They claim to be more accurate than other types of bracketing rangefinders, because each one is custom tailored to your based on your draw length. It will work with any bow, including compound, recurve, longbows, and crossbows.
If you hunt multiple species of game, then you can make a rangefinder with this program for any species that you hunt. They currently have 49 species of game in their program, and their newest version allows you to enter in your down game animals allowing for even further customization.

So how does this all work? Well, you buy the program and instantly download it. You then calibrate your printer by printing a calibration sheet, taking some measurements, and entering those measurements back into the program. This ensures that your rangefinder will print to the appropriate specifications. You then select the type of game that you will be hunting and wish to print out a custom rangefinder for.

If you have a color printer, then you can select the Color Coded Fill option. If you do not have a color printer, you can select the Color Coded Lines option, and a pattern of lines will be used instead of colors.

At full draw, you have someone measure the distance from your eye to the front side of your sight pin. This ensures that you are getting a bracketing rangefinder that is custom fit to your specific measurements. You enter this measurement back into the program in the appropriate box.

Then it is just a matter of specifying how you want your rangefinder to look. You check the boxes for the ranges that you want on your rangefinder. This can be from 10 to 60 yards in 10 yard increments. Select as many or as few as you wish, but you probably at least want the 20, 30, 40, and 50 yard ranges if you are a whitetail deer hunter. Then you select the colors for each range that you want to correspond to each of your sight pins. Most fiber optic sight pins are color coded and use different colors. I recommend using the same color for the rangefinder ranges that equate to the same color for each respective distance sight pin.

Then print out the bracketing rangefinder on the clear film ‘paper’ that is available at any office supply store, cut it out and attach it to your bow.

If you have never seen how a bracketing rangefinder works, then I recommend that you look at the picture below. A picture is worth a thousand words, and this one explains it all. You just lay the bottom line on your game’s belly, check where on the scale the back of your game falls, and you will know the distance to your target. Then switch to the appropriate sight pin for that distance and cut your arrow loose. It is a simple concept, but very effective.

Bullseye Archery Rangefinder

Bullseye Archery Rangefinder is a post from: Bow Mounted Range Finder

I did some research and found several different references to the fact that you may void your Vendetta warranty by mounting it to a crossbow.  I don’t know the reasoning behind this, but suspect that it could be related to increased shock generated from some of these 150+ pound draw weights.

With the expense involved in purchasing a Leupold Vendetta, I don’t know too many people that would take the chance at not being able to get warranty service on it.  I’m not sure how Leupold would know that you used their Vendetta on a crossbow, unless you told them, but I feel that dishonesty brings about bad karma and it is just not worth it.

For those that want to take the chance, there used to be some Leupold Vendetta Crossbow Mounts for sale on eBAY.  I haven’t seen them out there for a while though.  You can see one in the YouTube video shown below.

I suspect that Leupold will be bringing a laser rangefinder for crossbows to market in the future.  With the popularity of the Vendetta and the growing popularity of crossbow hunting, it is a market that is untapped and ripe for someone to step into.  Another option would be for them to introduce a shock absorbing mount for the Vendetta.  If they went with a mount option for the Vendetta, it would need to allow for it to be mounted to the side of the scope.  This would allow you to aim at your target with your dominant eye, and read the distance with your non-dominant eye without pulling away from the scope.  Then it would just be a matter of closing your non-dominant eye, taking aim, and firing.  This is all purely speculation on my part and remains to be seen.

For now, your best option for a crossbow would be to stick with a traditional laser range finder, and use something like the Excalibur Crossbow Range Finder Mount. This allows you to mount your rangefinder directly on top of your scope.

Leupold Vendetta Crossbow Mount is a post from: Bow Mounted Range Finder

Gravity will have an effect on your arrow as the range nears 30 and 40 yards. The velocity of the arrow will decrease and the arrow will start to fall more rapidly. A bowhunter that incorrectly estimates the range estimate by as little as 5 yards on a 40 yard shot can injure a deer or under shoot it all together. For this reason, range approximation is one of the most crucial factors in establishing the accuracy of your shot.

Know what your bow is able to do. Know how distance affects the flight of your arrow. Some archers utilize an adjustable single pin sight, but sights with multiple pins are most usual. These sights will have pins set at different distances in 10 yard increments. Once your bow sights are suitably adjusted, you can do an easy procedure to see how you can blow your shot if you misjudge your range. A paper plate is roughly nine inches long. This is give or take the top to bottom size of the area of a deer’s vitals. So lay a paper plate on your target. At a range of 40 yards, aim at the target with the bow sight pin that was tuned in for 30 yards. Now look at your 40 yard pin. The 40 yard pin will probably not even be touching that paper plate, and you can simply envision how you will miss your shot. You will probably end up missing the shooting opportunity, or possibly injuring the deer.

I’ve consistently encountered good results when taking shots on deer within 25 yards. All of my inaccurate shots or deer that I unluckily injured and never found occurred closer to 30 yards and beyond. For that reason, I never felt as confident taking 30 to 40 yard shots, and would usually not even attempt a shooting opportunity outside of 40 yards.

It is hard to recover that confident feeling in the stand. There is a big difference in practicing at the range at pre-defined distances, and shooting from the deer stand with approximated distances. Confidence was gone after missing shots from the stand due to bad estimation of distance. My confidence level began to return when I started using my first portable rangefinder. Deer would usually be moving as I ranged them though. So there was still some uncertainty by the time I could bring my bow to full draw and actually shoot my arrow.

A bow mounted range finder, such as the Leupold Vendetta and the Dead-on rangefinder, can go a long way in helping to solve these problems. You can shoot with confidence when you can determine the range your deer at full draw.

Range Estimation and Arrow Drop is a post from: Bow Mounted Range Finder

The Leupold Vendetta is an electronic rangefinder device that attaches directly to your bow. Because of this, it is not legal for hunting in all states. Currently, it is legal for hunting in 27 of the 50 states in the US. It is estimated that more than 66% of America’s bow hunters reside in these states. You should always check your local hunting regulations that are enforced by your state’s D&R or Fish & Wildlife department for confirmation.
It should be noted that the Leupold Vendetta is legal for recreational archery in all 50 states.
The Northeastern and Midwestern states are about evenly split, with the laws slightly favoring the Vendetta being legal for hunting. In the Southern states, it is legal for hunting in a large majority of the states. And in the Western states, only a minority allow the use of the Vendetta for hunting purposes.

Leupold Vendetta Legal States - Legend (PINK = Not Legal for Hunting) (GREEN = Legal for Hunting)

Not Legal in Your State? – Then check out the Dead-On rangefinder.  It is a non-electronic, bow mounted rangefinder that is legal in all 50 states.

The following list shows the states by region, and whether the Vendetta is legal for hunting in each respective state.

Northeast (including Division 1 – New England, and Division 2 – Mid-Atlantic)

In the Northeast states, the Leupold Vendetta is legal in 6 of the 9 states:

• Connecticut - Legal
• Maine - Legal
• Massachusetts - Legal
• New Hampshire - Legal
• New Jersey - Not Legal for Hunting
• New York - Not Legal for Hunting
• Pennsylvania - Legal
• Rhode Island - Not Legal for Hunting
• Vermont - Legal

Midwest (including Division 3 – East North Central, and Division 4 – West North Central)

In the Midwest states, the Leupold Vendetta is legal in 7 of the 12 states:

• Illinois - Legal
• Indiana - Legal
• Iowa - Legal
• Kansas - Not Legal for Hunting
• Michigan - Legal
• Minnesota - Legal
• Missouri - Legal
• Nebraska - Not Legal for Hunting
• North Dakota - Not Legal for Hunting
• Ohio - Not Legal for Hunting
• South Dakota - Not Legal for Hunting
• Wisconsin - Legal

South (including Division 5 – South Atlantic, Division 6 – East South Central, and Division 7 – South West Central)

In the Southern states, the Leupold Vendetta is legal in 12 of the 16 states:

• Alabama - Not Legal for Hunting
• Arkansas - Legal
• Delaware - Legal
• Florida - Not Legal for Hunting
• Georgia - Legal
• Kentucky - Legal
• Louisiana - Legal
• Maryland - Legal
• Mississippi - Legal
• North Carolina - Legal
• Oklahoma - Not Legal for Hunting
• South Carolina - Legal
• Texas - Not Legal for Hunting
• Tennessee - Legal
• Virginia - Legal
• West Virginia - Legal

West (including Division 8 – Mountain, and Division 9 – Pacific)

In the Western states, the Leupold Vendetta is legal in only 2 of the 13 states:

• Alaska - Not Legal for Hunting
• Arizona - Legal
• California - Not Legal for Hunting
• Colorado - Not Legal for Hunting
• Hawaii - Legal
• Idaho - Not Legal for Hunting
• Montana - Not Legal for Hunting
• Nevada - Not Legal for Hunting
• New Mexico - Not Legal for Hunting
• Oregon - Not Legal for Hunting
• Utah - Not Legal for Hunting
• Washington - Not Legal for Hunting
• Wyoming - Not Legal for Hunting

Leupold Vendetta Legal States is a post from: Bow Mounted Range Finder