Laser Rangefinder Review

Easy Comparisons
Picking out the perfect hunting range finder can be a difficult task; however, Laser Rangefinder Review has done a lot of the leg work for you so the process in now much easier.  LRR has organized hunting rangefinders by manufacturer, and then put the models side by side along with their specification for easy comparison.  Then LRR read an enormous amount of user reviews and selected only the reviews that contained useful information and from those calculated a Cumulative Review Score.  Finally, LRR has provided links to reliable online retailers where these hunting range finders can be purchased.

Factors to consider
Some important factors to consider when looking for a hunting range finder are maximum range, magnification, and whether or not you want an angle compensation feature. 

Range - The maximum range listed by most rangefinder manufactures is usually the farthest range you could expect the unit to read under ideal conditions on a large reflective object like a building.  So reading a deer under less than ideal conditions usually produces much shorter actual ranges than the maximum effective range.  Often times when rifle hunting it is easier to range something near the animal such as a rock or tree to get a close approximate distance.

Magnification - The magnification is also very important to consider when looking at hunting rangefinders, as with most things there is no one right answer but here are some guidelines to consider.  If you are strictly a bow hunter 4x magnification is probably ideal as this allows for enough magnification to range out to 100 yards but also provides a better field of view for picking up animals at closer ranges.  For the hunter that uses only high powered rifles 7x and up are generally a good choice, because often the intended animal will be several hundred yards away and it is important to have enough magnification to be able to put the reticle on the intended target, exceptions to this would be people that hunt in dense woods, however as a rule of thumb if you have a high powered rifle and your shots are inside 100 yards you probably wouldn't need to range the animal anyway.  Finally, those that hunt with both rifle and bow would probably be well served with a 5x or 6x power hunting rangefinder, however, if you hunting style leads to shots that are over 200 yds the 6x is probably the way to go.

Angle Compensation - Most hunting range finder manufacturers offer some of their rangefinders with an angle compensation feature.  This feature will account for the angle the target from your current location and give you a more accurate distance to the target than models that do not feature angle compensation technology.  Bushnell calls this feature ARC (Angle Range Compensation), Leupold TBR (True Ballistic Range) and Nikon ID (Incline/Decline).  Angle compensation features do work but often the reading in standard mode is nearly identical, this feature really doesn't come into play until the angle of the shot gets extreme.  Bowhunters that hunt from really high tree stands find this useful, but most hunters will be surprised how little they use this feature.  With that said it is nice to have on the rare occasion when you do need it, but if you can't afford it your not sacrificing too much.