Range Finders

[redj]

So enlighten us.
What makes a person not a hunter just because he uses a scope and a range finder ?

I said nothing about not being a hunter, just asked what happened to hunting without all the bells and whistles, does one really need all these advantages to bag a game animal, does one want to make it so easy that no effort is put forth to finding, tracking, and dropping the animal.

You evidently think i'm of the mind this stuff is silly, i do not, but its an animal with limited ability, and we on the other hand have a great mind, well some of us, lol,

Hunting is a right of passage as far as i'm concerned, jumping out of the truck, running to the spot where the game camera was sending you info, and quickly dropping the animal or attempting to.

and no problem with a long range shot, whats long range for you, 100 yds, 300 yds, if you can't trust your skill on iron sites in under a few hundred yards, hmmm

You probably haven't ever bow hunted, most bow hunters have some amazing skill, not only masking their scent, but their movement and outline, and one usually has to put the sneak on them.

again not saying hunting with a long gun is not hunting, but making an effort to know the distance, know the animals need to survive, and how it will react on your exposure, and being able to perhaps drop one one the run.

it seems to me hunting by some has become rocket science, with the game locator cameras, the range finders, scopes that do all the basic dope for you, for me there is no skill, its just shooting.

call me an a**hole, or whatever, doesn't matter, just my opinion, if you gotta have all the science to bag an animal, so be it, just not for me.


and oh yeah, i'm a long range kinda guy, have a range finder, have a scope that wipes my ass, use it to learn how to dope, how to estimate distances, and how my rifle reacts in the wind, in the heat of the day, cold or hot, so its not that i don't know it, and use it, its a training tool, not something i take in the field with me.

again just my opinion, i've bagged animals all over the world, not one with a scope, not one with a range finder, did have a couple trackers in africa, but did carry my own gun, lol. jmo
Rj

I am sure they were all one shot kills also.

 

[Desert Rat]

Thanks for the hunting story, I grew up hunting in a similar fashion. My parents, brother and I would always hunt with another father and his sons. I remember always going out scouting prior to the hunt, one of the sons usually went on the earlier bow hunt so had some familiarity of the area.
In recent years I got back into hunting and was surprised at all of the technology available now. I always have had difficulty judging distance in valleys and hills and thought the range finder would be a good tool to help get better at it.

 

[knockonit]

lol, awesome comments.

 

[knockonit]

as for hunting, more of the community part, the group as a whole, and the campfire meetings, and learning what others knew you didn't, my old hunting and fishing buddy who has since passed on, and I hunted every corner of this state, part of utah, and a gaggle of New mexico, even ventured up to montana and idaho for some deer, and few birds along the way, by far my favorite hunting has been bird hunting, used to really enjoy the hunts outside of lincoln neb. dang pheasant can sure rattle a fella.

happy sunday
Rj

 

[shooter444]

Interesting, seems like what ever way we learn to hunt, sticks with us as the most comfortable. I built a cabin on the mountain I referenced in my hunt post, in my mid twenties. Hunting after that was a matter of stepping off my porch and begin stalking.

My point? I started hunting by myself, and from then on, I never felt comfortable with other hunters in the same area. If, on a very rare occasion, I were to come upon another hunter, I would just call it a day and head back to my wood stove.

 

[shooter444]

So enlighten us.
What makes a person not a hunter just because he uses a scope and a range finder ?

Dead Batteries. :lol:

 

[Desert Rat]

So enlighten us.
What makes a person not a hunter just because he uses a scope and a range finder ?

Dead Batteries. :lol:

And we got the thread back on track!! sort of.
The comments have been great!! I am really tempted to share my first successful hunt story, but then I would be guilty of hi-jacking my own thread!!!! :shock:
The overall theme of hunting for me has been a chance to get out of town with friends/family, if we got something that was a bonus.

 

[Azbuilder]

I have had a Bushnell 1500 Elite ARC for along time, never used it for hunting but has held up great traveling and banging around the world. Never let me down using rechargeable batteries and small solar panel charger. Never needed it or thought of using it hunting deer or elk animals. Just squirrels outside the CONUS.

 

[Ballistic Therapy]

Well apparently I am in the minority here.
I use a range finder and if you think what I do isn't hunting because of that , then you are all sadly mistaken.

 

[lew]

Well apparently I am in the minority here.
I use a range finder and if you think what I do isn't hunting because of that , then you are all sadly mistaken.

Getting an accurate range so one can make a clean- thus, ethical- shot seems like a no-brainer to me. Even with all the gadgets, hunting is usually fairly difficult. To me, hunting is about putting meat in the freezer. Anything that makes me more efficient in that pursuit is welcome, "purists" be damned. Besides, real hunters use nothing but their bare hands. Anything else is cheating. :roll: :doh: :mrgreen:

I have a Vortex Ranger 1800 on order. I'll let you folks know how well it works. It has a built-in slope compensator feature, which saves me from having to bust out the Slope Doper and compute that correction manually.

 

[Flash]

I only use a range finder when varmint hunting and when improving my skills with guessing ranges.

I may be in the minority here.

 

[Ballistic Therapy]

I only use a range finder when varmint hunting and when improving my skills with guessing ranges.

I may be in the minority here.

What is the difference between using a range finder for varmint hunting vs hunting anything else ?
You are still using it for hunting are you not , or am I missing something here ?

 

[lew]

Apparently, "varmint hunting" is not the same as "actual hunting".

 

[redj]

In varmint hunting you need to know your range.
When hunting other species you just lob bullets at them and hope one hits because using range finders and scopes according to some people is not hunting.

 

[Flash]

Apparently, "varmint hunting" is not the same as "actual hunting".

No, it isn't. In regular hunting you're getting as close as possible and doing a one shot humane kill if at all possible.

In varmint hunting, I'm doing long range sniping as I can't see sneaking up on ground squirrels or coyotes or things of that nature.

Ever notice that Military snipers always use a rangefinder these days?

 

[redj]

Apparently, "varmint hunting" is not the same as "actual hunting".

No, it isn't. In regular hunting you're getting as close as possible and doing a one shot humane kill if at all possible.

In varmint hunting, I'm doing long range sniping as I can't see sneaking up on ground squirrels or coyotes or things of that nature.

Ever notice that Military snipers always use a rangefinder these days?

So you are saying that humane kills do not apply to coyotes , ground squirrels and things of that nature ?
How do you decide what animals are worthy of a humane kill and what animals are not ?

I was always in the belief that all Gods creatures should be dispatched as humanely as possible regardless of the species.

 

[Harrier]

Let me guess.
All a real hunter needs is a sharp stick and a rock.

What's a 'sharp stick' ???

A lot of people live in towns and cities and don't develop the skill of estimating ranges so the RF is a tool to help them reduce the number of wounded animals dying in the bush... I would think using a range finder would help insure a humane kill because the smart shooter would have the knowledge to figure his drop better... they're gonna try that long shot anyway...

Now if your talking hunting with bow/arrow or spear then yes I can't see the use for one...

 

[Flash]

Apparently, "varmint hunting" is not the same as "actual hunting".

No, it isn't. In regular hunting you're getting as close as possible and doing a one shot humane kill if at all possible.

In varmint hunting, I'm doing long range sniping as I can't see sneaking up on ground squirrels or coyotes or things of that nature.

Ever notice that Military snipers always use a rangefinder these days?

So you are saying that humane kills do not apply to coyotes , ground squirrels and things of that nature ?
How do you decide what animals are worthy of a humane kill and what animals are not ?

I was always in the belief that all Gods creatures should be dispatched as humanely as possible regardless of the species.

You definitely like putting words in my mouth don't you?

I won't play your game, so I'm done.

 

[XJThrottle]

Well, they were your words.

Az isn't Texas, or the midwest/east coast. So, bigger game 75 yard shots aren't the norm. 2-300y, sure.

If you're some how saying that a range finder IS needed on small varmint at the same distance that it IS NOT needed on a deer because the "boiler room" of a deer is the size of a prairie dog, maybe...

An inch one way or the other might not be a problem on an elk, but miss on a squirrel by an inch...

 

[redj]

No, it isn't. In regular hunting you're getting as close as possible and doing a one shot humane kill if at all possible.

In varmint hunting, I'm doing long range sniping as I can't see sneaking up on ground squirrels or coyotes or things of that nature.

Ever notice that Military snipers always use a rangefinder these days?

So you are saying that humane kills do not apply to coyotes , ground squirrels and things of that nature ?
How do you decide what animals are worthy of a humane kill and what animals are not ?

I was always in the belief that all Gods creatures should be dispatched as humanely as possible regardless of the species.

You definitely like putting words in my mouth don't you?

I won't play your game, so I'm done.

I am not putting words in your mouth.
Your exact words were
" No, it isn't. In regular hunting you're getting as close as possible and doing a one shot humane kill if at all possible. "

What I get out of this is that in what you call " regular hunting " you need a " one shot humane kill if at all possible. "
But you don't do " regular hunting " , so a humane one shot kill doesn't matter.

Could you please clarify what the difference is between regular hunting and varmint hunting and why a one shot humane kill is good for regular hunting and not for varmint hunting ?

I am just trying to understand the logic here and it doesn't make sense.