I'd go with a used Nikon rangefinder, (sorry whitetrash but I had a Leupold range finder and it was crap), For a knife, this year I switched to a havalon scalpel knife, they are relatively inexpensive and no sharpening involved, they are GREAT! I agree with all about practice: you need trigger time! You can even stalk around your house and dryfire at pictures; I did that with my daughter before late elk season last year and when the time came she performed admirably!