How do you read wind down range?

[Silly_Ghillie]

Run down range, take a reading, run back and hope it hasnt changed. Perfect about 30% of the time.

Still more accurate than licking your finger and then squinting your eyes with your index in the air like your blaming the holy spirit for the missed shot your about to make.

 

[Canhunter35]

Since you asked for emphasis on elr, if I'm dialing more than 55 Moa I start to add multiples to my wind calls. Below 7mph winds I will multiply my best guess at linear wind call by 1.5 to compensate for higher altitude winds that the bullet will travel through, above 10mph I will multiply by 2.
On a side note besides trying to predict how the terrain is affecting wind, once your bullets is arcing enough it's often leaving ground wind, so as I travel I try to extroplate how the wind front is blowing in, sometimes it almost creates bulges or concaves causing slight angle changes on the wind against the bullet.
It gets to be a bit of a crap shoot and as yobuck said, a sighter tells the most information and allows to proper correction
The my 2cents to the conversation

 

[yobuck]

Since you asked for emphasis on elr, if I'm dialing more than 55 Moa I start to add multiples to my wind calls. Below 7mph winds I will multiply my best guess at linear wind call by 1.5 to compensate for higher altitude winds that the bullet will travel through, above 10mph I will multiply by 2.
On a side note besides trying to predict how the terrain is affecting wind, once your bullets is arcing enough it's often leaving ground wind, so as I travel I try to extroplate how the wind front is blowing in, sometimes it almost creates bulges or concaves causing slight angle changes on the wind against the bullet.
It gets to be a bit of a crap shoot and as yobuck said, a sighter tells the most information and allows to proper correction
The my 2cents to the conversation

This is exactly correct. There are so many possibilities it isn't possible to detect them at the more serious distances. Thermals would be an example. Watch those big birds glide along those wide valleys without ever flapping their wings to stay aloft. fact is they can gain altitude anytime they choose.

 

[J E Custom]

Run down range, take a reading, run back and hope it hasnt changed. Perfect about 30% of the time.

I have never been able to make this work while hunting The game won't let me check the wind and flag it. At the range this is fine, and works good if you make the shot and read the results. If conditions are not steady, you can spend the day chasing the bulls eye with your scope by adjusting every shot.

If a person cannot master reading the wind, he should limit the range to something that he can manage. NEVER take a shot that you don't think you can make. There are enough things that can effect even a confident shot without adding lack of skill to it. I always figured that it was the animals day if I turn down an iffy shot and wait for my day when conditions are within my abilities. Targets are forgiving, hunts are not.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM

 

[the hunter]

It's simple, by a creedmoor and forget about the wind.

I just had to.

 

[yobuck]

I have never been able to make this work while hunting The game won't let me check the wind and flag it. At the range this is fine, and works good if you make the shot and read the results. If conditions are not steady, you can spend the day chasing the bulls eye with your scope by adjusting every shot.

If a person cannot master reading the wind, he should limit the range to something that he can manage. NEVER take a shot that you don't think you can make. There are enough things that can effect even a confident shot without adding lack of skill to it. I always figured that it was the animals day if I turn down an iffy shot and wait for my day when conditions are within my abilities. Targets are forgiving, hunts are not.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM

Well thats a pretty safe position to take, and certainly not one which many could disagree with.
But the fact is that where distance is involved when shooting, the type of terrain can also make a world of difference regarding wind.
When hunting in steep mountainous terrain, shooting across wide valleys with perhaps a large stream below, and onto a hillside having large deep hollows which can create their own conditions, there are no experts. There will always be BSrs, but no true experts.
On top of that the hills are covered with large trees, mostly hardwood having large canopies of various size branches.
The ground will be covered with the leaves that only recently fell, covering the ones from last year and the years before that. Provided of coarse there is no snow covering everything.
So there will be no dust as has been mentioned, nor will there be any grass/weeds or small brush for the most part. Maybe a patch of mountain laurel here or there.
Of coarse there are always the tree top branches to observe which might say one thing here and something else over there and down there.
And speaking of branches, which never get mentioned in these type debates, what is the trajectory or "your" gun at say 900 yds?
Any chance that could also be an issue?
So as has been said, "in summation" we cant really address this subject as a one size fits all situations, or even all people as for opinions.
Hunting by its very nature isn't always pretty, regardless as to which way you go about it and how good you've gotten at doing it.
And if that creates a problem, then best stick with shooting at targets.

 

[J E Custom]

Well thats a pretty safe position to take, and certainly not one which many could disagree with.
But the fact is that where distance is involved when shooting, the type of terrain can also make a world of difference regarding wind.
When hunting in steep mountainous terrain, shooting across wide valleys with perhaps a large stream below, and onto a hillside having large deep hollows which can create their own conditions, there are no experts. There will always be BSrs, but no true experts.
On top of that the hills are covered with large trees, mostly hardwood having large canopies of various size branches.
The ground will be covered with the leaves that only recently fell, covering the ones from last year and the years before that. Provided of coarse there is no snow covering everything.
So there will be no dust as has been mentioned, nor will there be any grass/weeds or small brush for the most part. Maybe a patch of mountain laurel here or there.
Of coarse there are always the tree top branches to observe which might say one thing here and something else over there and down there.
And speaking of branches, which never get mentioned in these type debates, what is the trajectory or "your" gun at say 900 yds?
Any chance that could also be an issue?
So as has been said, "in summation" we cant really address this subject as a one size fits all situations, or even all people as for opinions.
Hunting by its very nature isn't always pretty, regardless as to which way you go about it and how good you've gotten at doing it.
And if that creates a problem, then best stick with shooting at targets.

+1
That's why I recommend using every tool available to you to read the wind, with the understanding of the effect each one has on your rifle/system. Then and only then take the shot if you feel confident.

When I shot long range matches I had no problem sending a bullet downrange at distances over 1000 yards because the target didn't feel pain if I missed the x ring. (Only Me) While hunting, sometimes I just don't feel comfortable with my abilities in the conditions at the time and have no problem passing a shot at less distance that I have been successful in the past. As you said there is NO one set of conditions that use the same rules to reading things that will have a major effect on bullet impact, so we have to adapt if we can, and if not simply know our limitations.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Canhunter35]

+1
That's why I recommend using every tool available to you to read the wind, with the understanding of the effect each one has on your rifle/system. Then and only then take the shot if you feel confident.

When I shot long range matches I had no problem sending a bullet downrange at distances over 1000 yards because the target didn't feel pain if I missed the x ring. (Only Me) While hunting, sometimes I just don't feel comfortable with my abilities in the conditions at the time and have no problem passing a shot at less distance that I have been successful in the past. As you said there is NO one set of conditions that use the same rules to reading things that will have a major effect on bullet impact, so we have to adapt if we can, and if not simply know our limitations.

J E CUSTOM

Yep, the fact that I know my limitations is why I can and do take shots at game at extended distances.
It's also why I had an 8twist 7mm made.

 

[Hugnot]

Look for wind bending grass/crops, fluttering leaves. At times I have knotted pink/red plastic surveyor tape on fences but try to remove it on the way out. Many times I can look out over a big expanse of prairie or crops and see stems & whatever bending in different directions. What the wind is doing some 3 feet in front of my face often is useless out there. I'm not a meteorologist but can appreciate the effects of interactions of masses of air having different temperatures. My self imposed limit for shooting deers and whatever is 400 yards, bullet TOF is a big factor. For rodents, any distance less than transonic is the limit.

 

[yobuck]

So what do experienced target shooters who compete at places like Camp Perry or Williamsport do?
They take sighter shots, thats what they do.
And so do experienced l/r hunters if they can get away with doing it.
A whitetail deer is very apt to stand in the same place while bullets hit very close.
So picking a sighter near by, isnt much of a risk.
But if those type things bother you, then its best to find different methods for killing them.

 

[Canhunter35]

So what do experienced target shooters who compete at places like Camp Perry or Williamsport do?
They take sighter shots, thats what they do.
And so do experienced l/r hunters if they can get away with doing it.
A whitetail deer is very apt to stand in the same place while bullets hit very close.
So picking a sighter near by, isnt much of a risk.
But if those type things bother you, then its best to find different methods for killing them.

When you're 500 plus, the shots echoes and while they certainly become alert, they'll likely give you another shot. I shot a cow elk at 590 last year, 18mph cross wind, I took a sighter into the hill side next to her, then shot her.

 

[yobuck]

Well there you go, the sighter shot is what allowed for a clean kill shot.
Not all animals will allow for that however, so you do have to know when you can and cant get away with that.
And be advised that its not always a (legal) thing to do either in some states.
But we are among friends here right? lol

 

[Canhunter35]

Well there you go, the sighter shot is what allowed for a clean kill shot.
Not all animals will allow for that however, so you do have to know when you can and cant get away with that.
And be advised that its not always a (legal) thing to do either in some states.
But we are among friends here right? lol

The only time it'll work on a coyote is they can't identify where the shot came from and run towards you. Lol

 

[yobuck]

The only time it'll work on a coyote is they can't identify where the shot came from and run towards you. Lol

Well thats no doubt a big reason that it works to begin with.
If youve ever been downrange from shots fired at distance, such as say pit detail at a match, you know that you cant discern where the shot originated. Its simply a noise like a small fire cracker going off near by.