Contents
Package
The Nikon Aculon Laser Rangefinder comes with a nylon padded pouch that can be worn on your belt. You also get straps that you can use to hang it around your neck, if you wish to do so. A 3 Volt CR lithium battery is included and you will get a warranty card that covers two years.
Features Of The Nikon Aculon AL 11 Laser Rangefinder
The measurement range covers 6 – 550 yards / 5 – 500 meters. This unit works in a Distant Target Priority Mode, which means that if there is a group of objects it always will measure the one farthest away. This is a good feature while bowhunting or hunting, as game is often covered by grass or brush. It is not so good for golfers if a tree is behind the flag, because it will choose the tree.
The Nikon Aculon Laser Rangefinder does not consider slopes or angles while measuring. It has no up – or down compensator, which means straight distance is all that you get. But for bowhunting this is quite enough, in my opinion. If you are hunting at larger distances with a rifle, that might be a different thing, though.
The Nikon has a fixed 6x magnification and a 20 mm objective lens. It also features long eye relief (16.7 mm) and multilayered coated optics, that ensure a clearer and more natural view.
The LCD display is not illuminated. During daylight the black figures are clear to read. In lowlight situations this might become a problem, though. It won’t work at night unless the target is illuminated – which won’t happen that often, right? At least I have never seen a deer with a torch 🙂 .
The size of the Nikon Aculon Laser Range Finder is 3.6″x2.9″x1.5″. It weighs 4.4 ounces (without battery), which is not much and makes it a very compact model, that bowhunters and hunters can carry along for hours and hours with barely noticing the additional weight.
This unit shuts itself off after 8 seconds of inactivity. This is a good thing, as you don’t want to waste the energy of the battery. For golfers this might be a a bit short as it takes a very steady hand and a good stance to target the bottom of the flag pole or the flag itself – if you manage to do it at all.
This one is water resistant and rainproof. It wont survive a bath in a lake or anything like that. Rain, fog or dampness are no problem, though.
Operation
The Nikon Aculon Laser Rangefinder can be operated one handed with a single button, if necessary. The Mode Button at the front of the unit toggles yards and meters. Measuring in feet is not an option.
The button closest to your eye is used to measure the distances. If you press it once, you get the distance to a certain target / object. If you press and hold it, you can ‘scan’ distances. This means that if you move the unit across a field of vision, the distance reading changes according to the objects in that field.
Uses Of The Nikon Aculon AL 11 Laser Rangefinder
Bowhunting / Hunting
This unit is very accurate and very fast for measuring distances. Both are important properties for hunters of all kinds.
As this model will always pick up the farthest object in the frame, it is clearly meant to be used by the hunting crowd, because game is often covered by grass or brush and it would not make sense if this unit would measure a branch that is 40 yards in front of the deer, right?
There are a few setbacks, though. If you are a 3D archer and the target is a completely dark surface, this one sometimes won’t work. But a lot of other rangefinders lack here as well, so just saying. If you are hunting in thick wood, the very sensitive sensor of the Nikon Aculon might be distracted by objects that are close but nearer or farther away from the object you actually want to nail down. Targets over 250 yards may be hard to measure, especially if there are objects behind them.
Golfing
For golfers it will be hard to measure pins, flagpoles or the base of those, especially if the distances are rather large, because the Nikon Aculon Laser Rangefinder has no pin-lock technology. So you would need a very very steady hand and a stationary stance to be able to target these small objects with success.
A work around would be to target larger objects or surfaces that are near the flagpole. Maybe grass areas, bunkers or trees etc. Doing it this way might be not as comfortable as having a rangefinder with pin-lock tecnology, which means it does not lock onto the flag with a sound or vibration, but it works.
There are a lot of golfers out there that do it this way and are quite satisfied. All the others have to buy more expensive models. If you are one of those, you might want to take a look at the Bushnell V4 Laser for measuring.
The already mentioned Distant Target Priority Mode makes it hard for golfers to target the flagpole base, if there are other objects behind it like trees or bushes. If that happens just try to find an object that is close enough to the flagpole and go from there.
This model can be used with eye glasses without any problems.
Price
For around 170 bucks you will get a reliable laser rangefinder that is a good option while bowhunting or hunting with a rifle. There are of course other and more expensive options out there, but if you don’t want lo lose an arm and a leg this one will give you quite some value for your money. If you have more to spend you might want take a look at the Bushnell V4.
Summary
All in all I would say that the Nikon Aculon AL 11 Laser Rangefinder is a very good compromise between value and price. It has its downsides, but those can happen with models that cost three times as much as well.
So for bowhunters and rifle hunters, there is not much more to say about it. If you want to measure distances without spending too much, this one will work just fine.
Golfers might want to check out different models if they insist on having the pin-lock technology. If you are satisfied with the workarounds I have mentioned above, this one might be an option for you as well.
Thanks for reading and shoot straight.
Leave A Comment