angles. All the reviews I can find online are from rifle hunters claiming it doesn't work well for them with the tall narrow beam and the yardage not meeting their expectations. The Nikon prostaff 3i ($229.99)and 7i ($299.99)can also handle the steep angles. Does anyone have any experience with any of these for archery? Is there another rangefinder that handles steep angles that has been working better for anyone?

 

[Beendare]

I have a Nikon RF its good...but prefer my Leopold with the OLED readout

In hunting situations, it seems I'm always ranging at first or last light and its hard to see the Nikon readout....not so with the Leopold.

 

[PathFinder]

My experience with the Nikon 3000 has been good for archery purposes. My buddy has it, and it's always within 1/2 yard of my Leica/cut sheet combo. I wouldn't buy it for a rifle hunting rangefinder, the beam divergence is definitely a bit much and it isn't super reliable a long ways out.

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[jmez]

I have a Leupold, one of the archery models and I've been happy with it.

I've never checked the actual accuracy? I assume it is correct. I use the range finder to set my sight so the exact yardage is irrelevant as long as it is consistent.

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[GregB]

I've used the prostaff 3i for the last 4 or 5 years for both rifle and archery, and never had any issues until this year. This year it didn't want to range past 200 yrds. and even at shorter distances would sometimes not return a range, even after cleaning the lenses and putting in a fresh battery. I'll be shopping for a new rangefinder as well.

 

[Chad.frank]

I have been using the same old Nikon 400 for around 18 to 20 years. It just wont die. I have decided it is time to upgrade to something with angle compensation. The Nikon Monarch 3000 stabilized is on sale right now at Cabelas for $299.99. I know Aaron Snyder has been recommending this model. The angle compensation is supposed to work almost vertically straight up and down. I have heard that most rangefinders can't function with extremely steep angles. All the reviews I can find online are from rifle hunters claiming it doesn't work well for them with the tall narrow beam and the yardage not meeting their expectations. The Nikon prostaff 3i ($229.99)and 7i ($299.99)can also handle the steep angles. Does anyone have any experience with any of these for archery? Is there another rangefinder that handles steep angles that has been working better for anyone?

How steep are you looking to shoot? I used the Vortex in Idaho this year where everything is steep and it worked great!


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[Blockcaver]

Leupold RX-1200i and now RX1600i work great for archery and are
OK for rifle hunting. Believe the latest model is the RX2000 in that lineup.

 

[Yotekiller]

I don't know if any of these are accurate. According to Tim Gillingham none of them cut off enough yardage on the steep shots anyway. I take shots almost straight down at times. I'm just looking for experienced feedback from the experts here.

 

[Desk Jockey]

+1 for vortex. Only had one problem with a vortex product and they had a brand new replacement in my hand within a week.

 

[Chad.frank]

I don't know if any of these are accurate. According to Tim Gillingham none of them cut off enough yardage on the steep shots anyway. I take shots almost straight down at times. I'm just looking for experienced feedback from the experts here.

Well Tim is pretty dang experienced. So if you want to be 100% accurate you will have to have a cut chart taped to your wrist. I’m not an expert, but I do hunt and shoot a lot and the Vortex Impact works well for me. Like I said I hunt in Idaho and it worked there.


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[5MilesBack]

I don't know if any of these are accurate. According to Tim Gillingham none of them cut off enough yardage on the steep shots anyway. I take shots almost straight down at times.

IMO you're going to have more accuracy and consistency issues from your form than the RF on near vertical shots up or down. I've tested my Sig Kilo 2000 off cliffs and such and the ranges it showed me seemed pretty believable given the angles. But I've also tried some of those extreme angled shots, and you can only bend at the waist so far for a vertical shot. At some point your form just can't line up well anymore. Downhill doesn't seem to be affected as much for me, but shooting up hill I'll normally hit high regardless which RF I use, if I don't adjust for that. The RF's should work the same for up or down for the same angles, so I will assume it is my form when shooting up since down isn't an issue.

 

[Beendare]

I don't know if any of these are accurate. According to Tim Gillingham none of them cut off enough yardage on the steep shots anyway. I take shots almost straight down at times. I'm just looking for experienced feedback from the experts here.

Its a good question anyway...now I'm curious.


Easy to get an accurate answer. ...rather than a WAG from an internet forum. Call the technical staff at each company....they will give you the exact limitations of the units. The limitation of angle is not in the in the spec sheet of the Leopold. I can tell you for a fact it works at a 40 deg uphill and downhill angle...beyond that, I don't know.

 

[Boreal]

I've used my ProStaff 3i for a few years without any complaints. It's never let me down, and the yardages seem right on when I'm shooting the unmarked 3D course. I've also used a Vortex rangefinder. The good thing about Vortex is their warranty, because you are going to need it.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

The Sig Kilo 2000 has worked well for me.

 

[J Batt]

I have a Sig kilo 2200 for sale. Has angle compensator.

 

[Gumbo]

I do not like-a my Leica for archery. 7x is too much magnification for archery IMO.

 

[5MilesBack]

I do not like-a my Leica for archery. 7x is too much magnification for archery IMO.

Interesting. I've had a Leica CRF for 12 years now, and I haven't even once thought about the magnification. Never even given that a second thought because it's never been an issue. Why do you say that it's too much?

 

[Brendan]

I don't know if any of these are accurate. According to Tim Gillingham none of them cut off enough yardage on the steep shots anyway. I take shots almost straight down at times. I'm just looking for experienced feedback from the experts here.

According to him, they aren't. Won't start to burn you until long range and steep angles, he did a bunch of 75 yard testing at 40 degrees up and down to prove it out. If you trust the RF you hit high shooting down, low shooting up. Doesn't matter for shorter range shots, eg what you'd find from a tree stand.

Has to do with the fact that rangefinders with angle comp are based off of cosine and don't take into account ballistic coefficient and the different deceleration of the arrow shooting level vs. up or down.

The Gritty Bowmen podcasts with Aron and Phil Mendoza from a couple years back where they covered Phil's sheep hunt talked about this. If I remember right, Phil missed a couple shots for this reason before switching to a cut chart.

 

[Gumbo]

Interesting. I've had a Leica CRF for 12 years now, and I haven't even once thought about the magnification. Never even given that a second thought because it's never been an issue. Why do you say that it's too much?

I have a hard time both identifying and quickly aquiring specific targets. Not animals of course, but specific clumps of sage, clumps of grass, etc at close ranges. Under 7x the perspective changes so much and the field of view is reduced so it makes it difficult, for me at least. With a rifle its a non-issue because I would never range something that is within 75 or so yards. Another thing is that I switched to the Leica rangemaster a couple years ago from the old sandwich shaped model (CRF or LRF?) that I used for years and it seems to not like black or other less reflective surfaces as well. The only reason I switched was the old model wasn't as easy to operate one handed.

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[stickbowcoop]

My last rangefinder was a 2014 (I think) Nikon ProStaff 3 without angle compensation. It was never an issue 20' up a tree and the 20-30 yards shots I normally take. I always just range a bunch of trees/landmarks once daylight and not the deer. It worked well for me.