Using your reticle to range big game

[400bull]

When using your mil dot or MOA reticle to range big game what dimension do you prefer to use and what numbers to you use? Meaning do you prefer to use the chest depth or do you use the body length or height from ground to top of back? I am trying to get more proficient with my scope but have not been able to come up with numbers that match my range finder. Any suggestions or help would be appreciated. The big game animals that I am most interested in are mule deer and elk.

400bull

 

[Loner]

chest to back for me. I find elk and deer in trees don't always present front to back very
well. Angels will kill you as well. These may help in your hunts. The moa is in iphy, not true moa.

 

[LouBoyd]

Any stadia reticle can only be as accurate as your ability to estimate the actual size of a physical object at the distance you're trying to measure it. The ability to estimate the size of individual animals where you hunt will be the primary source of ranging error.

I don't argue with the correctness of Loners chart, but you still have to know the size of the animal your dealing with You can carry a copy of the chart in your pocket but modern laser angefinders are about a easy to carry.

Here's a little different method which doesn't require a chart and works for any >familiar< object. It's still no better than how well you can estimate the size of objects.
1. Visualize a yard stick standing vertically beside the object.
2. Estimate how many of those yardsticks it would take to fit in the 10 mils on a mil-dot reticle (the distance between the heavy black bar cross hairs in the mil dot scope.
3. That number is the number of hundred yards to the target.

The units don't matter as long as you use consistent units. Visuallizing a meter stick and getting the answer in hundreds of meters works just as well.

This picture points out the problem of using stadia rangefinders at all. I use a Leica 1200 laser rangefinder instead.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/deer size chart/apeldille/hjortstorlekar_frg-1.png

 

[Loner]

Range finders are great about 80% of the time up here. The weather shuts them down
the rest of the time. Rain, fog, cold and snow have all left me using my reticle at various
times.

 

[400bull]

Thanks for the information.

I understand that modern technology ie rangefinders are much more accurate then using the reticle on your rifle scope. Like it has already been pointed out, you cannot depend on them under all circumstances. I have had a battery or two fail on my when I least expected it. I have also had times where I could see the body of a an animal through the trees but every time I tried ranging it I would pick up the tress not the animal. I am now trying to improve my skills on judging distance with my reticle as a back alternative.

400bull

 

[sscoyote]

It will at least teach you more about the optic you're using. The mil-ranging formula itself is The formula that defines rangefinding and downrange zeroing with turrets or reticles. It is fun to play with no matter what multi-stadia reticle you're using.

 

[Greyfox]

I have used them, but mostly at 500 yards and under for white tail and mule deer. The difficulty is that a 2" difference in target size at 500 yards will result in a 50 yard error in range. An Alberta mule deer compared to the average in the lower 40 will produce that difference easily. Same when comparing Southern and Northern white tails. The main skill is to be able to judge the size of the animal. I found the top of the back to the bottom of the chest behind the foreleg works best if the game cooperates. Also, here is where high velocity does make a difference. I can have a 50 yard ranging error at 500 with my 270WSM at 3200 FPS and still be in the kill zone. I have to have accuracy within 25 yards at 500 for my 308 at 2700 FPS. When I get to a hunting area, the first thing I do is try to determine the chest size of the game in the area. I multiply that size times 27.8 and have the the range in yards for one mil. Example: 1 mil= 17" chest size x 27.8=473 yards. if the ranging gives me 1.5 mils, 315 is the distance. Once you have the 1 mil distance, it is easy to produce a simple range chart and tape it to the inside of your butler creek scope cover. All this being said, this is all a back- up if I can't get a reading off my Geovids.