How many of you use a range finder when hunting out west?

[longwinters]

I live in "big woods" country.  So I do not really have to judge distance when rifle hunting as there are no shots beyond 70-100 yds.  But out west you can see for miles (in many places).  How many of you use a lazer range finder?  And what do you use (if you use one)?

[freddogs]

I've taken my rangefinder with me. It's the first thing I leave in camp when I want to lighten my daypack. When you have hunted a lot out west you have a pretty good idea of the range. I zero my 30.06 at 200 yds and I practice at 100, 200, and 300 yards in different positions and use  my bipod. Most of the time guys think game is farther away than it is.
Sometimes I take the rangefinder out when sitting on a stand and range things. Sometimes we stop along the road and guess how far critters are and then range them. Most of the time there isn't time to rangefind the animal you want to shoot. I guess if you got the time it's nice to have with. I wouldn't bother with a range finder if it only worked out to 400yds. :sniper:

[Lawdog]

I got to go along with freddogs.  Got one but unless I'm varmint hunting it's usually left at home or in camp.  They are a nice toy to play with.  Lawdog

[Mike C]

In camp every year most of our hunters bring them so I have had a chance to play with pretty much every one.  Leica (spelling) is hands down the best one, it is small light and most importantly it always works and most of them don't work all the time.  Also the Leica has a real nice 8X magnification with good optical quality.   Mike C

[Thomas Krupinski]

It is one of my most useful tools.  I take my Bushnell Scout with me whenever I am out hunting (bow, muzzleloader, handgun, rifle and shotgun)  and especially scouting.  I feel that the most productive thing you can do with it is just practice ranging while out scouting.  Kind of like stump shooting with a bow, you get to practice estimating distances.  

Now when actually hunting you usually don't have time to range an animal unless it is really far away and you are setting up a stalk.  However if you range things around you it will give you some better idea of what range on the animal is when you go to make your shot.  Even when bird hunting in the desert you can occasionally range some brush ahead of you and it will keep you fixed as you move on.  Distances can be decieving!

Another really useful thing to do with your rangefinder is to accuratly record the distance of the shot that you made.  Kind of like a little "Deliar" fish scale.  Often you can't walk a straight line from where you shot to where the animal was.