Using a kestrel and long range shooting target vs hunting

[Tiny Tim]

Following! Wanting to get a Kestrel also and am dumb as a rock on setup!
Will get one as soon as get over my knee surgery. All get ready for questions me from as well.

Get it before your surgery so you can "play with it" during recovery. You can have it all set up and be ready to do the more complex things as you will already be familiar with the tools and navigation, as well as have all your profiles built. Best of luck with your knee surgery and may you heal quickly and fully!

 

[dfanonymous]

More context to what I was saying, without having to type a novel and still only scratching the surface.

I don't know who the kid is, but he's obviously been trained by somebody. Everything he saying is about how I'd explain the subjects if trying to keep it in layman's terms.

 

[ncwg2boatguy]

Kestrel has alot of setup tutorials and training videos. Check them out. Its an insanely valuable tool. But its only as good as the data you input and way you operate it.

 

[Gorill@]

So far i have been very happy with the gunwerks br2 "system" if you will for hunting. I usually try to get downwind and shoot pretty directly into the wind if it's more than 20 mph in western dakotas and Montana.

Now if I start utilizing the kestrel style system, I could get more on board with geovids paired or not. A slightly different "system". Maybe have both...

Being a pilot, I am trying to wrap my head around the kestrel. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong or if my unit is acting up. I calibrate compass and capture a live temp reading and lock it. Next do a direction of fire for 1 or multiple target azimuth. I'm not really confident that my unit is functioning properly. The direction reading seams to fluctuate so I have just mostly entered the direction manually as I know them at the 2 ranges I'm practicing at.

Then I try to capture a wind reading and it gives me a bearing reading rather than a heading which seems backwards to me. A northwest wind say facing 300 degrees kestrel reads 120 degrees. That seems backwards but whatever....but often it's actually returning some direction that is 20-30 degrees off. I can see being off 5-10 degrees, but I'm pointing down a fence line or road and I would think it should be much more consistent.

The guys Yesterday simply held unit up to wind and captured it, then just told unit that target was 4 o'clock from wind or captured direction of fire (right or wrong) and then said wind was at 4 o clock.

Bottom line is non of them took both direction of fire and wind heading and used both from kestrel.

I am trying to do both and apply a single wind input on multiple targets that varied 40 degrees of fire change and I'm struggling with it's outputs. It seems at times it's giving a wind that's 20-30 degrees off actual. Then when my direction of fire changes 40 degrees, it might be on for one target and off for the others. I need to go to the airport and confirm this reading down runways and taxiway to say for 100% sure.

Then last night I youtube several kestrel videos. Todd hodnett, litz, prs guys and looks like they all do it differently too.

So I'm reaching out to find out where to look for direction from the ground up on kestrel and say 1000yd plate competition "system"s. Separate from hunting mentality for now. Then I'll figure which system to go with and if/how I'll incorporate that into hunting or use hunting rigs in "competition" or keep completely separated.

And it just always is windy where I'm at. Whether it's Texas panhandle or western SD, I'm likely to be shooting 20+ mph winds as anything less. So I feel a little more speed or a little more bc will outweigh a little more recoil in .20-7mm cartidges. Primarily interested in .22-6mm benchrest at the moment.

Kestrel calibration takes awhile, say 30-60 sec. For course, compare the course to your iPhone. If it's within 3 degrees I think you're good.
Kestrel doesn't lie, unless the data is bad. If it has an accurate muzzle velocity, BC, and bullet weight, the data is correct. If it doesn't match zero at 100yds, your zero is off.
Wind call. I'm not an expert by any means but read the topography; here at Quantico range 4(1000yds) you shoot from a wind shielded lane. The targets sit on a long burm with a long tree line. Calm wind at the muzzzle, yet you may have 5-20 knots at the burm.
Hope this helps.

 

[cohunt]

Mirage, rain/snow angle can really help wind calls--- but time behind the trigger in the wind is really what helps

 

[Quicksilver338]

One of the best parts as mentioned is the 2 factor wind speeds. This is especially beneficial for hunting as I'll take the average and the high, or what I perceive the high to be as at times I can hear the wind coming down the canyon but can't feel the gusts or the wind from my position. I'll then take those 2 values and compare them, consider my room for error on if my wind call is wrong on the high side, and this ultimately decides my effective range and if I take the shot, work closer, or pull out.

 

[WYO300RUM]

Following! Wanting to get a Kestrel also and am dumb as a rock on setup!
Will get one as soon as get over my knee surgery. All get ready for questions me from as well.

Replacement or scoped ?

 

[GoosePilot]

Well I went to the airport today with the kestrel and tested taking direction of fire and wind readings and kestrel calibration.

What i learned was I was doing it wrong. I was taking a direction of fire first and then wind second. I was thinking the kestrel was capturing and displaying the direction of the wind like it captured and showed the direction of fire. I did not realize it's just capturing the degree off of direction of fire lol.

So I feel better now that it is functioning properly and I checked against my neighbors kestrel. I did learn though that it is extremely sensitive to being level and plumb in all axis. It needs to be PERFECTLY vertical front/back and left/right tilt. If either axis is off a few degrees, the results are off 5-10 degrees to 20 degrees easily. I used a post level to help measure for the tests.

 

[C.O. Shooter]

Panhandle Precision on YouTube has some great tutorials on the use of the Kestrel. He breaks it down pretty well!