It all came together last night. What next?

[SanPatHogger]

Last night my shooting buddy and I pushed out to 1,000 yards. Set up targets and shot at 450 to make sure we were still on from 2 weeks before. Pretty much have shot all prone as we moved out over the last few months. Last night we shot out of the bed of his truck because the grass on the field roads is so tall, that was pretty cool and a first for us. I shot about a 10-12 inch group and he shot an 8 at 1,000. It was pretty awesome.
We have been shooting at night, no mirage and no wind. About the calmest and best/easiest shooting conditions we could get.
We have a buddy who's been shooting a long time and was one of the early members on here, trying drag him out to come play and give us some schooling.
So whats next? Shooting in wind and mirage? Different positions? Unknown distances? Using the reticle to determine distance?
Definitly need to work on fundamentals and consistancy to tighten up my groups a little. Sometimes I can shoot 3 shots into one ragged hole at 100, then shoot a one inch group on the next target.

My first group at 1,000 caught the right edge of the cardboard. Adjusted .7 left and shot this group.

 

[Garvey]

Mirage is your friend, when the wind is less than 10 mph. Mirage is your friend when you have a head or tail wind. Because a head or tail wind will fishtail. It will rarely be directly to you or away from you. A 5 o'clock and 1 o'clock wind will have the mirage leaning left, but only slightly. But you have to hold right. As it switches, it will become a boil, and a no wind hold. Then when it goes to 11 o'clock or 7 o'clock it will lean the mirage to the right, telling you to hold left.

If the mirage is so thick, you can't see the target clearly, turn magnification down. There's the benefit of first focal plane.

Work on elevation holds. Sometimes speed is necessary, either in a match, or hunting. Elevation holds are handy when you need to be quick. I shoot lots of coyotes, and they don't give much time. I've hit several 200 to 500 yards using an elevation hold.

If you are not witnessing your own impacts, you need to tweak your form. You can be your own spotter.

A word of caution, on really windy days, the truck can sway believe it or not. So you will be shooting from a moving platform. All fine and good if you have your DOPE and your equipment is squared away. If that's the case, then it will teach you how to time your shots with the slight sway.