Rangefinder trouble. Missed a great bull twice

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robAK

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Mar 19, 2017
Location
ALASKA
So I used a Leica rangemaster 1200 for my late elk hunt. Conditions: cold, snow, flat high desert with low grass. Could not range elk, brush or rocks past 150 yds consistently. Ranged a bigger bush ~150 closer than the bulls but got two different ranges after at least 1/2 dozen attempts. Very frustrating. Real hard to judge distance in the flat expanse.

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Correction a dozen attempts. Had no trouble on my brothers sheep hunt so not sure what happened, was the last thing I thought would fail.
Under compensated on first opportunity and over compensated on second, by far the best bull I’ve stalked. Totally crushed the more I think about it. So with that said what rangefinder would you recommend for no issues, consistent results.
 
I've been in that VERY frustrating situation a couple times over the past few years. It cost me a cat in Idaho a couple years ago when I couldn't get a range during a snowstorm. I upgraded to a Leupold 1200i tbr but haven't been impressed. I think my next jump will be to a Sig 2400's.

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robAK said:
So I used a Leica rangemaster 1200 for my late elk hunt. Conditions: cold, snow, flat high desert with low grass. Could not range elk, brush or rocks past 150 yds consistently. Ranged a bigger bush ~150 closer than the bulls but got two different ranges after at least 1/2 dozen attempts. Very frustrating. Real hard to judge distance in the flat expanse.

- - - Updated - - -

Correction a dozen attempts. Had no trouble on my brothers sheep hunt so not sure what happened, was the last thing I thought would fail.
Under compensated on first opportunity and over compensated on second, by far the best bull I’ve stalked. Totally crushed the more I think about it. So with that said what rangefinder would you recommend for no issues, consistent results.
Click to expand...
Some batteries are very temp sensitive

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I'm sorry to hear of your frustrating experience. I have a Leica LRF 800 that I have used for many years, and it has never let me down. I have had times when ranging very reduced mass, leaf depleted brush at great distance that I could not get a reading.

Were you ranging into the sun? Was the battery fresh?
 
I have had the same problem a couple times with my Leica rangefinder. It only happens in heavy snow or thick fog. I believe it is because the laser bounces off the snow or fog if it is heavy enough. I don’t have a lot of experience with other brands of rangefinders, but not sure they would perform any better in those conditions.


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So my Leupold 1000 did this after 8 years. I upgraded to the 1200, it was great until it rolled down a goat cliff never to be found. I now have a Leupold 1600 with a very nice lanyard......


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How old are your batteries? If not old do you use the heck out of it? Batteries in a rangefinder act like batteries in a flashlight. The laser is only as strong as the batteries as is a beam in a flashlight. You notice as batteries weaken; a flashlight looses its brightness but will still work just fine, just not as bright. The same applies to your rangefinder, change them often & they will stay near full potential power that the laser requires. Snow & thick fog can also hinder ranging.

ElkNut/Paul
 
Those conditions sound similar to a caribou hunt. We had trouble with multiple rangefinders in the flat rolling terrain with poor light and precipitation.
You have to be very steady to range an animal you can only see the top of. Or have a rangefinder with a very narrow beam divergence.
Not practical but a Terrapin on a tripod may have been the only thing to work in your situation.
 
Any rangefinder can fail and Leica makes quality rangefinders. You might be able to “upgrade” and get one thats better but then the bull is gonna be at 500 yrds and you wont be able to range him in bad conditions.

My point is you need to be able to range it yourself. Get skilled enough to judge ranges just with your eyes. That way if your rangefinder takes a dump you’ll still be good to go.

I have a Leica 2000 and its awesome by the way.
 
So I had s new battery, partly cloudy, no fog, 15*. I found the only boulder in the area and had a steady rest, could range a dense bush ~ 150 yds closer to bull but got two different readings about 70 different. I ranged a sagebrush real close to me and got two different readings, 31 yds and 37 yds, weird. Born/ raised in ID but live in AK so might not have my desert eyes anymore.
Crushed right now, 6 beers deep and counting, please help with another rangefinder so I don’t have this again.
 
robAK said:
So I had s new battery, partly cloudy, no fog, 15*. I found the only boulder in the area and had a steady rest, could range a dense bush ~ 150 yds closer to bull but got two different readings about 70 different. I ranged a sagebrush real close to me and got two different readings, 31 yds and 37 yds, weird. Born/ raised in ID but live in AK so might not have my desert eyes anymore.
Crushed right now, 6 beers deep and counting, please help with another rangefinder so I don’t have this again.
Click to expand...


Other than military grade rangefinders, there is no brand or model that is guaranteed to not exhibit issues in the cold. It’s an issue that most don’t seem to know about or understand. Put fresh Lithium batteries in and keep it close to your body if necessary. This year alone I have had an absolute failure to range past 300 meters with two high end European Bino LRF’s, slower than normal operation on a Swaro EL Range, and a friend has a Geovid that started not ranging past 250 meters. All of these issues are when the unit gets cold (20’ish degrees and below for extended periods). The ones that didn’t give any issues side by side with those above were two Nikon Laserforce’s.


In general, the Leica handhelds, the Bushnell 1 Mile’s, and Swaro handhelds do well in the cold. That’s in general though, and I would test the one you have before trusting it on a hunt.
 
Formidilosus said:
Other than military grade rangefinders, there is no brand or model that is guaranteed to not exhibit issues in the cold. It’s an issue that most don’t seem to know about or understand. Put fresh Lithium batteries in and keep it close to your body if necessary. This year alone I have had an absolute failure to range past 300 meters with two high end European Bino LRF’s, slower than normal operation on a Swaro EL Range, and a friend has a Geovid that started not ranging past 250 meters. All of these issues are when the unit gets cold (20’ish degrees and below for extended periods). The ones that didn’t give any issues side by side with those above were two Nikon Laserforce’s.


In general, the Leica handhelds, the Bushnell 1 Mile’s, and Swaro handhelds do well in the cold. That’s in general though, and I would test the one you have before trusting it on a hunt.
Click to expand...

If your buddy is interested Leica did have an issue and will either fix or replace his binos.
 
What were you guessing the range at when you decided to shoot?

I have a tough time getting good ranges when out in the flat prairie lands. It always seems to have more variation to the terain than it looks and it seems I’m often getting readings from small rises behind or in front of the target animal.
 
I don’t know of any rangefinder that will work in heavy fog, snow or rain. The technology you are using is designed to reflect off a surface and all those above mentioned factors inhibit that or become the reflector.

In really cold temps you should keep the device on your person so it stays warm.

Did your rangefinder work before you went in this trip? Most rangefinders have a display function that will tell you if your battery is low or needs to be replaced.

The problem most people are describing here is not new, it’s just that rangefinders don’t work well in the described conditions.
 
For sure the problem is not new.Hunt coyotes in snow and relatively flat terrain and you’ll quickly get experience in dealing with it.Miltary grade units obviously better but even the most expensive commercial units will have issues at times.
Some models of Leicas are the best in dealing with ‘snow’ by the way-not the hand held monos though.
 
I had a vortex ranger giving me all the same range, no matter what, on a cold/wet/foggy morning this year. While I had a bull coming in, the thing just would not work, just shot everything as 150 yards. I replaced the battery upon getting home and it worked fine. Reading all of this, the failure makes sense. Fog I understand, but didn’t realize cold impacts them so much.
 
My RX1200i Leupold works good out to about 600 yards. Then after that it gets iffy. Thats fine. I dont shoot that far anyhow.
 
I picked up a Sig Sauer Kilo 2200BDX earlier this year and used it this entire season in all conditions. This doesn't prove anything for extended range, but I killed my bow buck in a blizzard on November 10th in 8 deg F air temperature. The range finder worked like a champ (35 yards), for what it's worth.
 
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