Old-Win wrote on Nov 1^st, 2012 at 12:34pm:



Well, Bob ,

Here's my call:  If we're shooting our usual .45's:  Go 9 points rt, and down a short 2.  If we're shooting the .38's:  Go 7 rt and down a short 2.  

I'd also be scanning the mirage, the grass, and the dust to make sure that the target and intermediate wind is the same as the shooters wind.  If the mirage is running the opposite way, I'd cut the call in half and hope we stayed on the target so I can make a better call the next shot.  If the mirage is boiling, I'd hold for a few seconds until it runs one way or the other.  If the boil persists, I'd cut the windage call in half and not go down the 2, as the head wind at the target will slow the bullet and drop it down at least as much as the spin lift kites it up.


Added an addendum:  The mirage call will also depend on how bright the day is.  If I'm in a boil on a bright day, might have to drop a point or 2 for the target image being raised up higher.  It will be blurring and bouncing anyway, so hard to really judge the sighting error.

Point being, it's hard to discern all the factors, and one may negate the other.  If you don't observe and note them all, your experience may be the opposite of what the physics predict, and you may not easily learn from the observation.

dave

Bob,

We shot in that wind, had a non-windage front on the Browning loaner that my brother in law shot, and I was having him hold 3 to 4 targets off the edge, plus had the 24 minutes in that the soule rear allows.  Now, all my rifles have windage fronts.  The dust this year was more challenging than the wind.  Some shots, my wife couldn't see the target at all, but had to aim in the general vicinity.  Amazingly enough, many of those ended up being hits.

The buffalo is particularly challenging to spot because of the high mid-course elevation of the bullet trajectory over the draw.  The bullets often go different than both the shooter and target wind would indicate. 

Another good place to learn wind is Alliance NE.  I've seen 3 wind flags all different, and the mirage different than that, and the dust different again.  It's a good local advantage range for the regulars, because you use different indiators for different targets.  You'll underestimate the wind, particularly a head wind at the 1000 yard at the east side of the range, and overestimate it on the short range stuff on the west side.  Mirage and flags on the east side, and dust at the target line on the west is what I read there.

dave