Thread: Using NZTopo as a Rangefinder

I’ve used the NZ Topo50 map on my phone for a while. Found it to be pretty accurate in terms of distances.
I always thought if it were possible to ‘range find’ with it. Got my range finder out and marked a spot 528m away and then used the app to get within 5-10m. Was pretty impressed.
I think this could work in a hunting situation.
Anyone had any personal experience?

I personally wouldn't trust it....will certainly get you within range ish in the open but a miss range could be a missed animal or worse...just my 10c

Hamish

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Originally Posted by JBNZ

I’ve used the NZ Topo50 map on my phone for a while. Found it to be pretty accurate in terms of distances.
I always thought if it were possible to ‘range find’ with it. Got my range finder out and marked a spot 528m away and then used the app to get within 5-10m. Was pretty impressed.
I think this could work in a hunting situation.
Anyone had any personal experience?

Attachment 225471

there is built in error with any topo map some wiser soul on here will tell us what it is but when I was working a lot with aerial work we worked on 100 metres at least for safety sake

if you push the photo circle so are looking in aerial photo not topo map....you can get much better at Im here,its there too..... its good enough to say,yip well over 350yards...walk closer.

you can do same thing with a GPS......

Don’t think I would rely on it to dial up on an animal but have used it to help put a pin on an animal down across a valley - range with rangefinder and use Topo50 to set bearing and match distance from rangefinder. Helped find the deer in thick scrub that would have been tough to search otherwise.

in same vein....drop a in where you shoot from and when think your in area where animal is...check how far back to that pin.

Dropped a spiker 600m away about 30 mins before dark across a gulley. Buddy and I headed straight down towards it. At the bottom we had the epiphany that it was going to be pitch black by the time we got up the other side what with all the thick scrub. So we should probably use something to help guide us in. No LOS to the deer. So we ranged back to the shooting position just before we lost the last of the light and brought up Topo maps. 250m back up to the position so the deer must therefore be 350m away in that direction and we dropped a marker on the map where we thought it was. Fought our way up through the scrub. Used Topo maps to keep our bearing. Got to within about 10m of the marker and said to each other "we should probably spread out, it must be close". Took five steps further and walked right into it.

So yeah. If you know exactly where you are, and you can precisely place the deer, I'd trust it to be accurate enough for a shot out to sane distances.

@Pommy, that’s how I feel. After ranging with the laser and using topo multiple times I’m getting pretty accurate/consistent.
** I have known the exact point I’m ranging too. I guess sometimes in the bush, knowing exactly where a deer is will be tricky.

In real life I’m unlikely to use Topo to dial up, however doing a scouting search on google to know if a clearing is within shooting range I think it could be helpful.

A thing to consider is the angle of the shot and it’s true ballistic range. It could be quite different to that shown on the topo maps. A range finder with tbr is a lot quicker and more accurate than figuring out the angle of the shot and calculating the true ballistic range.

Follow up on the original post.
Went for a walk and ranged 20+ times using Topo50 and a shitty Kogan600.
Was accurate every time to about 5-10m. I must say it was hard to range using Topo50 if you didn’t have a clear landmark to use.
So if you were hunting in open tops or large clearings it would be tricky to use Topo50 to range. However, if you were sitting in the bush and looking out to a small clearing you could locate on the satellite view in the app. I would be pretty confident you could range without a range finder.
Not perfect, but usable in the right circumstance.

Well it sure worked pretty good when I was on the FO party with 31B Battery calling down fire - bigger round ofcourse!