Does Dialing Take Too Long?

[PredatorSlayer]

Nope, never cost me an animal. I always zero at 100, but sometimes if I am in an area that will require a quick shot I will dial to my MPBR with an 8” target and just leave it there. If it is further than MPBR, its easy enough to dial.

 

[Dioni A]

I'm very firmly of the opinion that if you don't have enough time to dial you're probably not hunting right. Close to half of the animals I've shot in the last 5 years were asleep in their bed.

Edit to also actually answer the question.
No.

 

[Wolf_trapper]

I'm very firmly of the opinion that if you don't have enough time to dial you're probably not hunting right. Close to half of the animals I've shot in the last 5 years were asleep in their bed.

You obviously haven't called coyotes or wolves. A quick hold over out to 300-400 is something that will cost you if you can't do it.

 

[Justin Crossley]

You obviously haven't called coyotes or wolves. A quick hold over out to 300-400 is something that will cost you if you can't do it.

My question was about big game hunting. Not calling coyotes or wolves.

 

[Dioni A]

You obviously haven't called coyotes or wolves. A quick hold over out to 300-400 is something that will cost you if you can't do it.

That's a really good point. He did say big game animals though. To me that means dear elk etc.

 

[Justin Crossley]

Three pages and only a few of the posts answered the question. Crazy.

Edit to add:

I'm interested in specific examples of a time you could have ranged an animal, got a solid position, and killed a big game animal but you ended up missing out on the shot because of dialing your scope.

 

[35WhelenAI]

Haha, love it, we all get hair brained ideas and try new things. Human nature, we tend to forget why we do things a certain way in the first place and get bored and decide we need a challenge in life and it's exciting to open up a can of worms every now and again. We usually get to meet Murphy very shortly after. It might not be the first season but you're gonna meet him and he's going to look at you, then down at your scope, then back at you again.

Well, like many who zero at 100 but still hunt at mpbr zero...maybe keep that in mind, Murphy would approve of that formula.

I believe you are saying zeroing at 100 yds then dialing up to MPBR zero of, let's say, 3" high at 100 yds is inviting Murphy? Definitely a variable that is introduced vs sighting 3" high at 100 yds and leaving it alone.

Zeroing at 100 and dialing up for what I know the trajectory to be from years of experience and shooting my go-to hunting load was kinda cool, not gonna lie.

In the spirit and doing justice to the thread, dialing hasn't cost an opportunity as I have done it for one season and was 3/3 on the deer in the freezer.

 

[Reburn]

@Justin Crossley

You should just add a poll to the thread.... at this rate it's going to be a pain in the ass to weed through the extra commentary.

There is an ignore button for that reason. Works great for some members.

To answer the question.
No I havent missed an oppurtunity because I didnt have enough time to dial. Ive missed for other reasons like having my head in my butt though.

 

[Wolf_trapper]

My question was about big game hunting. Not calling coyotes or wolves.

Ok I don't know if bears count as big game but they tend to move a lot. I've seen guys miss a chip 300yd shot because they were too busy trying to dial when they should have just held 2moa or whatever and shot. It's a good skill to know that you have.

 

[Wolf_trapper]

If you're good at killing coyotes any ungulate is easy as far as the shot goes. But you can hang up on how hard it is to kill a deer if you want.

 

[WeiserBucks]

If you're good at killing coyotes any ungulate is easy as far as the shot goes. But you can hang up on how hard it is to kill a deer if you want.

Seeing how this is in the LR forum, I'd venture to say that most coyotes are shot much closer than what we consider LR for deer. I've shot deer more than three times as far as I've ever shot a coyote and had plenty of time to dial and judge wind.

When I go with good coyote hunters the shots are inside of 50 yards 99% of the time.

 

[prm]

Do I think dialing takes too long, no. Can a little time be removed by having yardage on dial or using range finder with ballistic solution, I suppose so. If willing to accept a coarser solution MBPR might speed things up, as would just a holdover. Proficiency at whatever method you choose would probably be the quickest.

 

[Reburn]

Seeing how this is in the LR forum, I'd venture to say that most coyotes are shot much closer than what we consider LR for deer. I've shot deer more than three times as far as I've ever shot a coyote and had plenty of time to dial and judge wind.

When I go with good coyote hunters the shots are inside of 50 yards 99% of the time.

Never mind you can literally call them into your lap. Hell I use a shotgun for coyotes more then a rifle. Makes it more sporting. Snap shots at 300. Give me a break.

 

[WeiserBucks]

Never mind you can literally call them into your lap. Hell I use a shotgun for coyotes more then a rifle. Makes it more sporting. Snap shots at 300. Give me a break.

That was my point.

 

[jimh406]

I'm very firmly of the opinion that if you don't have enough time to dial you're probably not hunting right.

I’m not sure what “right” means, but I suspect it means hunts like you in terrain and cover like you and species like you.

 

[Dioni A]

I’m not sure what “right” means, but I suspect it means hunts like you in terrain and cover like you and species like you.

Using techniques to find the animal without it knowing your there allowing a well prepared shot. The how changes from place to place but typically requires walking less and looking more.

 

[Macintosh]

No.
I am not a “long range hunter”, I am a whitetail hunter who is used to walked-up (tracking and still hunting) shots involving short, fast situations often at a moving animal, or a brief look as it stops to look back and see what spooked it. Virtually everyone I know uses a mpbr zero, and I did as well for several decades. I never saw a hunting rifle wearing a scope with an exposed turret, or a reticle with holds, for the first 30 years of my hunting. As I have hunted more in the west where the opportunity to take longer shots is more of a reality, and as I have been shooting casual prs matches over the past few years, I have used both dialing and holdovers where appropriate for longer range shots. I now use a 100 yard zero hunting, I will typically use a reticle holdover between about 150 yds and 250 yards (very simple and memorized), and dial for anything longer or where I have more time. I dont have a lot of longer range shots at game under my belt, about a dozen animals taken either by me or a partner I was spotting for that were at a range past where the 100-yard zero was still on vitals. None were long—Im talking about shots within or almost within a mpbr zero—but thats also the range where time is more likely to be a factor. Of that dozen, the shortest was a ranged 167 yards, the longest about 380, with most around 200-220. Of those I have been involved in there were NO shots where we didnt have plenty of time to spare, including for dialing. I can think of 1, maybe two situations where we did not get a shot where it’s POSSIBLE—not likely, but possible—that we could have gotten a shot off had we not taken time to dial. All of the other missed opportunities were fast enough that I dont think I could have gotten an ethical shot off regardless of what I was using, short of maybe a shotgun with buckshot (which would have been hopelessly out of range, but you get the idea).
My mpbr only gets me to 275 yards or so, and due to the built-in error combined with my own error from a fast field position I dont feel its the fastest or best way for me to take those mid-range shots. I have not clocked it, but after practicing both dialing and holdovers for several years, and using all holdovers for my hunting practice this past year, I think the time difference between dialing versus a reticle hold is negligible for me once Im past about 300 yards and need to be between hashmarks, counting hashmarks, etc.
So no, based on my experience I do not think dialing takes too long for the situations where I would use it.
Also, all of the above are on deer sized game, not elk.

Now, squirrels are a different story. Those suckers are definitely too jumpy for dialing.

 

[Wrench]

Have you ever missed the chance to shoot a big game animal due to taking the time to dial your scope? I'm asking this because I tend to dial corrections even on shorter shots like 200 or 250 yards out of habit. I can't think of a single time it has cost me a shot.

Has your experience been different?

As a kid, I never heard of dialing and every gun I had was setup using the PBR. I could typically expect a +2-3" high at the peak and -3-4" the valley....which is typically 300ish yds.

Now, I feed the rifle .5mils-ish and that keeps me in the hunt to roughly the above ranges....and not shooting over the 150 yard pokes.....and begins to be difficult to guess range.

If I don't have time to spin beyond that....I got out witted.

Worth mentioning, I don't dial for wind on game. If it's more than I can hold.....that's a hall pass. I get more misses to wind than drop once it's beyond 1-1.5 mils.

 

[willfrye027]

No, dialing does not take too long.

I am using a Leica that will give me the range and then hold over in mils.

I walk around with my scope zerod but set at 0.5 mils to give me a good MPBR.

I know my holdover for 300 yards and can use the reticle for that, will bracket vitals if range is somewhat uncertain.

If there is any question as to the range, I have time to range the animal and dial, otherwise it’s not a good shot opportunity.

 

[BjornF16]

No…while I zero at 100 yards, I will often dial up for either 200 yards or MPBR depending on circumstances in case I’m rushed.