If you ask most hunters, regardless of whether they’re beginners or seasoned sportsmen, what their sport’s most vital proficiency is, they would most likely tell you that it’s accuracy.

Marksmanship means everything; because all the patience, perseverance, and insight in the world means nothing if, when the string gets released or the trigger gets pulled, the shot either completely misses the quarry or fails to incapacitate it.

This is especially true for long-distance shooting, where, even slight adjustments in firing stance, breathing, and years of practised compensation and range estimation are expected to yield a consistent result. The truth though, is that factors like weather, visibility, terrain, and even fatigue can sometimes render even the most well-practised and experienced hunters unable to correctly judge the distance to their quarry.

Fortunately, the technology’s readily available that can make a decisive difference in long-range estimating; and it’s so effective that even the most proficient outdoorsmen aren’t averse to packing it along whenever they go hunting.

Making the Shot Count

Make no mistake: serious hunters place a great deal of emphasis on dispatching their quarry as ethically and as quickly as possible. They don’t want their shots to miss or their quarry to suffer – not least of all because of a poor long-range estimate. That’s why well-prepared hunters now typically equip themselves with long-distance rangefinders and laser detection gear to make sure that every shot counts. In fact, with binoculars and scopes already having been accepted as regular hunting gear for over a century, rangefinders are simply the evolutionary “next step” in optical devices for hunting. Instead of merely helping to locate the target, however, rangefinders aid in:

• Determining the precise distance to a target;
• Accurately calculating angle compensation for targets that are either on an incline or a decline; and,
• Rapidly and correctly assessing whether a target is even truly viable.

In short, whether it’s used for practice or on the field, a rangefinder takes the speculation out of the range estimation equation. They give serious hunters the confidence they need to take the long shots under any conditions without the fear of botching it, or missing it altogether.

Error-free Distancing

Rangefinders work by measuring the time it takes for a beam of infrared light to reflect off of a target, and then by converting that time into distance. The science behind rangefinder optics – the measuring of distances based on the speed of light – isn’t new though, and the value it has for hunters is that it takes into consideration factors like:

• Light divergence. The ability to focus the beam on the target.
• Light reflectance. How well the beam is reflected off the target.
• Environmental conditions. Low light and inclement weather can affect other properties of light.

Ultimately, hunting rangefinders are designed and engineered to enclose both a powerful light transmission source and range compensation system into a rugged, waterproof housing that can overcome these problems.

Simple rangefinders with 6x magnification and a reflective range of 600 yards (.5km) are suitable for most any bow or rifle hunter. However, with magnification rates available as high as 7x with reflective ranges reaching an incredible 2,800 yards (2.5km) with +/- 500mm accuracy, it’s not difficult finding a rangefinder for sale that’s ideal for practically any environment or circumstance a hunter’s likely to encounter. It’s science bringing error-free distancing and amazing results to the age-old art of hunting.

True Accuracy

The single most common miscalculation in hunting may be projectile trajectory. It’s easy to compensate for gravity’s downward effect on the path of a projectile travelling in a straight line, but compensating for the same projectile when it’s travelling at an incline is completely different.

Because gravity has a greater impact on velocity than trajectory on an incline, hunters are inherently prone to over-compensating and shooting above their target. That’s why with full of suites of true ballistic distancing, ballistic management and wind compensation software available to perform all these calculations, a hunting rangefinder is like no other optical device for true accuracy at long distances.

Carrying Convenience

The last thing any hunter wants is to find themselves hauling an awkward, heavy, and very likely noisy collection of gear through the field with them. Unlike binoculars and scopes, rangefinders are small – incredibly small. With an average weight of only around 350gr, most hunting rangefinders for sale are dimensionally the same size as an average cell phone.

They’re water-proof, impact-resistant packages that tuck away handily in either a coat pocket or belt-mounted case, and can be deployed instantly with a single hand. There’s no hassle with setting one up, attempting to position it, or trying to adjust it without alerting every creature within earshot. With the push of a single button, rangefinders give hunters all the visible and technical information they need to optimize each shot. It just doesn’t get any more convenient than that.

The Final Word

At the end of the day, there’s no mistaking just how personal the art of hunting is. For serious hunters, their commitments to marksmanship and range estimation are at the centre of everything they do… and admirably, that’s largely out of respect for their quarry.

The decision of whether or not to use a laser rangefinder is just as personal as the art itself. There’s no question however that serious hunters, regardless of whether they’re bowhunters or rifle hunters, have assumed an overwhelming preference in favour of using them: for practice, performance or both.

If you’re an active hunter and you’re looking for an advantage in distance estimating, either when you’re in the field or just in preparation before you go, don’t hesitate to consider just how much of a difference a rangefinder could make for you.