Vortex Ranger 1000 Review

A few weeks back I began making preparations for the 2017 deer season.  As I started to organize my gear, I realized I had not seen my range finder all summer.  In fact, I could not remember having my range finder since that eventful turkey hunt I had on the second to last day of the Ohio turkey season. (link here) It turns out that besides dropping my bow in the river, I may have lost hold of my rangefinder as well.  None the less, with the Ohio deer opener rapidly approaching, a rangefinder was not an item I was willing to hit the woods without.  Alas, I am the proud owner of a brand new Vortex Ranger 1000.

It has been a few weeks now since I received my Ranger 1000 and I can honestly say I am extremely pleased with it.  Like all of the other products Vortex makes, their Ranger line of rangefinders are built with top-notch quality and they are made to endure the harsh conditions we as hunters put them through on a daily basis.  Backed by Vortex’s lifetime warranty, there is no need to take it easy with your Ranger rangefinder.  Whether you hunt in the rain or snow, you can rest assured your rangefinder will function as good as the day you got it

A few notes on the aesthetics and feel of the rangefinder, I really liked how grippy the rubber coating of this rangefinder is.  It feels very comfortable in the hand, and buttons are conveniently placed and easy to reach.  The rangefinder also comes with a belt clip which can be placed on either side of the rangefinder, and there are two lanyard connection points to allow a lanyard on whichever side suits your needs better.  Every aspect of this rangefinder speaks to the quality that Vortex has come to be known for.

But for all the talk of the looks and feel of this rangefinder, the real question is simple, how does it perform?  Seeing as I was missing my rangefinder all summer, I had previously used a reel measuring tape to mark off 20, 40, 60, and 80 yards in my back yard.  I figured that would be a good place to start my testing.  So I scanned the distance from each mark, and then I scanned them again, and again, and again.  Each time, the distance displayed to me was spot on.  It may have been sufficient to check each distance a single time, but all to often my old rangefinder gave me different measurements from the same exact spot.  Usually only a yard, but at longer distances, a single yard may make the difference in a quick ethical shot or a wounded animal.  I was not willing to take that chance.

After testing thoroughly to make sure my rangefinder was working at known distances, I began moving to random locations and shooting my bow to make sure I was still accurate.  Arrow after arrow, I hit my mark.  While this was not a scientific test by any means proving the accuracy of my Ranger 1000, it did build confidence knowing that when a distance was displayed to me, it was going to match up with my bow correctly.  After all, if I couldn’t consistently hit a target on the range, it was unlikely I could make a clean shot on an animal in the woods.

One great feature of the Ranger 1000, like many other high-end rangefinders, is its ability to display a compensated distance measurement based on angles.  In Vortex’s HCD mode (Horizontal Component Distance), the Ranger 1000 calculates the actual horizontal distance of your target as opposed to calculating a line of sight distance.  This is imperative when shooting on steep inclines or declines.  To test out this feature, I placed a target at the base of a steep hill.  I measured the line of sight distance from the target to be at 37 yards.  I disabled the HCD mode on my Ranger 1000 to confirm this distance, and then re-enabled it to scan the distance once more.  A reading of 33 yards was displayed to me, I shot a few arrows to verify the compensated distance, and each hit where I was aiming.

All told, the Ranger 1000 rangefinder from Vortex appears to be a reliable rangefinder than any bowhunter can be confident in using.  I have not personally done any testing at ranges beyond 100 yards.  But for an application of bowhunting, I am certain I won’t be disappointed with this product.  For more information on the Ranger series of rangefinders by Vortex, be sure to visit their website at http://www.vortexoptics.com.

Vortex Ranger 1000 Specifications

Range Reflective                         11-1000 yards
Range Deer                                  11-500 yards
Accuracy                                      +/- 3 yards @ 1000 yards
Max Angle Reading                   +/- 60 degrees
Magnification                               6x
Objective Lens Diameter          22mm
Linear Field of View                  315 feet @ 1000 yards
Angular Field of View               6 degrees
Eye Relief                                    17 mm
Operating Temperature           14-131 degrees F
Length                                        3.9 inches
Width                                           3 inches
Weight                                          7.7 ounces