What do you use to “read” the wind

[Barry Holcomb]

It’s cold and the days are short so I’m sure we’ve all had plenty of time to think about what we will implement/take away from our shooting setups this next year. With that being said, I really enjoyed visiting last month and one thing I noticed was the absence of spotting scopes on the line. I do travel quite a bit to shoot and it seems like most of the places I go they are a necessity amongst ftr and open shooters and they’ve always been used by prone shooters. With that being said, how does everyone else read the wind? Chase the spotter? Flags? Use the scope on your rifle? Is using a spotting scope something you’ve tried? Just curious as to what everyone else does, it seemed to me the mirage I saw through my spotting scope was very consistent with my holds and what it was doing to the bullet on target excluding vertical.

[brett collins]

BERRY sorry that I missed y’all at the last match. since it was a 1000yard match at what distance did you have your spotting scope set up for? I have one but the only time I get to use it is when I go to the CMP Talladega Range. and even then I just have to pick a spot and go with it. This is some thing that I would be very interested in picking up on.

[Richard Slaton]

Shooting a light and slow bullet I probably have trouble with wind than anybody and probably the worst wind reader in the bunch

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[tyler]

Work backwards from the target looking at different mirages during sighters for me. Figure out which one is telling the best story. Sometimes you can find a flag that shows something else and wait until they show the same thing.

Or, use the guy next to me if I know what cartridge he’s shooting 🤣

[Richard Slaton]

Barry I fully agree with what you said and that what I normally do but because after every shot I have gather my gun up and get it point it back towards the target I can’t rip them off in the same conditions. I’s also that my almost 70 year brain can’t process a lot data I have to focus on what I think is important at the time. But there again I’m only there to enjoy the day with friends and hopefully put a smile on a few faces as long as I can that and meet mr. Wynne’s “ what’s expected” and shoot about avg. I’m happy. the got to win to have fun left me years ago and you can tell that by what I bring to the line each month. Don’t get me wrong people are there to win and I try to always congratulate them and alway try to do my best but I never leave with my bottom lip run out because I didn’t
And yes I’m glad your sharing your wind reading tip thank for that I just hope with this post you don’t knock me out of being Mr. Wynne’s favorite lol. Over the 4 or 5 years I’ve shot at RB I’ve seen a lot of regulars take their game to the next level and I seen mine take a step backwards over the last two years. But that has not taken the fun out. Sorry I kinda got off subject and I didn’t get my daughter that I call the grammar nazi to proof read before I posted maybe you can understand what I tried to type. I look forward to see all my friend next shooting season
Richard

[Wynne Echols]

Thanks fellows, for this outstanding topic. Not sure why none of the Reese Bottom regulars do not use a spotting scope but if they are like me they would not know how to benefit from using the thing. I actually have a Leupold spotting scope and a Creedmore stand that I have tried to use before. I have a March rifle scope that has better glass so I started taking it out of focus and just trying to go with that. Tell me if I am doing something wrong but I adjust the parallax and then up the power until things blur. I hope that allows us to see the same thing. I will always peep at the 500 yard flag as I go into the scope. My trouble is gauging what I am seeing. Intensity? At the match last weekend, I dialed in zero windage and shooting the dasher with 105’s my hold on the last two targets was consistently around the 8 at 3 o’clock. I went back into the Shotmarker archive and of the 19 points that I dropped, only 5 were outside of the 10 ring windage. The other 14 were high and mostly low. I was afraid going in that neck tension might cause me some problems, but as always I waited until the last minute to do things.

I was wondering reading this if looking at the mirage through the spotting scope allows you to adjust the rifle scope to allow a clearer shot picture? Barry, I noticed that you had the mirage filter on the end of your rifle scope, not sure about Tyler. Also noticed that both of you seemed to have a long eye piece on the spotting scope that surely frees up some space. My dasher was built I guess as a benchrest rifle and is a left load, drop port. Along with a fake left shoulder, not real sure how well a crowded left side will work. Hopefully Santa will bring me the desire to give this a try before next shooting system. Thanks everyone for your support of Reese Bottom and please keep the topic going. I’m sure others have comments and questions. Merry Christmas everybody, WWE

[tyler]

I used to knock my parallax out so I could see the mirage and then refocus on the target right before shooting… I found out that a lot of times, it would induce a bunch of vertical due to not being exactly back where it was, more evident on soupy days when the target isn’t as clear anyway.

Got a spotter and couldn’t imagine going back. I’ll end up trying one of the gearbuggy ones eventually. I’ve got one of the creedmoor sports ones with the polecats and it is fantastic.

And yes, I run the mirage reducer in all of my scopes. It really helps me out a ton. AndI never turn my power down, no matter the mirage. I’ve sort of gotten used to it and it helps on the calm boiling days.

[tyler]

Double post

• This reply was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by tyler.

[Ron Williams]

Spotting scope will be part of my kit next year.

[Ron Williams]

What stands are ya’ll using for your spotting scopes?

[tyler]

Rodzilla MirageRX- the old one with the panning head. Also have a creedmoor with a pole cat and it is fantastic, as well.

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