Choosing the Right Rangefinder for Hunting Season

Hunters take their passion, and their lifestyle serious. From tag applications in the spring to preseason preparations and property planning, and finally the opening day of deer season. You commit an abundance to each season’s hunt. Beyond money and finances, hunters pour emotional investment, time investment, and long term investments into equipment and tools for their passion into each season.

Quality equipment is critical for any serious hunt and hunter. Items like rifles and field knives can last through generations being passed down from one hunter to another. Other items such as hunting bows, broadheads, optics, and packs are just as critical to the hunt’s success and must be reliable. This summer season is the perfect time to evaluate your toolkit for the upcoming deer season, to take stock of what items could use an upgrade, or simply need to be replaced. By evaluating your equipment now, you have time to familiarize yourself with any new equipment you invest in before the season kicks off.

A Dependable and Accurate Range Finder is Critical to Your Success

Few tools have changed tactics and methods of modern hunting as substantially as rangefinders. Whether you choose to pursue whitetails with a bow, a rifle, or a muzzleloader; one the most critical factors to accuracy in determining the distance to your target. Taking to the field with a rangefinder you can rely on to be accurate, tough, and dependable is crucial to your hunt.

Some factors to consider when it comes to choosing the right rangefinder for your hunt:

• Light Transmission, Lens Brightness, and Clarity
• Bonded and Coated Lenses
• True Angle and Distance Calculation
• Ergonomics and Ease of Use

Choose a Rangefinder with Superior Light Transmission

The human eye functions by letting in light through the eye’s lens to transmit an image. Much like the human eye, rangefinders, binoculars, and scopes collect light and pass it through a lens. In order to maximize the image details and clarity, optics must utilize quality lenses crafted with superior materials.

Bushnell’s new lineup of rangefinders features all-glass lenses with an improved LCD display offering up to a 2X brighter viewing experience. The three new models: Prime 1300, Prime 1700, and Nitro 1800 provide enhanced light transmission for brighter and clearer images, especially in low light conditions. By utilizing 50% larger objective lenses, the Bushnell lineup has the ability to gather light accurately, ensuring you are on target.

Bonded and Coated Rangefinder Lenses for Long Life

Quality optics manufacturers utilize lens coating technology to protect the surface of the lenses, making them easier to clean, and providing moisture and dust resistant safeguard. Bushnell optics has developed its most advanced lens coating technology with the EXO Barrier. By molecularly bonding to the microscopic pores of the glass. EXO Barrier bonding results in an ultra-slick coating that repels water, fog, oil, and dust. The EXO coating works to keep things like rain, snow, dirt, and fingerprints from sticking to the lens; ensuring a clear image when it counts. Molecular bonding makes the EXO coating built to last, and will not fade from the passage of time or normal wear and tear.

Using a Rangefinder in Steep Terrain

Laser rangefinders work by emitting a laser beam at the push of a button, the beam bounces off of a distant target object, and returns to the rangefinders receiver. A high-speed clock measures the time it takes for the beam to reach the object and return to the rangefinder in order to calculate the distance to the target. When you consider the measured distance to a target, there are two critical measurements to consider.

Measuring Line of Sight to a Target

The actual distance from you to the target is the line of sight to the target, the distance that most shooters are familiar with. In flat terrain, this measurement will be the same as the true horizontal distance to the target.

Measuring True Horizontal Distance to a Target

The distance which gravity will act on your projectile is the true horizontal distance to the target. By measuring the true distance to the target, hunters in steep terrain such as an elevated tree stand or mountainous topography have confidence in knowing the true distance to the target.

The Prime and Nitro lineups of cutting edge rangefinders by Bushnell utilize the Angle Range Compensation or (ARC) technology to ensure accurate measurement to the target no matter the terrain. With an ARC equipped rangefinder, you know precisely the correct distance to the target and your aim with no guesswork.

Bushnell Rangefinder Lineup

Bushnell has pulled out all the stops, designing rangefinders for every purpose and budget. The entire rangefinder lineup comes standard with an all-glass optical lens built with 6X optical zoom providing 2X light transmission.

The new offerings are built with ergonomics in mind. An improved and unique textured rubber over mold grip conforms to your hand, offering a comfortable and secure hold.

The Bushnell Prime and Nitro rangefinder lineups offer unique features sure to fit your hunting style.

Bushnell Prime 1300 Rangefinder

Accurate ranging out to 1300 yards, the Prime 1300 is an ideal fit for archers, muzzleloader hunters, and most rifle hunters. Standard with ARC technology, all glass coated lenses, and the new ergonomic design; the Prime 1300 is a fantastic choice for your hunts this season.

Bushnell Prime 1700 Rangefinder

The 1700 model in the Prime series includes all the fantastic features that the 1300 model offers including 2X brighter light transmission for low light conditions and a 50% larger objective lens so that no detail goes unnoticed. The Prime 1700 boasts a more powerful laser diode, capable of reaching out and accurately measuring targets out to 1700 yards.

Bushnell Nitro 1800 Rangefinder

Bushnell’s Nitro 1800 model offers an unbelievable option for rifle shooters both at the range and in the field. The high powered laser diode in the Nitro rangefinder accurately measures distance out to 2000 yards. Bushnell has set the standard with the Nitro by pairing it with the Bushnell Ballistic app. Use the ballistic app, found in the app store to configure shot data, get holdovers, wind adjustments, and more. By pairing the Nitro 1800 with the ballistics app on your smartphone via Bluetooth you’ve got an amazing tool to pair with your rifle.

The pursuit of the hunt is a passion, some would even say an obsession. As a hunter, you strive for accuracy, for consistency, and to make it count when the opportunity presents itself. There is an old saying that you make your own luck, and a large component of that luck can be attributed to quality tools and gear. Put yourself into position for a great hunt this fall with the right equipment.