How well do range finders work on small animals like praire dogs?

Question

If the max range is 700 YRDS, will I be able to get the range of a praire dog at 700 yrds? ( If not, whats the max range on a 700 yrd range finder for praire dogs?)

Answer 1

You will not get 700 yards on a prairie dog. If the max range is 700, then you might get 350 on a p-dog, probably less. My Leica 1200 is good for 1200 yards....on a barn or something similar. Its good for half that on deer size game. Learn to use treelines, buildings, a hill side, something large and easily picked up - and make your yardage based off that to the p-dogs. Also, most rangefinders are around 8-10 power, and with that, you won't even see a dog at 700 yards. Get yourself a good spotting scope to glass them out first, then find large objects to range.

Answer 2

Keep in mind that a prairie dog is really pretty small. Getting a rangefinder down to the inch at any distance is almost impossible.

I am happy when a range finder gets within 1 yard at 100 yards. This is very close and certainly the average shooter wouldn't be likely to get a hit /miss within 1 yard at 100 yards.

That is so technical, the only time I think it might make a big difference is when you are 500 yards or more, possible 1000 yards.

You wouldn't normally be shooting ( or expect to make a hit at this distance. If you could do that consistently, then you need to be a military or mercenary sniper.