In today’s article, Joe Woolley reviews the Vortex Razor HD 4000 Rangefinder. This rangefinder appears to be a great balance of price and performance. But, how does it perform? The Vortex Razor HD 4000 reviewed here is owned by the author.
I need y’all to fess up (that’s Texan for confess something). How many of you have actually missed a shot at a deer? Not that it was your fault, of course, but you have missed things you REALLY wanted to hit, right? I certainly have, and I learned some big lessons from it.
About 10 years ago, I was sitting in a deer stand just outside of Huntsville, Texas. It was late in the year, the rut was over and doe season had closed. It is the last hour of the last morning I am going to get to hunt and, thus far, I got nuthin! I was, shall we say, less than optimistic at that point. In fact, I was leaning back in my stand with a good rifle on safe and leaning in the corner.
My Kindle was in my lap, and I had a pretty good book going when two does came flying past my stand. Figuring that they would only move that fast if they were being chased, I grabbed my rifle and eased it out the window just in time for a very mature nine-point buck to flash by as well. He went about 10 yards past my stand, hooked a left and headed out into the pasture my stand overwatched.
Now, this was a large field extending some 900 yards south of me, and I was already concerned about knowing the correct distances to some of the landmarks around me. Since this was a time PME (pre-modern equipment), I had attempted to get some good data via the internet. There was software at the time that would allow the user to overlay a grid on a satellite image and measure the difference between different waypoints. When that old buck stopped right by the tree that software had told me was 400 yards away, I thought I was golden.
[Be sure to read the author’s article on Deer Hunting with the Model 2020 Redline.]
That rifle of mine was equipped with a very good scope that had stadia lines in 100-yard increments to 800 yards (for the average rifle). I’m not sure that I have ever owned another “average” rifle again where the lines matched up with my actual range, but that scope did. Since this was the farthest game shot I had ever attempted, I took an extra few seconds (while that buck stood still), exhaled, fired and called a good shoot. And he stood there. Suspecting that my first shot wasn’t quite as accurate as I had first hoped, I settled in and fired again. And he stood there.
Guesstimating that he was farther out, I eased a bit higher on the scope and fired a third time, at which point he stood there some more. Mind you that my son is in another blind on the other side of the property and is texting me, wondering if that is me doing all the shooting. So, I’m trying to answer him while I now have to reload and figure out what is going wrong. The buck is still standing there.
Figuring there was no way he was even farther away from me, I put the 300-yard line on his chest, pulled the trigger and watched the hoped for puff of dust. When I made it out to him, I found what used to be a 10-point rack (1 point had broken off) on a deer that was probably about as old in deer years as I am right now. He was just tired of running. The actual range turned out to be 287 paces. BTW, he tasted great.
Lesson Learned
I had several action items after that trip, primarily revolving around not having to guess at ranges anymore while my son was laughing about some other guy that he thought couldn’t shoot. Researching laser rangefinders became a priority project. Properly equipped in the intervening hunts, I haven’t had that problem again.
We were able to do our cull hunt again this year. Some of the stands on that property sit on the 100-yard average distance, and some don’t. Corners of those pastures can be 400 yards, and the senderos even longer. Not that I believe in shooting at live game a long way away, but I do want to know what the distances are.
Bringing along an upgrade from previous hunts, I brought along a Vortex Razor HD 4000. With a stated max range for deer in normal mode of 1,600 yards (2,200 in ELR mode) their HD 4000 can range a lot farther than I would want to shoot an animal.
Steel is another thing entirely. I was able to play at the Precision Rifle Series for a couple of years, and 1,100-yard targets were common in our matches. That Razor HD 4000 and my Gen III Razor scope let me measure and see anything I needed for that game.
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The ability to measure simple distances is just the tip of the iceberg for this laser range finder:
- It can range in single or continuous scan modes.
- It can display in yards or meters, Fahrenheit or Celsius.
- It has three modes — normal which measures the strongest signal, first and last signal capture, and an extended-range scan.
- It brings onboard temperature and barometric pressure sensors.
- It measures angles calculating the HCD — horizontal capture distance — measuring true horizontal distance to the target.
- Allows the ability to adjust for wind direction and speed on the fly using controls on the unit.
Do yourself a favor and read The manual! You’d be amazed how much this rangefinder can do.
In Practice
Strictly non-scientific testing I’ve done with it has generated ranges on a lattice tower (not exactly a solid reflective surface) at 834 yards, a dove tower at our shooting range at 956 yards, and even a flagpole at 1,243 yards. About the only thing I had trouble with was getting a range off a 45% IPSC target at just over 500 yards. I’d give odds that the red-painted target was causing problems with the laser in the Vortex.
Want to take your work to the next level? The Vortex Razor HD 4000 can connect via Bluetooth to both Android and iPhone and the Geoballistic App installed thereon. Custom profiles can be designed on the phone, transferred to the LRF and solutions appear in the display.
Specifications for the Razor HD 4000 show magnification at 7X, and field of view at 100 yards is 34.1 ft. It uses a CR2 battery and comes with the Vortex unlimited-forever guarantee. I lost a Vortex tool one time that was handy for adjusting the windage and elevation on my Razor scopes. I called and asked if I could buy another. They sent me two for free. I like their approach to customer service.
It also comes well-equipped for the field with a sturdy case, lanyard and belt clip — even a spot for a Molle attachment. Current list price is $730. As of this writing, we found it available for as little as $500.
If you don’t want to have to count on a buck standing still while you shoot at it four times, go get a good rangefinder. Maybe you’ll score more deer, and your son won’t get to laugh at you as much.
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