POLL: Your maximum rifle range on Deer

[ghost stalker]

thanx big bro. i do need to invest in a range finder sooooon.
knowing the actual distance is everything. i used to think i was just a good shot , but last fall i was hunting some open fields for mulie which i am not used to but i am very used to clear-cuts and timbered areas. i spotted up a heard of deer with a good buckin a large field. guesstimated it to be a lil over 800yds and my buddie and i figured that if i could half the distance i'd be within my comfortable shooting range.
well after the second shot hit about 50yds my side of the deer i realized that the deer must have been over 1000yds away to begin with. i took another 150yds off the distance and another shot came up 10yds short. all this time the heard just looked around when i shot and kept feeding. not feeling good about getting any closer i chose to take another aproach but the light began to fail and i couldn't clearly make out the buck any more. all this being said, i think if i had a range finder i could have either got closer for the first shot or determined earlier that i needed to take another approach and would have had a buck.
a range finder would really help in new terrain. especially open fields. i am used to the bush where you have trees and stumps and rocks but it is a whole different ball game in the flats.