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Long Range Location Scouting

Rocketmandb

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Minuteman
  • Nov 2, 2018
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    Had a very long (and epic) day scouting new possible long range locations yesterday.

    First, my process for scouting:

    - First thing I do is to have a basic idea where shootable public land is (BLM, national forest).
    - Second, I go onto Google Maps, turn on the terrain feature, and start scanning (in map mode) for flat locations that are suitably remote, that have the potential to set up targets at long ranges, and have road access as well as access for target setup.
    - When I find a spot, I go to satellite view and see what the tree cover looks like, are there roads cut that may not be on the map, are there buildings or other indicators of people (e.g. campgrounds, etc.)
    - I validate that I will have safe shooting lanes (not over water, over roads, etc.)
    - When I find a candidate spot, I get the GPS coordinates.
    - When I find enough candidate spots in a given location, I plan a scouting trip.

    Okay, why do a scouting trip, when you can just load up your gear and go shooting?

    The short answer is that if you go on a trip with two purposes in mind, you do a half-ass job with each. On a scouting trip, I want to spend the maximum amount of time scouting for the best spots, not itching to find an okay spot then shoot at it. I learned this lesson when I found my current favorite shooting spot. We tried combining scouting and shooting, the hour was getting late, so we didn't go to all the marked spots. One we didn't go to, turned out to be my favorite, but it took a second scouting trip to validate it.

    Also, just because a spot looks good on the map, doesn't mean it will work in practice. Here are the things that make a good spot:

    - Access to the spot
    - Access to target locations
    - Usable shooting location - e.g. no ground cover, slightly elevated for target visibility, flat
    - No people

    For the trip I took yesterday, I had done a search on the eastern slopes of the Sierras near the Sonora Pass. I found a number of great candidates. The first thing I noticed as we came down through the pass was that there were A LOT of people - many more than I have seen there in the past. It turns out that national parks are limiting the number of people going in, so that means more people elsewhere. Never the less, we pushed on to the spots.

    Here is one of the first ones we went to:
    IMG_0834-1.jpg


    What was wrong here? Other than the roads, there was sage brush and this tobacco looking plant everywhere. Since you can't shoot from roads, this spot was out. As a matter of fact, EVERY OTHER spot was a bust. Gates to forest roads were closed, which eliminated most, but there were also issues with proximity to people and buildings. This is why you scout. So... see that big white mountain in the distance in pic? We said, "let's go find that."

    And we did. Along the way we scouted some amazing shooting spots.

    IMG_0844.jpg

    IMG_0841.jpg
     
    Hey Rocketman, I’m really blessed to live in Northern New Mexico, Taos to be exact. We are surrounded by many, many hundreds of square miles of public land, both BLM and Forest Service lands. I set up my private range about 20 miles west of Taos, and could shoot out to two miles if I chose. Right now I have target stands out about 700 yards, though my favorite location is in the Villa Vidal unit of Kit Carson NF. Magnificent country! Good luck with your search.
     
    Hey Rocketman, I’m really blessed to live in Northern New Mexico, Taos to be exact. We are surrounded by many, many hundreds of square miles of public land, both BLM and Forest Service lands. I set up my private range about 20 miles west of Taos, and could shoot out to two miles if I chose. Right now I have target stands out about 700 yards, though my favorite location is in the Villa Vidal unit of Kit Carson NF. Magnificent country! Good luck with your search.

    Thanks - and jealous about your location! I love the Taos area.

    The main reason for this trip was because I've got a favorite shooting location nearby, but I'm always worried about driving a long way, only to get skunked if there are people there, etc. - I want backups, so I wanted to find more locations nearby. There are some spots where I've shot in the high desert, but those are in the range of 5000-6000 foot altitude. This time of year, they get hot. This "white mountain" area is 8000-10000 feet, so it's much cooler, and there are a few spots with some trees and streams, which make for a better day.
     
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    Reactions: sinister
    can't wait to one day try this on my own .thanks for the post and pictures
     
    I live in NW AZ and have a great spot to shot 15 min drive from my house. We can shoot out passed 4000 yards. We did do some scouting last week and no luck as there were power lines or no shooting position. We also have to take into account morning sun.
     
    I live in NW AZ and have a great spot to shot 15 min drive from my house. We can shoot out passed 4000 yards. We did do some scouting last week and no luck as there were power lines or no shooting position. We also have to take into account morning sun.

    For me, it's usually the setting sun, as by the time I typically arrive, the sun is pretty high, and I push the limits on when to leave. I made the mistake once of waiting to fire my last string until the sun had dropped below the mountain behind our targets. It gets dark in a hurry, and even finding your bright white painted targets in the dark is difficult, much less breaking them down and getting them back to the Jeep.
     
    Had a very long (and epic) day scouting new possible long range locations yesterday.

    First, my process for scouting:

    - First thing I do is to have a basic idea where shootable public land is (BLM, national forest).
    - Second, I go onto Google Maps, turn on the terrain feature, and start scanning (in map mode) for flat locations that are suitably remote, that have the potential to set up targets at long ranges, and have road access as well as access for target setup.
    - When I find a spot, I go to satellite view and see what the tree cover looks like, are there roads cut that may not be on the map, are there buildings or other indicators of people (e.g. campgrounds, etc.)
    - I validate that I will have safe shooting lanes (not over water, over roads, etc.)
    - When I find a candidate spot, I get the GPS coordinates.
    - When I find enough candidate spots in a given location, I plan a scouting trip.

    Okay, why do a scouting trip, when you can just load up your gear and go shooting?

    The short answer is that if you go on a trip with two purposes in mind, you do a half-ass job with each. On a scouting trip, I want to spend the maximum amount of time scouting for the best spots, not itching to find an okay spot then shoot at it. I learned this lesson when I found my current favorite shooting spot. We tried combining scouting and shooting, the hour was getting late, so we didn't go to all the marked spots. One we didn't go to, turned out to be my favorite, but it took a second scouting trip to validate it.

    Also, just because a spot looks good on the map, doesn't mean it will work in practice. Here are the things that make a good spot:

    - Access to the spot
    - Access to target locations
    - Usable shooting location - e.g. no ground cover, slightly elevated for target visibility, flat
    - No people

    For the trip I took yesterday, I had done a search on the eastern slopes of the Sierras near the Sonora Pass. I found a number of great candidates. The first thing I noticed as we came down through the pass was that there were A LOT of people - many more than I have seen there in the past. It turns out that national parks are limiting the number of people going in, so that means more people elsewhere. Never the less, we pushed on to the spots.

    Here is one of the first ones we went to:
    View attachment 7389306

    What was wrong here? Other than the roads, there was sage brush and this tobacco looking plant everywhere. Since you can't shoot from roads, this spot was out. As a matter of fact, EVERY OTHER spot was a bust. Gates to forest roads were closed, which eliminated most, but there were also issues with proximity to people and buildings. This is why you scout. So... see that big white mountain in the distance in pic? We said, "let's go find that."

    And we did. Along the way we scouted some amazing shooting spots.

    View attachment 7389318
    View attachment 7389320

    Much like you, I pre-scout first. But there is a lot of info you need that is NOT provided by google earth. Not all BLM is ok to target shoot on. Some will have county ordinances that superseded BLM stuff. BLM also has some funky rules about not shooting over non-BLM or square hoping.

    The attached PDF was actually done about 7 years ago and was hastily put together for someone asking for help. If you click on the attached it should download automatically.
     

    Attachments

    • ELR Location Scouting & Target Setting Tips.pdf
      11.1 MB · Views: 44
    Last edited:
    If you don't overnight somewhere or camp in the trip, how many hours of driving distance do you normally use to search for those shooting spots?
     
    Not gonna find public land in Georgia to go shooting at like this... can't fire even a BB gun except during a hunting season. No target shooting ever. Sucks.
     
    If you don't overnight somewhere or camp in the trip, how many hours of driving distance do you normally use to search for those shooting spots?

    Most of my shooting trips to date (including scouting trips) have been long day drips. The scouting trip I started this thread with was a day... but a really long one. I left at 6:30 and got back at 1:00 am. I don't think I could do a 1-day shooting trip to this location as it's about three and a half hours to the start of the trail, then another 45 minutes (or more depending on location) 4-wheeling. I'll probably head to somewhere like Carson City and stay there overnight, then head out to this area early the next morning.
     
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    Reactions: thexman
    First, my process for scouting:

    - First thing I do is to have a basic idea where shootable public land is (BLM, national forest).

    I start there too. I have not found great online BLM map resources yet but I've used this:


    - Second, I go onto Google Maps, turn on the terrain feature, and start scanning (in map mode) for flat locations that are suitably remote, that have the potential to set up targets at long ranges, and have road access as well as access for target setup.

    Agreed. I also have digital topo maps of my home state (CO) so they make it a bit easier to tie it all together. I'm looking for easy access to a ridgetop or a bench-like feature on the side of a hill to shoot off of either into a valley or another feature than can provide a functional backstop. In Google maps 3-D mode, I turn the area of interest perpendicular to my computer monitor and make the angle very low to enhance the relief.

    Okay, why do a scouting trip, when you can just load up your gear and go shooting?

    I follow, but I'm certainly willing to take along a t-post and a small IPSC steel target for some up close handgun practice. If you've missed someone's house during the computer search and the drive-around part of the scouting, you may get a little visit. Voice of experience. It's good to get to know any locals that are within ear shot so they can learn that you're not some wacked out lunatic.
     
    That's what I use. Have you figured out how to copy lat/long off that map? It displays, but you can't copy for pasting into Google Maps, which is annoying.

    IIRC, in a different site that went defunct a few years ago, I could. Not sure why BLM switched to a clunkier map site. I just upgraded this PC to W10 and need to load my topo software, since it is an easy solution.