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Pros - ClearShot technology to help you avoid obstacles in your shooting lane - Excellent range and accuracy - Easy to use Cons - Difficult to read range in low light conditions - Not fogproof or waterproof - Powered by hard-to-find CR2 battery

Welcome to our review of the Bushnell The Truth ARC 4x20mm Bowhunting Rangefinder with Clear Shot. This rangefinder is pocket-sized and has an ergonmic, anti-slip design. Bushnell is known for quality optics, but how accurate and easy to use is The Truth rangefinder? Let’s put the device through its paces and find out.

What’s the Range of the Bushnell The Truth ARC 4x20mm Bowhunting Rangefinder with Clear Shot

The range of the Bushnell The Truth ARC 4x20mm Bowhunting Rangefinder with Clear Shot is from seven to 850 yards, allowing ranging of highly reflective targets as far away as 850 yards. Of course, the objects you’ll most likely be checking distance to aren’t typically highly reflective, so how well does the rangefinder perform when you are gauging the distance to a tree or deer?

In these scenarios, you can accurately check the range to trees from up to 600 yards, and can range deer from as far away as 200 yards. This is slightly above average performance, and falls neatly in line with competing rangefinders at the same price point. The accuracy is spot on, and you won’t find yourself needing to take multiple readings and then “guessing” which one is the right distance: the Bushnell The Truth ARC 4x20mm Bowhunting Rangefinder with Clear Shot just works.

For bowhunters, the rangefinder’s bow mode will give you accurate horizontal distance-to-target from 7 yards out as far as 199 yards, and the rangefinder will also tell you the angle to your target.

How Easy is the Bushnell The Truth ARC 4x20mm Bowhunting Rangefinder with Clear Shot to Use?

This rangefinder is exceptionally easy to use, but a bit complicated to set up. To make the most of the rangefinder, you need to calibrate the Clear Shot system, which requires setting up the rangefinder to correspond to the speed of your bow. Once that is set up, though, operating the Bushnell The Truth ARC 4x20mm Bowhunting Rangefinder with Clear Shot is very easy to use, with a single mode button for changing the modes and well-placed buttons for zooming in and out on your target.

How is the Bushnell The Truth ARC 4x20mm Bowhunting Rangefinder with Clear Shot Powered?

The Bushnell The Truth ARC 4x20mm Bowhunting Rangefinder with Clear Shot is powered by a single CR2 battery, and the rangefinder comes with one in the package. While I have a near-vendetta against rangefinders that use the hard-to-find CR2 battery, this rangefinder makes such excellent use of the battery that I’m almost ready to give up my beef with CR2-powered rangefinders. The rangefinder powers off after just the right amount of inactivity, and I’ve been able to take tens of thousands of readings on a single battery.

What Features Can I Expect From the Bushnell The Truth ARC 4x20mm Bowhunting Rangefinder with Clear Shot?

Perhaps the most amazing feature of this rangefinder is the Clear Shot feature. This function allows you to ensure your shooting lane is clear of obstacles, so you don’t miss a shot because your arrow clipped a tree branch or hit some other obstruction. When you finish the three-step calibration process, the Bushnell The Truth ARC 4x20mm Bowhunting Rangefinder with Clear Shot will even show you the highest point your arrow will travel, so you can see the full trajectory of your shot.

The Bushnell The Truth ARC 4x20mm Bowhunting Rangefinder with Clear Shot also features Angle Range Compensation (the ARC in the name), which helps you determine downslopes and upslopes to target with ease. Couple all of these features with the 4X magnification, and you’ve got a rangefinder that is exceptional for just about any use.

What’s the Light Gathering Capability Like on the Rangefinder?

The Bushnell The Truth ARC 4x20mm Bowhunting Rangefinder with Clear Shot displays a very bright image regardless of the lighting conditions. It provides consistently bright and clear target images, but it has one major drawback: the readout is very difficult to read in low light conditions. Had Bushnell made the LCD adjustable for lighting conditions, this rangefinder would be much more useful in the hunting field. If you are hunting in the early morning hours, though, it is almost impossible to read the numbers. A workaround is to lase your target and then point the rangefinder at the sky to read the numbers, but this is annoying at best and totally ineffective at worst.

How Are the Optics and Focus on This Rangefinder?

Here is where the Bushnell The Truth ARC 4x20mm Bowhunting Rangefinder with Clear Shot really shows its flaws. This is a sub-$200 rangefinder, so I would expect it to feature fully multi-coated optics and a nitrogen-filled optics chamber. Unfortunately, that is not the case. The optics may or may not be fully multi-coated (light transmission is quite good, so I think they might be), but the chamber is most certainly not nitrogen-charged. This thing fogs up like nobody’s business when the weather is cold, making it almost impossible to reliably use during deer hunting season in Ohio.

Focus, on the other hand, is easy and good. A few twists of the eyepiece, and you’re fully focused with a crisp, clear image. The focus knob turns with just enough resistance to keep from accidentally moving it, but smoothly enough to make the rangefinder easy to use.

How Durable is the Bushnell The Truth ARC 4x20mm Bowhunting Rangefinder with Clear Shot?

This rangefinder is neither waterproof nor fogproof, and does not have Bushnell’s RainGuard HD coating on the lenses. The body is small but sturdy, though, and I’ve dropped the rangefinder a couple of times without any problems. The body is plastic with some rubber armor, and an anti-slip finish to help prevent the rangefinder from slipping out of your hand.