Hunting without a rangefinder

[Laelkhunter]

I agree with most who say learn to estimate range then hunt without a rangefinder. That works great if you do most of your hunting for example, whitetail deer in terrain local to where you live. BUT, if you happen to THEN travel out West to more wide open terrain, and hunt larger game (Elk), you will surprised how close you think the Elk is, but he is actually much further away.
First time I hunted Elk in New Mexico, I doubted my guide when he told me how far a bull was when after years of hunting 100 pound whitetails in Texas I thought I could estimate distances pretty well.
You can get a decent Rangefinder in the price range of $100 which is very inexpensive compared to the price of other equipment you will be buying for any hunt. It could mean the difference in a clean kill or a miss when buck fever hits, or bull fever and you only have a few moments to try to determine the distance. I only Rifle hunt, and I'm sure rangefinders are more critical for bow hunting where a miscalculation of 5 yards might mean a miss, but I will always hunt with a rangefinder.

 

[ODB]

Get as close as you can, laddy...and then twenty yards closer. - John Taylor

 

[Rich M]

Couple of guys have talked about dead hold range. My 30-06 with 150 home loads shoots about 4.5 inches high at 250 for a 300 yard zero and 6 inch drop at 350. Think it is 16 inch drop at 400. I did that 2 yrs ago on an antelope hunt - zeroed gun at 300. Ultimately shot one at 25 and another at 350 yards - both ends of the spectrum. Going on my next western hunt in a couple of weeks.

350 yards is a long ways - looks further, heck, 200 yards looks far and that's probably why these guys are saying to limit yourself to 200. Whatever you do, hold dead center or a tad bit high on the body - do not hold off the hair.

If you search on here you'll see some posts about guys worrying about where to hold past 200. They should look at the numbers and realize that 300 is the magic point (look your ballistics up - the rise and fall with a 4 to 5 inch raise, drop will put most guns out to 350), not 200.

One guy I remember well didn't get an elk (it walked off) cause he was worried about the 3 or 4 inches of trajectory at less than 300 yards. An elk has a 12 inch+ kill zone - a deer or antelope about 8 inches. Felt bad for him - he did not know his equipment and wasn't prepared. He was also set in his mind and not open to change, hopefully he got out and put couple hundred rounds thru his rifle and figured it out on his own. You aren't shooting a target for points, you are punching a hole in bleeding organs (heart/lungs mainly) and killing an animal - usually an inch or 2 or 3 won't make a lot of diff if center punching the lungs.

Another thing that confuses folks is the guys who are shooting/talking 500-600+ yards. That takes a lot of practice and a good rangefinder helps. But if you are shooting like that you'd already have one.

You don't need a rangefinder but they are handy. (I do have a range finder and use it quite regularly - used it on the 350 yard shot at that antelope, use it when setting duck decoys and other things, pretty handle little gadget.)

What folks used to do back in the day is know the length of your crosshairs at different ranges - so I have a Leupold DUPLEX reticle and the distance from the fat/thick part of the reticle to the + (or from fat part to fat part) is X inches at 100, X at 150, X at 200, X at 250, X at 300. You then compare that to the animals chest size/back to brisket - it isn't an exact science but gets you within a couple inches of trajectory.

Hope you get a big one.

 

[flatlanderhuffandpuff]

I have yet to take a rifle shot where I felt I needed to range the target. I can safely shoot out to 250 yards without having to change my hold. These days you can get them for $100 or so.

I use one all the time while archery hunting.

 

[Reburn]

I agree with what all others have said. I don't do anything sub 300 yards.
#1 get a range finder.
#2 REsearch MBPR (Maximum Point Blank Range) of your rifle and load. Most guns and loads will shoot 225 yard MBPR. Some of your Magnums will do 275-300.

 

[Boxerboxer]

Hint:

When a fella says he shot him a deer at 400 yards...he didn’t. If he says 291, he did.

Hint:

If you wanna fool @16Bore, make up a number that's not nice and round.

 

[jd30069]

without arguing for or against rangefinders, many times they are not practical from a "time" standpoint. I have my rifles zeroed at 300 yds - point blank zero idea. See the animal - judge - get a rest and shoot. With a 300 zero you are high at closer ranges and a little low at the longer shots - 350. Hit a pie plate every shot in a fraction of the time. Above 400 they are a must - but you also have much longer to setup and judge. From a practical standpoint the wind is a much bigger issue past my point blank zero... just what i like maybe - get the sight picture quickly...

 

[Shoeghazer]

I think range finders totally have there place, but being able to make a fairly accurate judgement on the fly is much more important. You don't always have time to rangefind every little situation. The thing I don't get is people saying that they *ranged "x" at 12yds* .. seriously you don't know what 12 yds is? That to me is becoming overly dependent on technology. Practice make perfect in eyeing distances though, no doubt about it.

 

[archp625]

I would sight my gun at 2-3" high at 100 yards or buy a rangefinder. You wont need a crazy expensive one either. There are some deals out there if you look around that will be able to range 400 yards.

 

[kiddogy]

nothing particular against rangefinders. those who can't ,should. but I have a lot more respect for a hunter who can get by without all the gadgets. what's next , electronic Sherpas???????????


hell ,nowadays most folks can't even find their way out of the woods without a gps. I'll even go a step further and state most folks today probly couldn't even spell GPS

 

[PathFinder]

Learn to range with a reticle. You can even make a chart that lists how much room an animal's chest takes up in the reticle to eliminate the need to do math on the fly. I take one with in case my RF goes down. It's the only really precise way of doing it without an actual rangefinder.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[Mark]

Anyone have any tips, tricks or advice for rifle hunting without a rangefinder?

Why do you choose to hunt without a rangefinder? Not judging, just curious.

 

[eamyrick]

always thought I was pretty decent at judging distance...….until I got a rangefinder. Pretty easy to be off a hundred yards or so beyond 300 (where it starts to matter) yards. Yesterday guessed a stump at 400...….was 510. Aiming for 400 would of been a miss, or worse...….a wounded critter.

This is way more common than I thought. When hunting in new terrain I make a habit of ranging anything I can to get a feel for distance. It is not a natural skill. What I found I that in the mountains of NC it’s almost impossible to see further than 300 but I the desert of the southwest 275 and 475 can look very similar depending on the light and angles.

 

[kiddogy]

Why do you choose to hunt without a rangefinder? Not judging, just curious.

can't speak for him but I hate to carry more then I need . I am lazy that way.


that and I prefer to develop and rely on my own skills. plus , not everyone can afford all the gadgets out there.


I wouldn't say , don't use one . if you can afford it and want one go get it and use it . nothing wrong with doing so.
what I would say is every hunter should develop their skills to the point they do not NEED to rely on a rangefinder . having a rangefinder is a great way to develop those skills . pick a spot judge the distance then range it to check your acuracy. the more one does this ,the less they will NEED to rely on the gadget.

 

[Fatcamp]

This is way more common than I thought. When hunting in new terrain I make a habit of ranging anything I can to get a feel for distance. It is not a natural skill. What I found I that in the mountains of NC it’s almost impossible to see further than 300 but I the desert of the southwest 275 and 475 can look very similar depending on the light and angles.

Ya, we hunt grasslands. Like, all grass. It is really hard to judge distance.

I get what people are saying about "know your range by eye" but the reality is that it is a skill that takes time to develop. Using a tool to know distance and drop may not get you the respect of the some folks, but it will let you know what's really going on. For archery at distance it's pretty important too. At least for me. 41 and 47 look a whole lot alike.

As far as GPS goes I won't hunt without it. I am able to hunt areas I never would have in the past without risking trespassing and law enforcement contact. Greatest tool ever for the public land hunter. I was and am a total map geek, but nothing is marked in the west and you are responsible for staying on public. Absolutely impossible without GPS.

 

[Boarmaster]

I thought I was a human rangefinder until I bought an electronic one. Wow.
Flat ground to 150 yards I was “pretty “ accurate but looking across drains to the other side I sucked.

 

[SniperHunter]

well if I am going to a hunt stand i usually just pace off from the base of the tree to some key points and go from there. Since for the most part I do a lot of stalking however the only true help I've found is practice. I started by just guessing distances and stepping them off then I moved to dropping some targets off out in the hay field and just parking the pickup and start shooting while i walked around. I would still like to get a rangefinder just have a hard time with the money. The last piece of advice is if your not completely comfortable with the shot don't take it there's nothing worse than tracking a monster for 3 miles only to not find him.

 

[CelticClamper]

I am old fashioned in alot of ways. I agree with what Kiddogy says. I feel that you should know your gun, and your skills. If you are one of those guys that hunts wide open ground, or switches up rifles I could see a use for a range finder. But I use the same rifle every year. I hunt wooded areas. I also hunt archery. I have shot quail with my bow, and I don't use a range finder. I spend alot of time with the same bow before hunting. I have started quite a few guys in big game. They all showed up with range finders. They jump a buck and fumble with a range finder to watch the buck disappear. Next day, range finder is left in camp. I think if you want one get one. But if you hunt woods, make sure you sight in with the MBPR idea. Then practice target acquisition on the fly. That is my recommendation. If I can hit a pie plate off handed at 0-300 yards, I know I am fine anywhere I hunt.

 

[Justinbear]

Why do you choose to hunt without a rangefinder? Not judging, just curious.

It is definitely on my list of gear to acquire, but it isn't in the budget for this hunting season. I feel comfortable shooting out to about 300, and at that distance I don't need to hold off the deer/elk with my rifle. I have been successful in the past just getting close, my goal is to just get better at judging 300 yards until I get a rangefinder.

 

[pburges2]

I have a cheap rangefinder, wont hunt without it. I found out that i suck at guessing distance!