The Importance Of Technology

Quintus

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As many of you that read this site, I like to shoot at distance. I still have not gotten to the point where I will shoot game past 500 yards and I still prefer the closer the better. With good conditions I am proficient (meaning I would bet 2 days tracking I could make a cold bore shot) to 600 yards on paper or steel which is to say a static target. My hesitation on game past 500 is the math. My question to the forum is How far would you be comfortable shooting at big game with easily readable wind with just your gun and a range finder? The phone blinked out and you have no ballistic app, elevation, nothing but distance and angle to target. Do any of you shoot game past 600 without an app? For that matter, do any of you even need an App, or do you only trust your own math? Only curious because I don't hunt with anyone that even knows what a ballistic app is let alone used it in a hunting scenario.
 
There is no real math for your drop data. I mean there is but none it requires knowing the come up of a known distance. From 300y you can take you drop and multiply by a factor of 1.75 then take that drop data verify, then multiply by 1.45 to get your 500 and so on. However most people aren't going to memorize that so there's where a dope books use to come into play. If not you are just doing a point blank shot essentially, or one memorized drop just out to where PBR ends.
Doing this I've pushed out without verifying to a little over 1000 and it held within .1 mils for the most part, but past that required truing obviously.

The wind numbers are easy to get and easy to apply. The issue is always the individuals ability to read it. Not using a kestrel for a baseline requires that you how to determine what wind is at your location before being able to guess what it is at distance and that is really a practice in itself, for different areas with different foliage.
 
I am pretty comfortable out to 700y with a drop chart taped to my rifle stock set up for anticipated temp and altitude at the hunting location. Beyond that it becomes much more dependent on the atmosphere specifically on that day.

We shoot long range weekly and the more I do the more I know I don't know what is going on across that canyon 1000y away. I'll hunt rocks as far as I can get a range.
 
I am pretty comfortable out to 700y with a drop chart taped to my rifle stock set up for anticipated temp and altitude at the hunting location. Beyond that it becomes much more dependent on the atmosphere specifically on that day.

We shoot long range weekly and the more I do the more I know I don't know what is going on across that canyon 1000y away. I'll hunt rocks as far as I can get a range.
Canyons and trees are much more difficult than relatively flat rolling plains when reading the wind.
 
Range finder with angle compensation built-in and a dope card. Most of our shots are from 300-650 yards but we are proficient out to 800. We simply do not take shots at animals at those ranges if there is more than a light breeze. Never trust your ability to take a shot of a lifetime to a phone app, they don't work in the cold.
 
My goal is to be able to keep shots inside the size of an elk heart. Same goes for cold bore shots. Past 700-800 yds that gets far more difficult. The drops are one thing, but the wind is another. I mostly shoot mirage but that only tells you whats going on at the target. In the summer Im shooting and tuning at 1k 2-3 times a week and to sit down and look at the mirage and be confident in knowing its value is just not easy. Even doing it multiple days a week, I doubt I will ever master it. Another point is that I find the larger bores to have more consistent drops day to day than smaller bores. If I had to do everything off a paper drop chart, I would be shooting a .338 at minimum. I do think there are some things about a bullets mass that just cant be taken into account in ballistic calculations.
 
Without dope charts or ballistics program, 400 yards is pretty easy. Hold over is maybe a foot or so depending on your cartridge. Aiming at the animals back will get you there. BDC's are easy to use and many go past 400. A Kestrel really helped me calibrate the 'feel' of the wind. I can't read the wind from mirage or trees accurately enough for long range shots. However, wind isn't much of an issue at 400 yards.
 
Shooting the same rifle/ load for the last ten years or so, my dopes for wind and elevation out to 1000 yards have been committed to memory, inclusive of adjustments for atmospheric conditions....the beauty of sticking with one system and lots of shooting/practice. I would be comfortable to 700 yards without a ballistic calculator or dope chart given an accurate range, wind dope, and conditions that are well understood. Given this, I still make it a point to have my "technology" available(range, atmospherics, wind)) in working order, with back-up, placing priority on its use. As has been mentioned by others, wind determination is primary factor dictating whether a shot is taken on game. Past 700 yards or so, level of difficulty takes a step function, and shots on game become much more selective, and the technology contributes certainty to the shot. IMO
 
As many of you that read this site, I like to shoot at distance. I still have not gotten to the point where I will shoot game past 500 yards and I still prefer the closer the better. With good conditions I am proficient (meaning I would bet 2 days tracking I could make a cold bore shot) to 600 yards on paper or steel which is to say a static target. My hesitation on game past 500 is the math. My question to the forum is How far would you be comfortable shooting at big game with easily readable wind with just your gun and a range finder? The phone blinked out and you have no ballistic app, elevation, nothing but distance and angle to target. Do any of you shoot game past 600 without an app? For that matter, do any of you even need an App, or do you only trust your own math? Only curious because I don't hunt with anyone that even knows what a ballistic app is let alone used it in a hunting scenario.

I think what every shooter needs to do, hunting or target, is to develope an close relationship with his/her scope. If you have the right reticle and the right load, many times a range finder should not be absolutley necessary. Of coures, knowing your limits is the other end of this rope.
 
I carry know dope cards on paper, and have dope taped to my scope out to 600

I think this is a good plan and have employed it myself. Currently, I'm limited to 425 yards on the crop damage farm and I think it's a pretty long way but I've had success at this yardage. One thing hitting a 18"X24" Steel plate at 1,000 yards taught me was that I had some work to do to consistently hit at that distance in an 8" vital zone. So, I think with a little more practice I might be comfortable to 600 or so in the scenario the OP describes. I think it would take a significant upgrade to my skill set and equipment to get to the point where I'd feel comfortable much further than that. In any event, I never dreamed I'd be shooting that far anyway, so I'm happy just to have made it as far as I have!
 
As many of you that read this site, I like to shoot at distance. I still have not gotten to the point where I will shoot game past 500 yards and I still prefer the closer the better. With good conditions I am proficient (meaning I would bet 2 days tracking I could make a cold bore shot) to 600 yards on paper or steel which is to say a static target. My hesitation on game past 500 is the math. My question to the forum is How far would you be comfortable shooting at big game with easily readable wind with just your gun and a range finder? The phone blinked out and you have no ballistic app, elevation, nothing but distance and angle to target. Do any of you shoot game past 600 without an app? For that matter, do any of you even need an App, or do you only trust your own math? Only curious because I don't hunt with anyone that even knows what a ballistic app is let alone used it in a hunting scenario.
If my phone went on the blink it would be no problem at all for me as I do have triple redundancy I have a phone with an app my rangefinder is a gun works G7BR2 which also gives me a ballistic calculation and of course I have my Kestrel With Applied Ballistics, LLC
 
Never hunted with an app. Or dial up scope, and often without a rangefinder. I usually have an idea of drops with whichever rifle I'm hunting with. I sight in to a 250 yard zero typically. Very comfortable out to 400 yards. Anything beyond that and I'm going to try to get closer.

On a plains game hunt in Namibia i wash shooting out to 300 + without issue, shot a kudu at over 400 and a baboon out of a tree at over 400. Hunting six days straight and shooting 26 animals you get pretty confident.

With a new rangefinder, different scopes and ballistic apps I'm shooting targets farther which will help confidence out farther and has made my shooting more interesting. But where I typically hunt 1000 yards can be over an hour away.
 
When I speak of using technology it's 500 and beyond less than 500 you should know and practice enough that it is a no brainer
 
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