Adjusting turrets for wind

[dbleyepatches]

Let me preface this question by saying that I am brand new to long range hunting/shooting. Figuring bullet drop seems fairly straight forward when I look at the various ballistic calculators but adjusting for wind has me puzzled.

How is this done? It seems that there can be an unlimited number of wind angles and then you have to adjust for the speed. Surely you guys are not trying to carry charts with you to the range with all of the different wind angles and speeds.

I am mainly going to start shooting prairie dogs at long range so a miss is no big deal, but eventually I would like to shoot deer, antelope and who knows what else at long range so I would like to figure out how you guys can figure all of the factors in and then hit where you want to on an antelope sized target at extended ranges on the first shot.

Sorry if this is a question that has been answered a million times but I tried looking for similar threads and wasn't able to find what I was looking for.

 

[NomadPilot]

Here's a start for ya:

Reading The Wind
Wind Doping Basics

 

[Kevin Cram]

You can buy all the fancy gadgets and widgets for measuring wind deflection but by going out and shooting your particular rifle in different conditions and seeing how your rifle reacts to those different conditions will teach you to be a proficient wind reader and marksman. I've used the wind meters but where I hunt there are valleys and draws to shoot over and/or across and several times you're shooting position is semi protected from the main wind so if I take a wind reading I'm not getting a true reading. Experience and practice, practice, practice is your #1 tool for doping the wind on long shots.

 

[dbleyepatches]

I have been doing some more research on this topic and I have a few more questions.

Do you use some computer (like the 5.11 HRT watch) to input data to give you an idea of the turret adjustment?

Wind angle seems to be the hardest thing to adjust for (this is from what I read anyways) Are there any good charts that tell how to adjust for wind angle?

Again, I am sorry for the elemantary questions, but I am just trying to get my brain around this type of shooting before I waste a ton of ammunition.

 

[johnnyk]

First off you're gonna have to take off at least one of those eye patches! but I think Kevin has the best answer and solution. A lot of valuable info/experience can be gained by target shooting in various wind/atmospheric conditions. It's always nice if you can spot your hits/misses and guesstimate the drift and compare that against your ballistic info, whether in card or PDA form. JohnnyK.

 

[bigngreen]

There is a couple Best of the West youtube bits that are good for doping the wind, I don't have the links at my finger tips though.
Wind dope is the key I think, most of my misses on targets and game is windage. I also found that if I make a bad wind call it is all ways under correct so on game I make sure to shoot them facing so if I miss the call I hit forward or of the front of the shoulder not in the guts.
Wind is the hardest part, IMHO.

 

[dbleyepatches]

First off you're gonna have to take off at least one of those eye patches! but I think Kevin has the best answer and solution. A lot of valuable info/experience can be gained by target shooting in various wind/atmospheric conditions. It's always nice if you can spot your hits/misses and guesstimate the drift and compare that against your ballistic info, whether in card or PDA form. JohnnyK.

Where is the best place to get the "card or PDA" information that you are talking about? I am so new to this that I am not sure what PDA form is. I assume a hand held calculator of sorts that balistic information can be put into.

I am willing/going to do the work at the range. I guess I just have no idea where to start with the wind angle/speed relationship. If the wind shifts from 9 o'clock to 11 o'clock, I would have no idea what adjustment to make.

Finally picked my new rifle up today, so the days of shooting are drawing near!

 

[cs1973]

Nothing beats experience in learning to read the wind and shooting your rifle in these conditions is a step you have to do to improve and confirm your ability. As Nomad has posted, get some info and read up on doping the wind. These manuals are a great way to understand the steps one must go through to get good values of wind to input into a program. The gun, Hand held palm pilots, iphone or itouch or a laptop with a ballistic calculator program are tools. wind meters and such are tools. we have to learn to use these tools together well. Wind meters give you conditions right at the shooter, not all the way down to the intended target. learning to read the wind downrange from you will be essential in getting "dialed in". 3/4 value winds, 1/2 value winds and full value winds all play into what you will actually dial in for. these are all covered in literature like what Nomad has offered. READ UP and learn about it and then go shoot your gun to confirm your ability and improve. We all improve by practicing and then practice some more. Its all fun!!! Eventually we learn what winds we are capable of reading well and can shoot succesfully in and which winds we can not.