Vendetta bow mounted range finder. Wife bought me one when they first came out and at that time they where illegal while hunting game animals. Just curious if anything changed.

Check TPWD hunting annual.

Yes they are legal in Texas. I've got one on my bow and I love it. The only drawback I've experienced is when hunting from a pop-up blind. If your windows are not open wide enough, the line of sight for the laser will be blocked.
But when hunting from an elevated stand, there's no more having to raise a rangefinder then bringing your bow up. You just draw back and depress the button. Helps to have two people when sighting it in....goes faster.
When I practice, I like to walk around and lay arrows down at different angles and distances to shoot from, and the Vendetta gives very accurate distances

I love mine. I suggest calling the local game warden prior to hunting game animals with it first. It's better to be safe than sorry. I've heard conflicting views from multiple GW. Gosh I wish they woulda made one with micro adjustments. Tuning them is an absolute nightmare.

There's absolutely no issue at all with it being Illegal. When it was first introduced, there were conflicting reports about it being illegal because of it being a laser mounted targeting mechanism . But the laser is only active when getting a distance reading, just like a range finder, which it is.
I did my research before I bought it, including calling TPWD first.. Got mine on E-Bay NIB from a guy in Alaska for $175.00!!

yes legal. like the others said

Thanks guys. I love mine I just take it off during deer season. I won't take it off this year.

Only problem with them is if you shoot a Pope and Young class deer, the bow mounted range finders disqualify you from entering it in the book.

Didn't know that. I think that's kinda stupid. It works no differently then any other range finder. But it is what it is.

Lighted knocks and pins will disqualify you also

does hunting over bait?(corn protein etc) disqual you?

No, as long as you are not in a high fence, your bow is over 30" long, and there is nothing electrical on it or shot through it I believe you are good. I am sure there is more, but I think those are the biggies.

They are trying to maintain some purity in bows. With electric gadgets, instead of approving this or not allowing that they just found it easier to just say no to anything electrical. With every little electrical gadget that comes on the market, it would be a nightmare for them to have to go through each one.

What about if the pins aren't turned on? I have a Copper John Dead Nuts 5 pin with a light for the pins in low light conditions but don't plan on using the light for hunting. Do I need to get a new sight before season in case I have a chance at P&Y this year?

Are you guys sure these are legal for game animals? Everything I read says they are not in Texas. They have a lazer that is used to set them up for the first time and that makes them illegal to use in Texas on game animals. Of course you're only supposed to use the lazer for setting up but they could also be used to shoot animals with. I'm not arguing either way but everything I can find on it says they are illegal in Texas for that reason.

Pigman could tell ya!!!!!!

I'm just curious what article or publication wrote that they were illegal in Texas?
The way that it works, the laser is not visible when you draw back to take a shot. It's only visible when you depress the button for 10 seconds, and it's even hard to see out at 20 yards when you sight it in. I had to sight mine in aiming into the garage so I could see the dot on the target, and even then, it's not a true point of impact.
Do what I did. Call the TPWD and talk to someone.817 831-3128

From the Outdoor Annual under Restricted Methods...

Artificial light of any kind that casts or reflects a beam of light onto or otherwise illuminates a game animal or bird may not be used as an aid to hunt, except battery powered scoping devices that project a light or dot inside the scope, pin sight lights on archery equipment, or laser sighting devices used by legally blind hunters, or hunters who have a documented physical disability that prevents them from using traditional firearm sighting devices.


The problem with the range finder in question is that it has a button that will project a visible laser onto the animal. That's not how it's meant to be used but it's there. You could shoot a game animal with the laser well after legal shooting light if you wanted to. Traditional range finders do not have that option. That's why it's illegal. I highly doubt you would ever get into trouble using it but it is illegal to do so. Would it be legal to strap a lazer pointer to your bow and hunt deer? It's the same thing.

I actually saw a hunting show once that was talking about those range finders but I can't remember if it was him or not. They were using one in Mexico and did mention that it is illegal to use them in Texas on Game Animals.

Well seems there is some confusion on if its legal or not. I will talk to the GW for the county I hunt the most. Kinda sucks for a guy like me who hunts several different county's. Different GWs could enforce it differently. Thanks for all the input guys. Good luck this year and it won't be long.

My wife always tells me I'm blind as a bat, so I'm good to go!