More than any other single factor, wind causes me to miss more shots than anything else.

In a separate thread Montdoug detailed using dental floss on a bipod to gauge wind on the fly. I use very thin strips I cut from surveying tape attached to my shooting stickps. I also set up wind flags on the four corners around my truck so they are clearly visible as I move around. I also to place one low enough in front of my bench that I can glance at it while my keeping my cheek on the stock.

What do people use to judge the wind? A Kestral or similar electronics? Mirage and heat boil? A Mark III wet index finger perhaps?

Curious minds want to learn.

Another question on beating the wind: do people click their scope or simply holdoff with wind?

I find I don't scope click for wind now as I did in years past. Where I shoot now is very gusty and found myself constantly chasing the dial. I mostly visually hold left or right two, three, four, however many squirrels off and adjust as needed. I always have a printed elevation and windage click chart taped to the bench in front of me. It is the elevation that I click for and rarely do I now even take the windage dial covers off other than at zeroing time.

Which way do you folks solve it?

Last question: What about Leupold Varminter and Mil-Dot Reticles for wind. Anybody use them? I am still back in Leupold Duplex land.

I have scopes with mil-dots and i use them for long range shooting,but i don't use them for wind.I guess where i live you get the hang of how fast it is blowing by shooting.Never really thought about useing them.Good Luck

I use a Kestrel some, but my main system is the old Speedtech Weather Watch that has a pop-up anemomoter for wind--pretty slick little gizmo really. I often take an educated guess from my previous experiences measuring it. Often wind is just a poor guess even with the best systems, but it will still help with 1st shot connections better than just guessing.

I usually use reticles for referencing wind calls in MOA--i.e. if the stadia point to stadia point subtension is say 4 MOA, and the wind call is say 3 MOA then it's 3/4 = .75 of that unit of subtension.

Thanks for your inputs.

I wish Premier was still doing the Leupold conversions as I would get them to do something custom for my longer range Loopies. I find it hard to both accurately judge the hold past 4 or 5 target widths on a plain duplex.

I had looked at Mildots before and the thick parts of the wires seemed to cover a bunch on the target area. I just had a look at their Custom Shop choices and they have a TMR (tactical milling reticle) that looks much thinner in both the thick and thin parts of the wires. I think I will have another look at them.

It think I might invest in a electronic anemometer as well. Up past 15 or say 20 mph of wind the flags start looking the same to me. It blows that hard routinely where I shoot.

I'll tell you how they do it in the steel target game.

Dial the elevation and hold off for wind. Dialing the elevation is simple if you know the velocity and other variables of your load. You can go to the JBM Ballistics website and calculate free drop tables.

To hold off accurately for the wind, you really need a good scope, one that has graduations on the horizontal stadia in either mils or MOA. When you print the data, it will calculate the hold off for the 10 mph wind.

Where the trouble begins is judging the speed of the wind. A wind meter works pretty good for the wind at your location and will give you some idea of what to do. Then it may be quartering in, out, full value...etc.

It seems that there's no substitute for experience. Wind is the toughest thing in long range shooting and judging what it's doing at the target and all points in between is an art.

I've been using the leupold varmint hunters reticle for pd hunting for a couple years. It has improved my first round hits significantly. With this reticle i don't find it necessary to adjust the scope at all while shooting. I wouldn't consider going back to a duplex reticle. I consider this one of the best purchases I've ever made. PS. i have two of them in 6.5-20x40, i don't see any need for the 50 mm model as pds aren't normally out in low light conditions anyway.

The wind is NOT my friend.
If it wasn't for the wind, and mirage, every benchrest shooter would be shooting 1 hole groups.
For me, the issue is not just wind direction, and wind speed at my shooting position, it's the total wind profile from me to the target (game animal). Lots of times, I have seen the wond blowing one direction at my shooting postion, and blowing the complete opposite direction somewhere between me and the target. The integrated wind prifile from shooter to taget is needed to make an educated decision on hold, and I am not able to do that. So, I make a hold decision based on experience, and that is not always right, unfortunately.
My oldest son shoots High Power Rifles competetively, and he is very good at it, especially shooting in the wind. His shots are far better than mine under similar conditions. BUT, he has a coach sitting beside him to tell him how many clicks to move the sight as the wind keeps changing. Sooo, what I need is a coach.. Preferably about 30 years old, long hair, and of the female variety...

Don

I took a very low tech approach to the wind issue for a varmint trip this week. I attached a 24" piece of the same surveyor tape that I use as windflags to the antenna of my truck. I then drove said truck at a steady rate of 5 mph, 10 mph, 15 mph, and 20 mph while observing the flapping tape. I did this on an straight and very empty road in the middle of nowhere so I didn't annoy other drivers or cause an accident. It worked well enough for me to recognize the difference while shooting this week. The wind was gusting well over my 20 mph results one day this week so I know that it does indeed get windy where I shoot. It isn't just my imagination giving me excuses to miss. I will buy a electronic anemometer I just didn't have time before the trip. I think with the Leica range finder I have, and an electronic wind tool I will be getting I will be in good shape.

Let me say that 20+ mph wind blows a .223 Rem very, very far sideways out past 200 yards. My 17 HMR was just silly at 100 yards in the same conditions though I was surprised to be hitting at 50 yards with my .22LR Subsonics. I think gauging the right amount of holdoff in reference to the target size is the key for me. The difference between a duplex width and a duplex and a half is much harder to gauge than just half a duplex width or a full duplex. Some sort of Mil-Dot will be in my future simply for the graduated windage marks. I will continue to click for elevation as that works well for me.

I learned something and I feel I am on the right track. Thanks folks!

The wind is a problem on your first shot. After that, the wind variability is your problem.

I was shooting at 3-liter soda bottles at 700 yards with a couple of good friends this last weekend (when you can't go to prairie dog country, the store-brand of "Orange Burst" diet soda is the next best thing ) The wind was at about 45 degrees and running between 5 and 10 mph, but the wind variability over the 700 yards (from one hillside to the other, with the intervening real estate being as much as 50 feet lower) was making each shot we called somewhat irrelavent to the next. Our hold-off would be approximately 30 inches, but the wind drift would change a foot or more between shots -- and these were no worse than half-moa 6mm AI guns we were shooting with 70 grain Ballistic Tips. The gratifying thing is that while horizontal dispersion was challenging, we never had to adjust our vertical hold -- it was well within minute-of-pop-bottle on each shot.

I don't think that any anemometer, whether a simple flag or a sophisticated wind speed instrument, does you much good if it only tells you how the wind is blowing in one place. That's why the long-range matches have wind flags placed periodically down range.

However, as others have said, dialing for distance and holding for windage is the right combination. This is particularly true for field conditions shooting colony varmints since your direction of fire may vary as much as the wind. If you swivel to shoot at a target 45 degrees away from what you've "dialed" in, how do you attempt to adjust? The answer is to leave your crosshair on zero windage and hold where your instinct and experience tells you to. That's one thing that makes varminting sport.

Years ago I bought a good rangefinder.....that solved the distance problem. Then I bought a Skywatch Elite windmeter. But, as everyone has said, the windmeter only gives me basic information at only ONE position. We all know that, at the moment the trigger is pulled, we are having to overcome an "average" wind condition from the muzzle to the target.

As others, I have always clicked vertical for distance, and kept a ballistic log for each rifle/load combination. As for windage, I have also clicked......as I have found that my scope can make windage adjustments more accurately than I can hold off....say 2.0 or 2.5 "PD's".

Recently I've bought a couple of Leo's with the Varmint Hunter Reticle. Since I've never used scopes with specialized reticles......they seem to be a bit "busy" for me. I'm pretty sure it's due to my lack of experience with them. Maybe practice will make perfect....yeah...sure.

Friend Of The 17....and 20
Kevin

A pic of my PD set-up.


My newer rangefinder.

In the field on rodents I usually have my bench in the back of the truck or I'm shooting from it or across the hood. I have a Kestrel and I tie dental floss to the antenna. Combining those, Geovids and more years doing this than I wish there were I put it all together in my mental computer, make my best guess and "fire for effect".
As to Premier Reticle not doing the scopes you'd like maybe you can call these guys

T. K. Lee

They set up load specific dots for a .20 Tactical for me in a 6X20 Weaver Grand Slam and it's a dandy! I was very pleased with the service and final outcome.

My God--that's the 1st pic of a Leica Vector I've ever seen--man Kevin u gots to be rich!!

Kevin,

Good posting!
I like your PD set-up.

Don

Thanks guys.

The Leica Vertor's cost is a bit easier to swallow IF.......I think of it as a "lifetime investment". Anyway, that's the best excuse I can come up with.....and I'll stick to it.

As for the PD set-up.....it's been revised and fine-tuned over the years. It may not rotate.....BUT I don't call it "The Rock" for nothing.

Kevin

Kevin,

I bought this portable bench about 9-10 years ago from Royal Stukey when he was in Montana.
It doesn't move around on you, just like yours doesn't move!



Don Buckbee