The Missed Shot That Sent Me Shopping for a Rangefinder

It was the second Saturday of November, the kind of calm, cold morning that makes you think the deer are going to move. I was set up on the west edge of a friend's picked cornfield, and a decent 8-point stepped out at the treeline. I ranged him the way I always had, by eye, the way my dad taught me forty years ago. I figured 180 yards. He was 192. I held a little high, squeezed, and watched him bound off untouched. That miss cost me the rest of the season's confidence, and it sent me shopping for a rangefinder. After a week of reading and a lot of coffee, I landed on the AOFAR HX-700N, and it has changed how I hunt more than any scope I've ever owned.

I'll be honest, I was skeptical of the price tag on a lot of the big-name rangefinders. I'm a county road maintenance foreman, not a sponsored shooter. I needed something that would hold up in a pickup box, in a blind, in a snow squall, and still be accurate enough that I could trust it on a 200-yard shot. The AOFAR HX-700N kept coming up in every conversation I had with guys who hunt the same public ground I do. So I ordered one, and I've used it on every hunt since, from early bow season through the tail end of pheasant season.

The first thing I noticed was how fast it locked onto a target. I had expected to fiddle with buttons and hold the thing perfectly still for five seconds. Instead, I pressed the button and had a reading before I could blink. On a doe standing in brush at 147 yards, it gave me 147. I checked it against a fence line I had measured with a tape, and it was dead on. That was the moment I stopped being a skeptic and started being a customer.

I checked it against a fence line I had measured with a tape, and it was dead on. That was the moment I stopped being a skeptic and started being a customer.

The morning that really sold me was a late November sit, 19 degrees with a wind that cut through everything. I had the AOFAR HX-700N hanging from a lanyard around my neck, and it spent two hours bouncing against my coat zipper while I sat on a steel folding stool. When a buck finally came down the draw, I raised the rangefinder with numb fingers, hit the button, and got a reading on the first try. He was 84 yards. I knew my rifle was dialed for 100, so I held a touch low and made a clean shot. That buck dropped in sight. I don't think I would have trusted a reading that fast from a cheaper unit, and I don't think I would have carried a heavier one on that walk in.

I've also used it for archery practice in the backyard, where the speed mode comes in handy. My son-in-law and I set up a target at 20, 30, and 40 yards, and the rangefinder confirmed every distance in a few seconds. It has a scan mode that updates the reading as you sweep across a hillside, which is useful when you're trying to figure out whether that dark spot is a deer or a stump. It's not a feature I thought I needed, but it's the one I use most when I'm glassing a field from the truck.

The AOFAR HX-700N is waterproof, which matters more to me than most of the other specs. I hunt in South Dakota, where November can go from dry to sleet in an hour. I've had it out in a steady rain, in a wet snow, and in a fog so thick I could barely see the treeline. It has never fogged up on the inside, never died on me, and the battery is still the one that came in the box. The carrying case is simple, but it keeps the lens protected in my pack, and the included strap means I don't have to buy anything extra.

Now, I'm not going to tell you it's the fanciest rangefinder on the market. It doesn't have ballistic calculations or a built-in thermometer or a display that looks like a video game. What it does is give you an accurate distance, fast, in the conditions you actually hunt in, for a price that doesn't make you wince. For a guy like me, that's the whole job. I've used rangefinders that cost three times as much, and on a cold morning in a field, they don't do the one thing any better.

I also appreciate that it's small enough to ride in a coat pocket. My old binoculars live in a chest pack, and I used to leave them in the truck because they were a hassle. The AOFAR HX-700N is about the size of a deck of cards, so it goes everywhere with me, including on pheasant walks where I mostly use it to range the far side of a slough before I send Tucker in. It's become one of those pieces of gear I don't leave home without, like a knife or a lighter.

What I'd Tell You If We Were Sitting at My Kitchen Table

If you were sitting at my kitchen table with a cup of coffee, here's what I'd tell you. You don't need the most expensive rangefinder on the shelf. You need one that's accurate, fast, and tough enough to live in your coat pocket from September through January. The AOFAR HX-700N has been all three for me. It's not going to make you a better shot by itself, but it will take away the guesswork that costs you the shot you'll replay in your head all winter. I've missed enough deer by eye to know the difference. If you're still ranging by gut feeling, do yourself a favor and get a real number. You'll sleep better in February.