New Mexico Antelope

[captacademy]

This is a picture of a N.M. antelope my son and I took this weekend at 234 yards. It was a straight on, frontal chest shot.

In addition, there is a second picture of the damage that was done using a 7WSM and a 162 A-Max. The A-Max sure made and impressive hit on the goat!

The day was filled with on and off light rain and I was using both the Swaro 8x30 RF and Swaro 10X42 RFB. The 8X30's were able to range in the overcast weather, but the RFB were having trouble. I was not please with the RFB at all. However, both were having trouble getting accurate readings in the flat bushy area. I will be looking at the Veltronics Terrapin, and will hope this RF will solve my problems of ranging antelope.

 

[Eaglet]

I think I can see the big smile on the little man next to you! Sure is a great blessing.

Congratulations on your lope. Good shooting!

 

[lightflight]

Nicely done! what scope setup you running?

 

[captacademy]

Eaglet, you're so correct!! This was the first time he was able to follow me while we stocked this goat. He was quiet the entire stock, which ended well. He was super excited when the goat went down!!!! I remember following my dad a field, and still do, to this day.

The scope I was using on that rifle is a Leupold Mark 4 ER/T, FF, TMR 6.5-20X It's a great scope. I like this model as well as the Night force NSX's. I have several of each. Given a choice, I would rather have the NF. Just my opinion. However, the FF is great!!! Can't wait until NF has a FF with the new MOAR.

I was really disappointed with the performance of the Swaro RFB!!!

 

[trebark]

Wow - love the Amax performance!

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f17/annual-hunting-retreat-amax-review-82434/

 

[Eaglet]

Capt Academy,

Them great memories will always stay with us.

I also own a Swaro 8x30 RF and is also pretty disappointing when using it in flat
terrain. It works great in mountainous terrain but like you, I've also been thinking
about the Veltronics Terrapin. I would need to sell my Swaro first...

 

[captacademy]

Eaglet, I agree with you. The 8X30's are very good except in flat terrain. My mistake was rushing out and buying the Swaro RFB. They work great the in mountains, but not the flats or in cloudy weather. I am going to do some more research and see how much better the Vectronix's PLRF05 is on flat terrian. She if there worth saving for.

 

[FEENIX]

Congrats on a nice speed goat and thanks for sharing, esp. with your future hunter!

WOW! I never had any external damage like that on my A-Max experience. I used a 178 gr on my .300WM, had pencil size entry and exit (except when I hit ribs) wounds on antelope and deer but the internals are all souped up and blown to pieces.

 

[trebark]

Eaglet, I agree with you. The 8X30's are very good except in flat terrain. My mistake was rushing out and buying the Swaro RFB. They work great the in mountains, but not the flats or in cloudy weather. I am going to do some more research and see how much better the Vectronix's PLRF05 is on flat terrian. She if there worth saving for.

Like you guys, I have a Swaro 8x30RF and like you, mine had trouble ranging antelope while prone on the ground. The reason for this is beam divergence. The Swaro has a broad beam which is one of the reasons it can range farther than other RFs. Other RFs like the Leica 1600 have a much narrower beam and as a result, perform better while flat on the ground.

Laser RangeFinders

Laser RangeFinders

 

[Coues Sniper]

Capt. It's odd that you say you have bad experience with the Swaro RFB in cloudy weather. This is when it should do best. Sunny conditions are when range finders generally have biggest problems. Congrats on a fine antelope.

Like you guys, I have a Swaro 8x30RF and like you, mine had trouble ranging antelope while prone on the ground. The reason for this is beam divergence. The Swaro has a broad beam which is one of the reasons it can range farther than other RFs. Other RFs like the Leica 1600 have a much narrower beam and as a result, perform better while flat on the ground.

Yep, Trebark is spot on. The Leicas have one of the smallest beams available.

 

[trebark]

A buddy of mine has the Leica Geovid RF/Bino. They work very well.

Also agree with Coues Sniper that your RF should have performed well in cloudy conditions. It's in the bright sun that RFs have trouble.

 

[captacademy]

Maybe it was the light rain/mist in the air, but it was on and off! Who knows, but I was not happy with them. The 8X30's worked fine, but not the RFB. However, as soon as light came through the clouds, the RFB's worked better. Both still had trouble getting accurate readings on antelope at distance, as did my buddy's Bushnell ARC 1600's.

 

[cwinner]

Maybe it was the light rain/mist in the air, but it was on and off! Who knows, but I was not happy with them. The 8X30's worked fine, but not the RFB. However, as soon as light came through the clouds, the RFB's worked better. Both still had trouble getting accurate readings on antelope at distance, as did my buddy's Bushnell ARC 1600's.

You are on the right track by looking at the Terrapin, I just finished up a weekend of guiding lope' hunters and my new Terrapin worked flawless, I have been using the Swaro LRF for many years and have first hand experienced problems ranging on flat ground that you describe....I was wanting the Swaro LRFB's but decided to keep my old ones and spend the $$ on the Terrapin, it works awsome>>> this is the first hunt I have done with it so I did lot's of testing of its abilities and was always able to get a reading, some on bedded goats laying down just over a rise where all I could see was their heads, the multiple range feature works sweet....you can set it up and when the display blinks you can cycle the range, 350 top of rise between me and them (press button) 500 yds to the bedded goats, the Swaro's never even comes close..... The only downside is the low magnification but I was easily able to range goats out to 1500 yds off my tripod.

It was weird weather ???....***, I froze to death anteolpe hunting in Sept

 

[captacademy]

Thanks cwinner, that's exactly the information I needed! I wanted to hear first hand from a hunter that had used both the Swaro and Vectronix's that could make a comparison between the two units, especially on antelope. What was the average distance you could laser goats without the tripod with your Vectronix's? Also, do you have the PLRF05 or 10?
Ron