Halo Optics XL 450 Rangefinder

Why it's worth it

The Halo XL450 reads out to 450 yards with 6x magnification, angle compensation and accuracy to within a yard. It's the practical choice for archery, crossbow and stand hunting where shots stay well inside 100 yards.

Most whitetail hunting happens inside 200 yards, and almost all bowhunting happens inside 50. A 450-yard rangefinder covers that with room to spare. If your recipient hunts timber, sits a stand, or shoots a bow or crossbow, the extra reach of a premium unit is capability they'll never use.

Angle Intelligence is the feature that justifies buying a rangefinder at all for a stand hunter. Shooting down from 20 feet up changes the effective distance, and guessing wrong on that is how arrows sail high. This unit calculates true horizontal distance at any elevation and reports it to within a yard. That's the same fundamental problem the expensive optics solve, at a fraction of the cost.

From our review of 7 gifts for hunters

What we like

• +Most whitetail hunting happens inside 200 yards, and almost all bowhunting happens inside 50
• +Angle Intelligence is the feature that justifies buying a rangefinder at all for a stand hunter
• +It's the natural stocking stuffer or first-gift-for-a-new-hunter in this lineup
• +For a giver, the low commitment is the point

What to know

• –The display is the common complaint
• –It's water resistant, not waterproof, and the optics and build are basic compared with the Vortex