TL;DR: A rangefinder tether matters more to a bowhunter than to anyone else, because the range, the release of the rangefinder, and the draw all happen in the same few seconds at close range. Rig it so the unit lives on your chest, comes up with one hand, and drops back to a short, snug hang that stays out of your string path and away from your draw elbow. Then prove it with a full-gear draw test at home. Our Rangefinder Tether Set ($19) comes with a small (3 to 16") and a large (6 to 30") tether; for most bow setups, the small one is the right length.
Why Bowhunters Need a Tether More Than Rifle Hunters
A rifle hunter ranging an animal at 350 yards has time. The animal has no idea anyone is there, and the rangefinder can go back in a pocket before the rifle comes up.
Bowhunting compresses all of that. The deer is at 30 yards and closing, or the bull is coming in to the call. You range, and then your hand has to be on your release, now. A tether lets you open your hand and let the rangefinder go without looking for a pocket, a zipper, or a pouch lid. That one saved motion happens at the exact moment movement gets you busted.
Then there is the drop. A rangefinder that slips out of a cold hand from a treestand or a saddle is gone for the sit, and it hits the ground with a noise every animal in the area hears. On stand, a tether is cheap insurance.
Rangefinder Lanyard vs Tether: Skip the Neck Strap
Most rangefinders come with a lanyard meant to go around your neck or wrist. For bowhunting, the neck lanyard is the worst option on the table. A rangefinder hanging on your sternum swings when you move, bounces against your binoculars, and sits right where your bow arm and string travel when you draw. A wrist lanyard keeps the unit in your hand, which is the one place it cannot be when you need to shoot.
A tether solves both problems. One end clips to the rangefinder, the other end anchors to your harness or pouch. The unit lives in a fixed spot on your chest and comes back to the same spot every time you let go.
The Two Zones to Keep Clear
Everything about rigging a tether for archery comes down to two zones a dangling rangefinder must never enter:
- Your bow arm and string path. When you raise the bow and draw, your bow arm comes up and forward, and the string travels across the front of your body. A rangefinder swinging on a long cord in front of your chest can catch the string or slap it on release.
- Your draw elbow at anchor. At full draw, your draw elbow comes back and in. A pouch or a hanging unit mounted high on your draw side can bump it, and a bump at anchor is a missed shot.
That is why length matters more than anything else. Run the tether just long enough to bring the rangefinder to your eye, so that when you let go it hangs short and snug against the harness instead of swinging. Our tethers are stretchable nylon that flexes as you move, which helps here: the cord gives you reach when you raise the unit without leaving a long loop hanging when you drop it.
Where to Mount the Rangefinder
Your bow stays in your bow hand. So you range with your draw hand, and the rangefinder should be easy for that hand to grab. For a right-handed shooter, a pouch on the right side of the harness is a same-side grab and usually the fastest.
The catch is the draw elbow. If the full-gear draw test (below) shows your elbow touching the pouch at anchor, move the rangefinder lower, to the bottom of the harness, or to the other side and reach across. Long draw lengths and narrow chests tend to need the lower spot. The same logic applies to bear spray; our bear spray for bowhunters guide covers that placement, and the two should be planned together so they are not fighting for the same MOLLE row.
On our harnesses you have options:
- The LT1 ($65) ships with a removable rangefinder pouch behind a silent magnetic lid. It fits most compact rangefinders up to 3.1" wide by 4.1" tall, and tether anchors are built in.
- The LT2 ($90) also ships with its own removable rangefinder pouch and carries MOLLE on the bottom and both sides, so you can put the pouch wherever your draw test says.
- The Universal Rangefinder Pouch ($15) is an option if you run an oversized unit or want the rangefinder on a different spot. It has no lid at all: elastic sides hold the unit, so you pull it out and drop it back in with one hand, silently.
Whatever you run, avoid zippers and hook-and-loop on the rangefinder pocket. Tearing Velcro at 20 yards is a sound no deer ignores.
Rigging the Tether, Step by Step
- Pick the short tether. Our set includes both lengths. The small one (3 to 16") suits a chest-mounted rangefinder for most bowhunters. Keep the large one (6 to 30") for a GPS or radio, or for a rangefinder mounted lower on a pack strap.
- Anchor it next to the pouch. The mounting loop attaches to a bino harness, backpack strap, belt, or MOLLE webbing. Anchor close to where the rangefinder lives so it falls back toward its pouch, not across your chest.
- Clip it to the rangefinder at the unit's lanyard point.
- Set your length. Raise the unit to your eye in your hunting posture (seated if you hunt from a stand) and make sure the cord reaches without pulling. Any extra length is just more cord to swing.
- Watch for twist. Turning the unit to read the display winds the cord a little each time. Give it a quick untwist between sits.
More on tether types and why spring-reel retractors are a poor fit for close-range hunting is in rangefinder tethers explained. The full chest-rig layout is in bino harness with rangefinder setup.
The Full-Gear Draw Test
Do this at home before the season, in everything you will actually wear: harness with binos loaded, rangefinder tethered, bear spray if you carry it, jacket layers, and pack.
- Range something, let the rangefinder drop, and draw. Twenty times.
- Check that the hanging unit never touches the string or your bow arm, at full draw or on the let-down.
- Check that your draw elbow clears the pouch at anchor.
- Repeat seated and kneeling. Clearance standing in the yard is not clearance sitting in a treestand or kneeling in a ground blind.
If anything touches, shorten the tether or move the pouch. Then test again.
Treestands, Saddles, and Blinds
- Treestand: Range your landmarks (trees, rocks, trail crossings) as soon as you settle in, so when the animal shows up you may not need to range at all. The tether is for the drop you did not plan.
- Saddle: You rotate around the tree to shoot, which changes what is in front of your chest. Run the draw test from both sides. Our bino harness for saddle hunting guide covers routing a chest rig around the bridge and lineman belt.
- Ground blind: Space is tight and you are usually seated. Keep everything low and short, and practice ranging through the window without bumping the walls.
Late-season sits add one more thing to the chest: a hand muff. If you hunt cold, see using a hand muff without losing your draw.
Next Step
The Rangefinder Tether Set is $19 for both tethers and works with any harness, pack strap, belt, or MOLLE webbing. If you want a matching keeper for your glass, our Binocular Tethers are $12. Everything we make carries our lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects, with free returns.