Does Dialing Take Too Long?

[Billy Goat]

I guess I should give my answer, No.

I won't hardly take a unsupported shot anymore, I just can't be proficient with it. I use to feel like I had to shoot quickly, but realized if I don't have time to take a rest, I don't have time to shoot.


If I don't have time to range, dial if need be, get support, I just don't have time to take the shot.

 

[Wolf_trapper]

All those steps I just listed take only seconds total.

I'll shoot a deer if I KNOW it's under 200 yards without ranging.

Rarely, and I mean rarely do I not have time to range unless the animal is extremely close. That includes those crazy whitetails that are so spooky.

This year, 198 yards, buck chasing doe in circles. I had time to glass him enough to judge his size, range him, set the tripod at standing height for my dad, lock rifle into tripod, adjust his dial a couple tenths to be exact, and then get back in my binos to watch his shot. If the deer was running because we couldn't get there without spooking him, we would have passed the shot.

View attachment 491531

Are you going to tell me about a specific time where you couldn't shoot a deer because he walked away while you were dialing?

Nice buck.

A muley buck chasing does isn't exactly the hardest critter to kill. Defeats the purpose of asking the original question. 200yds isn't long range in my opinion either. I zero my rifles at 200. I don't adjust till 300 either hold or dial depending on time. To each their own.

 

[Hondo64d]

I like to zero at 100y and dial to my MPBR for the condition i hunt. That usually covers me to about 300-350 yards without needing to touch my dial.

Shooting anything further than that I want enough time to dial and get real steady.

This ^^^

John

 

[ChrisAU]

Yup, takes too long, added 2-3 steps unnecessarily, works fine for all range work, works fine for plenty of big game situations, maybe even most, but it will catch you out, you will meet Murphy when you really don't want to.

step 1. your pull out and use a rangefinder
step 2. you consult your data to see what to dial to
step 3. you dial

You can eliminate step 2 with a speed dial turret already set up in yards so just dial to the yardage.

Or...just up the rifle and shoot middle of kill zone. Hunt whitetails much? Not that coyotes count for this discussion but chase them around with a 100 yard zero for awhile and see how that goes, great practice for whitetails fyi. For the game that uses it's vision and distance to stay safe vs the game that is paranoid and flighty...one of these things is almost mandatory. Hunting...animals...not targets.

My RF gives me my correction. There is no step 2 for me.

To answer OP, nope.

 

[fwafwow]

No.

I think I know where Alone Guy is.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

My RF gives me my correction. There is no step 2 for me.

To answer OP, nope.

you eliminate the 2, or 3, steps for a lot of hunting situations with mpbr zero, ie; you only need to get the rangefinder out altogether once beyond that, so you're missing my point, and some of my whitetails as well

this rangefinder built into bino thing seems to keep coming up, I have both systems, lightweight binos plus light weight rangefinder which I ran most often and once past searching for game and actually in their world where I could run into them at any point the rifle was primary ready to go with mind on mpbr opps. and the little rangefinder usually at the ready either lanyard and chest pocket or regular hand pocket of jacket...so didn't matter inside mpbr if I had a rangefinder built into my bino (which I also have and use more now that I'm older and fatter and spend less time swinging from trees with my bow and chasing sheep)...so bringing a bino rangefinder or a rangefinder up to face was only when things were a lot closer to end of mpbr...and time permitted but bet your arse one was up the tube with safety on and rifle ready to go once actually in their world, I'm not as forgiving of stumbling on an opportunity and not being able to throw pack down, resting against a tree, and sending one right away when I know it's inside mpbr

 

[Stinky Coyote]

I guess I should give my answer, No.

I won't hardly take a unsupported shot anymore, I just can't be proficient with it. I use to feel like I had to shoot quickly, but realized if I don't have time to take a rest, I don't have time to shoot.


If I don't have time to range, dial if need be, get support, I just don't have time to take the shot.

I freehand very rarely also, but throwing pack down or getting on the sticks, a nearby tree, takes about as long as you'll have for lots of opportunities you'll have once you're in the realm of one up the tube and safety on. I'm not looking for binos or ranging much when I'm at that point in the game and in their world. Be as prepared as you're comfortable for but don't go saying those more prepared to take advantage of the situations where the majority of big game is killed are doing it wrong

I'm clearly not alone and far more people are doing mpbr zero than not in this world, there's a reason for it.

 

[Billy Goat]

I freehand very rarely also, but throwing pack down or getting on the sticks, a nearby tree, takes about as long as you'll have for lots of opportunities you'll have once you're in the realm of one up the tube and safety on. I'm not looking for binos or ranging much when I'm at that point in the game and in their world. Be as prepared as you're comfortable for but don't go saying those more prepared to take advantage of the situations where the majority of big game is killed are doing it wrong

I'm clearly not alone and far more people are doing mpbr zero than not in this world, there's a reason for it.

There's nothing that says they are mutually exclusive. I zero most my rifles at 100, I might carry them set to 225, but nothing says I don't dial past that. I carry them so I don't need to touch anything to usually past 300, however if it's past where it's set I will usually dial. I'm not going to try to use holds past 300, I'll dial.

I have also been tricked enough to not trust my initial thoughts on what 250 is, so I range about anything past 100.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

All those steps I just listed take only seconds total.

I'll shoot a deer if I KNOW it's under 200 yards without ranging.

Rarely, and I mean rarely do I not have time to range unless the animal is extremely close. That includes those crazy whitetails that are so spooky.

This year, 198 yards, buck chasing doe in circles. I had time to glass him enough to judge his size, range him, set the tripod at standing height for my dad, lock rifle into tripod, adjust his dial a couple tenths to be exact, and then get back in my binos to watch his shot. If the deer was running because we couldn't get there without spooking him, we would have passed the shot.

View attachment 491531

Are you going to tell me about a specific time where you couldn't shoot a deer because he walked away while you were dialing?

I thought you'd be taller. Kidding. Looks like you're aging just like me...like milk.

But yeah, mule deer, especially rutting bucks, are about as easy and forgiving as it gets. I've got a whole pile of them with a bow and understand them fluently, been photographing them since I was about 12 and understand them intimately. You act like you belong and don't care and you can dang near walk right into the herd, hard to explain but anyway. Whitetails don't walk away. Haven't noticed elk walk away much either. As soon as whitetails they pin you down the clock is ticking very fast, and I mean fast, usually you must spot them before you and just you getting over the pack or settled into sticks is all time you'll get, if they spot you first it's flags and goodbye immediately. They don't walk, you get a few seconds of them processing at best, think coyote, and you get the idea. A lot of whitetails are shot non-stationary, as often the only way to fill a tag.

Helluva deer, strong backs! 190? He'd fit right in with a bunch of mine.

You coulda walked him down another fifty and spudded him with an iron sighted 30-30. Joking, but I might be right lol.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

Seems if you ain't got time to capitalize, you ain't got time to dial.



Or maybe they are separate but similar issues.

this is the subjective variable we're wading through currently, you can prepare for things that happen much faster than muley's and sheep, they are separate issues, you can bump any of them anywhere, and there are guys so used to the mpbr game they would make me look slow, those prairie boys can shoot, pretty sure Weatherby was a prairie boy or he saw the hole in the market, if you couldn't pound them on the run from bumping them out of the coulee your freezer went empty, muley or whitetails, if you couldn't feel where to hold by how big they were in the scope while on the run then you went empty freezer, there are guys very deadly to 400 without use of a rangefinder and they are very fast, and yes the argument will come back now as what does this have to do with long range hunting, well it starts at short range lol, you should prepare just as intensely and equally for both since most of it happens in the first half anyway

 

[Billy Goat]

No.

I think I know where Alone Guy is.

He had issues with the shift key too I believe.....

Hmm.

 

[Billy Goat]

this is the subjective variable we're wading through currently, you can prepare for things that happen much faster than muley's and sheep, they are separate issues, you can bump any of them anywhere, and there are guys so used to the mpbr game they would make me look slow, those prairie boys can shoot, pretty sure Weatherby was a prairie boy or he saw the hole in the market, if you couldn't pound them on the run from bumping them out of the coulee your freezer went empty, muley or whitetails, if you couldn't feel where to hold by how big they were in the scope while on the run then you went empty freezer, there are guys very deadly to 400 without use of a rangefinder and they are very fast, and yes the argument will come back now as what does this have to do with long range hunting, well it starts at short range lol, you should prepare just as intensely and equally for both since most of it happens in the first half anyway

So it starts at 400, then you transfer that to running shots at what? 6? 7?

 

[Stinky Coyote]

There's nothing that says they are mutually exclusive. I zero most my rifles at 100, I might carry them set to 225, but nothing says I don't dial past that. I carry them so I don't need to touch anything to usually past 300, however if it's past where it's set I will usually dial. I'm not going to try to use holds past 300, I'll dial.

I have also been tricked enough to not trust my initial thoughts on what 250 is, so I range about anything past 100.

I range everything I can also, but ready to go when I can't, hold fur first shot always rule when there is no time to find out for sure.

 

[Billy Goat]

I range everything I can also, but ready to go when I can't, hold fur first shot always rule when there is no time to find out for sure.

So hold and hope?

Not my cup of tea.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

So it starts at 400, then you transfer that to running shots at what? 6? 7?

no, it's over as fast as it starts, but a lot of tags get filled every year in Alberta and Saskatchewan on deer moving at varying speeds within mpbr and just over fur holds without any time for ranging/dialling, seems hard to imagine on this forum but that's every season around here, the coulee folk don't fack around

 

[Stinky Coyote]

So hold and hope?

Not my cup of tea.

demand and availability sort of thing, and it's not wrong, anyone can choose whatever they want and comfort wherever they want, many will remove as many variables and steps necessary to capitalize on as many opportunities as possible, do any coyote hunting and you will be shooting very similarly, no time to fack around, always hold fur first shot, they look further than they are, same rules apply for deer, you learn that one right away

this is 'shooters' vs 'hunters' differences here, no offence intended, but killers are killers, they boil it down, they get fast, they've usually been at it for a lifetime

if you've never applied yourself to whitetails and coyotes then maybe that's why there's as much arguing here about this topic? to me it just seemed natural that whitetails would at minimum fall into the big game norms of understandings here...I dunno about you but wolves are where we live also and highly valuable, you're gonna need to be on your AAA game to capitalize on one of them, little easier than a coyote but 1000x rarer the opportunity to see one

 

[Billy Goat]

no, it's over as fast as it starts, but a lot of tags get filled every year in Alberta and Saskatchewan on deer moving at varying speeds within mpbr and just over fur holds without any time for ranging/dialling, seems hard to imagine on this forum but that's every season around here, the coulee folk don't fack around

I thought it was hold on fur, now it's just over fur.

 

[Billy Goat]

demand and availability sort of thing, and it's not wrong, anyone can choose whatever they want and comfort wherever they want, many will remove as many variables and steps necessary to capitalize on as many opportunities as possible, do any coyote hunting and you will be shooting very similarly, no time to fack around, always hold fur first shot, they look further than they are, same rules apply for deer, you learn that one right away

this is 'shooters' vs 'hunters' differences here, no offence intended, but killers are killers, they boil it down, they get fast, they've usually been at it for a lifetime

You might be making incorrect assumptions about me.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

I thought it was hold on fur, now it's just over fur.

lol, keep up, it's either or, guys better than me can tell by size they are in scope while they are leaving, and or, can work that bolt and move things up and forward a bit before they get really out of range

 

[ljalberta]

no, it's over as fast as it starts, but a lot of tags get filled every year in Alberta and Saskatchewan on deer moving at varying speeds within mpbr and just over fur holds without any time for ranging/dialling, seems hard to imagine on this forum but that's every season around here, the coulee folk don't fack around

Im so lost in this thread now.

That being said, the coulee deer in Alberta aren’t special or unique. Nor is the method of shooting at deer on the run because a hunter came charging in and blew them out.

I’ve also witnessed this many times, but it seems I’ve seen more misses or injured deer than successful hits using this “hold on fur or maybe above fur, or maybe just start letting shots ring out cause I’ll always find another deer if I miss” technique.

I do love hunting the southern coulees. Primarily in 102 and 108 myself, but I’ve never lost a deer or other game because I didn’t have time to dial.