Looking to get a range finder, but which one?

[bigpaw 77]

I have a Nikon archers choice I will sell you for $125: it has only been used twice. Pm me if you are interested. 

[hucklebeary]

My Nikon 550 is way better than the leopold that I had.  Neither these units can hold a candle to the leica line-up, the red read out and the quality and clarity of the glass is best on the market IMO.  You will pay more for it but it is way worth it,  by the way I am going to sell the Nikon 550.

[Elkslayer]

I have the Leupold RX-II, other than the black led read out that is hard to see sometimes i cant complain. I mostly hunt out of treestands so my range is usually figured out before the animals come in.

[halflife65]

I have a Leica 1600 and was easily able to get my neighbors house at about 1450 and I've hit things out to about 1590, too.

As a bowhunter, I need all that distance.    Well, I have it in case I decide to pick up my rifle.  And shoot no more than 400 yards.  It's still a cool rangefinder even it is more than I'll ever need.

[sirmissalot]

I had the leupold RX-III and it was garbage. The newer ones are better I think, but I just don't think you can beat the Leica. Its small and compact, gives really fast and accurate readings, the readings are in red so you can actually read them in low light, and Leica has about the best warranty in the business (my opinion of course).

The TBR deal that compensates for angle is neat, and can easily make the difference in a dead animal or a wounded one, but my experience is that the time it takes to calculate the compensated reading is just too much, I want a fast respsonse, many times you don't have time to range let alone sit there and let it think. Now obviously technology is always changing and getting better, so this may not be an issue anymore, but with practice and a little knowledge of how a bow or gun shoots when it comes to shooting steep uphill or down hill shots, I think a hunter can do without the fancy stuff and just get a fast and accurate yardage reading. My  anyway

[Elkrunner]

Nikons Archers Choice Max is what i use.  I love it.

[KenPCPilot]

I purchased the Bushnell Arc 1,000 and am quite happy with it.  I works well in both bow and rifle modes.  It is fairly simple and small.  I like the "brush" mode which seems to work better in more realistic timber or brushy hunting situations.  The normal mode seems more suited for on the archery or shooting range.  I got it for a good deal on The SportsmansGuide.com and you can do 4 pay plan on items over $150.00.  I have only owned it for about 8 months so that is the real test for me how long will it last in this apparent disposible high end electronic age.  It also has a tripod mounting tread.  I have a dual mounting port for my tripods that is normally used for cameras that you can attach this side by side with your nice binoculars or spotting scope if you are scanning a large area and can quickly glance over for a quick range on your target.  The angleometer function really is necessary especially in mountain terrain.  The true distance vs shots like distance can be a lot differnet I have found especially with archery that is where the ranging including the angle really helps the hunter. 

[dadada]

Leupold rx1000 tbr has red optic so you can see in any light I love  it is also caliber specific for any rifle you just have to program it its range is 600 for non reflective and 1000 yrds for reflective

[BULLBLASTER]

+1 for the leica. Mine is the 800 and I can consistently range trees to 950+ mine is older though and lacks angle compensation. Pretty easy to guesstimate that though.

[throttlejocky20]

I have the RX-1000 and love it I have been able to range stumps in the right conditions out to 830 yards. If you have the money you cant beat the leica's. My buddy has the leica 10x42 range fining binos  . Very nice glasses they do not have a TBR option. But its a sacrafice I would make for those glasses. When I shot my best blacktail all I could tell through my luepohlds was that it was leagle and besides two points my buddy was able to tell me the hieght and width and that it looked like a 2x3 at over 300+ yards it ended up being a 3x4

[Evoac05]

Thanks everyone for all your help.