What to look for in a range finder.

[Socrates]

One without an illuminated reticle, that's how I know!

I added to my post above with some further thoughts...

Thanks for the advice. I'm too tired to stay a wake till it's low light conditions to test the display, but I'm happy that I paid more for the illuminated display.

[Pirate]

Thanks for the advice. I'm too tired to stay a wake till it's low light conditions to test the display, but I'm happy that I paid more for the illuminated display.

let us know how it works when you used it in anger.

mine worked well this past week, but we hunted in broad daylight

[Socrates]

let us know how it works when you used it in anger.

mine worked well this past week, but we hunted in broad daylight

Nice! What did you get, and where did you hunt?

We'll be hunting from the 12 -18 September in Flossenbürg. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flossenb%C3%BCrg,_Bavaria

It will be a public land hunt. We'll be hunting hunting 500ha 'ish of forest between the 4 of us. Sika, red deer, roe and pigs are open, irrespective of age or sex.

My NV Setup is coming this week, and I got my Pulsar handheld thermal last week. So I'm pretty much set.

Still waiting to hear if we get permission to shoot red deer in moonlight.

[Againstthegrains]

My thoughts/experience.

I bought a Leupold 1600 range finder, and after about 3-4 years (before the original battery went flat) the red screen started to fade to the point that I can hardly read it anymore. I'm not impressed, as the local agent said that it cannot be repaired, but Leupold will give me 10% off my next purchase. They can F-off with their "generous" offer. There is no way I will ever buy another Leupold range finder again, if its going to last a year or two after the warranty, and I hardly used the damn thing.

I inherited a cheap old golf range finder from my dad. It works just as well as the Leupold, and its like 15 years old. The only problem with an LED screen is that you can't read it in the dark.

With respect to hand held range finders, they are useful to the average hunter to tell them when not to shoot. If its over 250m and you have to start holding over, its not worth it, don't take the shot. For the average 1x per year hunter, that's all you need to know.
In the flat Karoo, its also a bit useless, as its hard to aim (like shooting a target at 300m with a snub nose revolver) on a specific animal to get a range, and it can pick up a bush 50m behind the animal if you are off. On a voorsit/hide hunt its useful to pick up significant bushes so that you know the distance, when/if the animals come along.

Having moved back to an old golf range finder that does not have a fancy ballistic calculator, I don't miss it. I have a small table on the side of my rifle stock to tell me what the hold over is, and windage.

[Socrates]

I have a small table on the side of my rifle stock to tell me what the hold over is, and windage.

This is my next step.

I was discussing maximum shooting distance with my friend on Saturday. He reckons 300m is his limit, having already taken roe close to that distance.

I'm not sure if I have any business shooting that far, but I'm also mindful of the fact that I am not hunting a high game density area. I'm not confident that I will pass up a shot at that distance, since it may be the only one I get. The benefit we have, is that we are shooting from the sitting position with stable rest. It does make things a tad easier.

That being said, with the load I have, the range finder will still be handy sub 200m.