Nikon Arrow ID 3000 Review: Bow-Hunting Laser Rangefinder

To make your hunting easier and more accessible, want something small, lightweight, and affordable? We got just the right type of product for you guys. 

Nikon Arrow ID 3000 is a rangefinder that is compact, small, lightweight, and most importantly budget friendly. It’s a bow-hunting laser rangefinder & we’re gonna elaborate on this.

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Nikon Arrow ID 3000: Outlooks

Specifications | Magnification: 6x; Objective Lens: 20 mm; Eye Relief: 20.3 mm; Range: 5-600 Yards; Width: 2.9 Inches; Length: 3.6 Inches; Weight: 4.8 Oz.

Body Quality

Nikon Arrow ID 3000 is the smaller brother of the Arrow 7000 VR bow-hunting laser rangefinder. Now just because it’s the smaller brother that doesn’t mean it’s going to be bad by any means.

When you open the box for the first time you will be surprised. Because the rangefinder is so small! It’s unbelievable. Sometimes I think that the rangefinder is too small. That’s not a bad thing but if you have a habit of leaving things behind, you can easily forget this little beauty.

The rangefinder is satisfying to hold. It’s lightweight so you don’t have to worry about using both hands. The rangefinder is so small 3.6 x 1.5 x 2.9 inches it fits inside your palm. The rangefinder is not submersible but it is waterproof. You can take your shots during the rain but we don’t recommend that.

Optics Quality

In case you didn’t know Nikon is a famous brand for making DSLR camera lenses. We can go for days praising how beautiful and crystal clear lenses Nikon makes. 

Just because the scope is under 200$ doesn’t mean Nikon used low-quality glass to make the lenses. The eye relief of this rangefinder is also pretty generous. You get eye relief 20.3mm. Which is great even for glasses users. The images you see through the scope are plenty clear. 

We had no complaints regarding the optics of the scope.

Tru Target Technology

It’s Nikon’s way of calling the process of toggling between target modes. On one hand, you have first target priority which Nikon calls first target mode. The way it works is, that it ignores the background objects. Focuses on the closest object. 

On the other hand, the second target mode which stands for distant target priority. Nikon has its way of naming everything.

Makes it feel special and we don’t hate it. The way this feature works is it brushes out the foreground object and surroundings and focuses on the object in the background. Both of these features work a lot like DSLR camera focus.

Battery Life

Nikon Arrow ID 3000 uses a single CR2 battery. A new CR2 battery can provide 8000 actions before dying. Nikon does provide a battery with the rangefinder. 

But we doubt that battery going to last you that long. You should buy a third-party CR2 battery just to be on the safer side.

Auto Shut-Down

The rangefinder comes with a neat feature pre-installed. If your scope stays inactive for more than 8 seconds the rangefinder will shut down automatically. 

Saving your battery life. Not only that it also gets rid of the tension that you left the rangefinder turned on.

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Is The Rangefinder Suitable For Rifle Shooters?

Absolutely. The ID (incline/decline) technology provides the horizontal distance between the target and the shooter. Doesn’t matter whether you are an archer or rifle hunter. 

You can adjust the weapon of your choice. Also, the truck target technology is another excellent feature to have for both archer and rifle shooters.

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Understanding Id Technology

The factory setting of the Nikon Arrow ID 3000 comes with ID technology turned on. On the LCD screen, you will see “Ang” on the left bottom corner of the reticle. 

This means the ID is enabled. To change the mode to line of sight distance press the mode button immediately press the power button don’t hold it for more than 2 seconds. Your mode will then be changed.

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Changing Tru Target Modes

The rangefinder comes with a preloaded setting. It comes with ID technology turned on and preset with First Target Priority Mode. 

You can see the word “1st” right below the reticle. This indicates the rangefinder is in its first target priority mode. If the reticle is in distant target mode then you will see “DST” at the bottom right corner of the LCD.

To change the target mode all you need to do is hold down the mode button and immediately depress the power button. Keep depressing the buttons for more than 2 seconds and you will successfully switch the mode. 

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Nikon Arrow ID 3000 vs 5000

Nikon Arrow ID 5000 has been discontinued recently. But there wasn’t much difference between the two of them. ID 5000 was a little bigger and had less eye relief than the Nikon Arrow ID 3000. 

Another key difference is Nikon Arrow ID 5000 was completely waterproof unlike Nikon 3000 which is only water resistant.

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Nikon Arrow ID 3000 Vs Vortex Impact 850

We got a completely separate review about the vortex impact 850. But to sum up the key differences. 

• Nikon Arrow ID 3000 is much more compact than the Vortex Impact 850.
• Nikon Arrow ID 3000 was mainly made for bow hunters. While rifle shooters might prefer the Impact 850. 
• Another key difference is Vortex Impact 850 is O-ring sealed. The reticle is different but both are in black.
• Both scopes are a good choice for under 200$. 

Read both reviews then decide for yourself what is your main priority. You really can’t go wrong choosing any of these two.

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Nikon Arrow ID 3000 Review Summary

It’s an excellent rangefinder for the price. There are close contenders like Vortex Impact 850. But what makes this little beauty stand out is the lens is excellent. It looks good and feels good to use too.

Yes, the rangefinder is not O-ring sealed but not many hunters hunt in the rain. If you are one of them then you might be better off purchasing the Vortex Impact 850. 

But if you have no complaint regarding O-ring seals then I doubt you hardly will find any flaws in the scope. Considering you are paying less than 200$ for the scope. I would consider it a steal.