Re: Where to read the mirage?
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Sterling Shooter</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jwoolf</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Greg Langelius *</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Conditions change, and IMHO, they nearly always change before you can to anything useful of a computational nature.
Shooting the wind isn't a wind meter/slipstick operation. It's a visible indicators/gut hunch process. Ask the greats, they'll tell you much the same.
Greg </div></div>
+1
For me, it's also looking for that "return" condition. ( the prevalent condition ) Figure that out and look for that condition... make allowances for conditions that vary from that also ( as needed ) and don't shoot when things vary wildly from that ( like reversed flags or the mirage and flags pointing in opposite directions )
IMHO, it's shot to shot changes, it's done totally done by feel and experience, it's a perishable skill and, it's mostly developed by doing it with careful attention to the slightest details.</div></div>
I cannot argue with your statements, wind must be countered to assure a good hit. All agree on that. It's always about how much adjustment is required to get the job done. There are many views on this, and while some could be helpful when certain conditions are met, others aired here are useless, having no basis in fact. There is however a post earlier from Sinister which is where the science is today. I'd suggest to any here who really want to succeed shooting in conditions other than ideal to go back and read his post. He said all there is to say about it. </div></div>
I used to shoot the match course as you still do but, today my thing is to shoot the 1000yd line as much as possible and that is where the small details get multiplied. That is not to say that they don't matter at the 600yd line either.
For example, I dope the mirage, as others here do but, we have flags on the 500 and 300yd lines too. I find that when I do best is watch the wind at the line, watch the mirage and when that looks correct, check the flags, if the flags have changed I add or subtract hold from shot to shot based on all 4 indicators but, it changes so fast that to say it's science is probably true but, it's an aquired "feel" too.
It's funny though how you can see the mirage at one distance reverse from the direction of the wind flags or, you get a gust of wind while the bullet is making it's 1.4 second trip to the target.
I've recently had a friend coming out to shoot with me. He's a good shot but, he's new with wind and, like I said, I'm almost exclusively shooting the 1000yd line. He's been really frustrated but, the last few times, he's picked up doping the conditions quite a bit by watching and spotting for me. I'll tell him what I'm holding while he watches the conditions and, he's picked up a LOT over the last three sessions. I explained to him how the mirage can change where you see the target at... coached him on how you never leave a round chambered in a hot chamber and let him know how all of this affects the bullet's impact at the 1000yd line.
He's coming along quite well now.
Hey, I'm not saying that I'm the end all or best at calling the wind. I just do my best with dealing with what I see from shot to shot and, every shot is a new unique condition. To know where the bullet impacts is to know what the new condition is or relates to all the other shots before it and what it did in previous sessions before this one.
To say that most can see a prevalent condition of 12mph wind blowing at 2 o'clock but, you see your 300yd flag going straight away at 12 o'clock and your 500yd flag with a 6mph wind at something between 1 o'clock and 2 o'clock and the mirage is a steady, what looks like about a 4mph mirage.... you have to do a quick computation in your head and take an educated guess and squeeze. The experience of knowing where that shot goes will teach you something, IMHO. And, IMHO, it will teach you more than fiddling with a ballistic calculator.
Not to say they don't have any worth but, if you're putting all your eggs into trying to fiddle with one, you may just miss the details or the new condition. The conditions change so fast, I see no worth in using a calculator after the first round is down range. I've seen too many new guys fiddle with one of those things and then make no corrections after they get their first shot down range. LOL ( they also cuss a lot all while missing the important changes/ new conditions ) If they're only using one indicator, they may have missed the change in the flags or never taken them into account, they're going to miss.
