rangefinder for southern idaho flat groud

[bobcat trapper]

Hello all I live in southern idaho in what seems like endless rolling sage desert. I have a leupold DNA 1000 tbr rangefinder and to put it blunt it sucks. Sorry to the fans of this rangefinder but in the area im in it just doesnt cut it. I can consistantly get it to about 400 yards but thats it. My ? is is the leica 1600b better? Should i just save a little longer for a G7 its about the upper end of my budget. Most of the ranging I do is on flat lava trying to range rockpiles and such.

 

[cwinner]

Hunting terrain similar to this in New Mexico is why I bought a Terrapin PLRF05, I now have a Nikon, Leupold rxIV, swarovorski and the terrapin.......if I would have just gotten the terrapin first it would have been a lot cheaper!!!

 

[royinidaho]

I'm overhere in Blackfoot and when hunting on the west side of the river its terrain similar to yours.

I started with the Leica 1200 and it did well in the sage except range was limited. Even in the mountains getting over 900 on a regular basis was very iffy.

I've upgraded to the 1600 and have no real complaints as far as beam divergence goes.

I've ranged deer and 'lope across the sage at respectable distances. In the mountains it ranges as far as I want to shoot.

Having said that, I've used the PLRF-10 and its the end of the line as far as spending money once. One day I'll have one. Or the Terrapin.

Beam divergence is the key. I believe the only smaller diverge than the Leica are the Vetronix offerings.

Also, ranging with a steady rest of some sort greatly increases ranging success.

 

[royinidaho]

I'm over here in Blackfoot and when hunting on the west side of the river its terrain similar to yours.

I started with the Leica 1200 and it did well in the sage except range was limited. Even in the mountains getting over 900 on a regular basis was very iffy.

I've upgraded to the 1600 and have no real complaints as far as beam divergence goes.

I've ranged deer and 'lope across the sage at respectable distances. In the mountains it ranges as far as I want to shoot.

Having said that, I've used the PLRF-10 and its the end of the line as far as spending money once. One day I'll have one. Or the Terrapin.

Beam divergence is the key. I believe the only smaller diverge than the Leica are the Vetronix offerings.

Also, ranging with a steady rest of some sort greatly increases ranging success.

 

[jt183]

I'm in Twin Falls and hunt a lot of the same country you do. I bought a Vectronics Terrapin last year and it is the best. For ranging small targets at long range it cannot be beat. This is a picture of a rock chuck I ranged at 750 yards in a wide open pasture last Friday. Got lucky and hit him with my first shot. I may be wrong but I doubt the other rangefinders you listed could have done that as consistantly and accurately as the Terrapin.

 

[bobcat trapper]

Thanks for the replys guys im in shoshone. Pretty good looking setup there on that chuck i've been after an x-bolt for awhile how do you like it. I would love to have a terripin but can't seem to part with about 2000 to have one.

 

[jt183]

I love my X-Bolt. It's the best money I've ever spent on a rifle. It's a .243 Varmint Stalker. I had the guys at Cross Canyon Arms in Ogden put in a new trigger spring to get the pull down to 1.5# but besides that it's all stock. It shoots 55 gr BT's, 58 gr V-Max's, 55 gr Blitz, 62 gr Varmint Grenades, 55 gr BT Lead Free, and 60 gr. Sierra HP's to the same point of impact and all of them grouped no more than .6" at 100 yards with no load development whatsoever. I just picked a starting load of Varget or IMR 4064 and put any one of the above mentioned bullets on top of it and it has worked great. It's not going to win any benchrest competition but it's killed a lot of coyotes and rockchucks!!

I've been in your exact situation concerning rangefinders. I started with a Leupold (love their scopes but I agree with you, the rangefinders are junk!) and then upgraded to a Zeiss PRF thinking it would do what I wanted it to. The Zeiss was all right but would not hit small targets at extended ranges. I ended up selling it at a loss and finally buying the Vectronix. If I had it to do again I would have skipped the Zeiss and saved my money for a Vectronix. I would have been money ahead to buy the best in the first place. My Terrapin was considerably less than $2000. I believe they are priced similarly to the G7. It's a hard decision to make when you want something "right now". Save your money and get the best you can afford even if it's going to take a while. Next time you're in Twin contact me and I'll let you try mine out if you want to.

 

[bobcat trapper]

where did you pick yours up at if you dont mind me asking.

 

[jt183]

The only dealer at the time was the Potomac River Group. I had never heard of them before but their service was spectacular. I ordered mine on a Friday afternoon and it arrived at my house by noon on Saturday. Considering they shipped it clear across the country in less than 24 hours, I was impressed. I didn't hardly have time to sit around and get excited about when the fed ex guy was going to bring my new toy. I'll do some searching and find some contact info for you.

 

[mtnwrunner]

"Flat ground in Idaho??" Man, you're killing me!........

Randy