Bowhunting Rangefinder
Equipment
What is everyone using and liking these days? I was liking my SIG2000 right up until the LED display started to dim 2 weeks before our deer season starts. Looking for 6x, lighted display, and smaller/lighter profile.
Matt, still like my Leupold RX1600i w/DNA and TBR very well for bowhunting. Red display. The Leupold gives you instant angle corrected yardage without displaying the line of sight yardage, plus gives you angle corrected yardage in scan mode....handy bowhunting in my opinion. Optics are average versus great for Leica, but prefer the Leupold and use my Leica R1000 as a backup as its slow...first spits out LOS, then 2-1/2 seconds later the angle corrected yardage. Only gives LOS in scan mode as well.
Thanks Kurt, had the Leica and sold it for that very reason.
If ranging a critter, stationary or moving, the fastest way to get a verified range is to use scan mode. Hold the button down, get two or three identical readings and you know in a few seconds you have the angle corrected yardage right.
I do like the readout in 0.1 yard increments (bow mode) as I use the rangefinder to rough survey around the yard. Comes in handy putting target stakes in on the home archery range too.
I've had 3 rangefinders, a really old bushnell sport or scout, then a vortex which I hated, really slow, now a Leupold rx 1200 or 1000 its great
Love sig. kilo or 2200. All great. If yours is faulty they will work with you.
Same as Kurt, after trying his.
My last, fairly expensive Bushnell, wouldn’t range anything black. Not at all, at any range on bears and not on very dark moose.
Something to keep in mind: short range rangefinders have a wider beam which is cheaper to produce but also picks up more debris or mist in the air. It’s horrible having your buddy begging you for the range on a Stone ram walking past in the light fog and all you got is, “it’s not working!!”
I have three rangefinders still after going through a few others. But only the Leopold goes hunting .
Leupold-1600i TBR/W I had an earlier Leupold for several years but a couple LEDs burnt out of the numbers. Leupold replaced it at a good discount price with this model. Works as well or better then the earlier version I had. Great unit!
Your only the second person Iv heard of having an issue with the sig rangefinder I was the other. They replaced my faulty one with a greatly upgraded model free of charge and quickly.
Big fan of Vortex here, I had a Ranger 1800 used it with no issue. I recently upgraded to Razor HD 4000. The glass is awesome, warranty is best in the business.
Same as Kurt for me as well, though mine is the 1000 model, that RF has been working great since 2013 when I bought it.
I have three Leupold 1000's. Found the third one in the tundra on the North Slope! It had been laying there long enough to fade the black case it was in. Pulled it out and it was still working. Use it pretty regular still.
When I'm not using an integrated bino unit, (Swaros or Leica) I'm using my Sig. I think mine is the 1400.
I loved my Leupold 1000...then I lost it on the North Slope.
Lol! Finding the one just makes up for the one I left in BC...
Matt,
I’m just curious if you contacted SIG about the LED issue and if so what their response was. LED lights don’t normally dim unless faulty. I might be wrong but I believe the SIG has two settings, one that automatically controls the LED brightness based on ambient light and a manual control. I know for sure it’s got an auto control so maybe that’s faulty.
Being color blind I can only see the red LED on SIG and Leica rangefinders in bright sun against sage and grass backgrounds. All other brand’s LED are pretty much invisible to me in these conditions, they simply wash out. I sold the Leica for the reasons mentioned above and the SIG is still performing perfectly after 5 years and the LED is still bright.
been using my 20/15 hazel eyes for over 40 years with no issues.
Tilz, just back from the FedEx store shipping it back. So far they have been good to deal with, got the pre-paid return label to me quickly.
When I explained the problem to the CS rep, it seems this was not the first time he had heard of this condition.
It wasn't so much that the entire display dimmed, but that the target circle dimmed so much you could not see it in sunlight (only indoors) and the top section of the 10's digit stopped working so you could not tell a 6 from an 8. The lower left hand corner of the ones digit was starting to go too but not the point you could not read the digits.
Love my Leupold RX1300. a game changer over the Nikons and Busnells I've owned previously.
I had a Leupold 1000 but lost it on the tundra on the North Slope.
Quick update: I received the FedEx shipping e-mail Monday indicating the RF should be to me by Thursday. Well, they lied.
It came today.
Sig sent me a brand new KILO 2200 BDX to replace the 3 year old RF that started to fail. I don't generally like using gear where I think I will be using the warranty (cough, cough...Vortex...cough, cough), but Sig's turnaround was pretty impressive.
Nice to know Sig stands behind their products. I have the 1000, and a 1800, and have owned the 3000 bino, ended up selling it, and going another direction. Kinda wish I had it back. Sig puts out pretty decent glass, at great prices, IMO.
just bought a leupold rx-1300 TBR with DNA and its fast and accurate!!
just bought a leupold rx-1300 TBR with DNA and its fast and accurate!!
I have a rx1200 that I really like but Leupold refused to stand by their rx600 that started to give inaccurate readings. Too many good companies that stand behind their products for me to continue to use Leupold. My next rangefinder will most likely be a sig.
Matt,
Good news, great to hear you got a new one and that SIG stands behind their products! If I could only draw a tag I’d get out and wear out the LCD in mine....
Another happy SIG 2200 user here.
