HillCountryMan
FNG
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2025
- Messages
- 4
I'm an archery hunter who's finally dipping his toes into long range rifle hunting. I've owned a 7mm Magnum for close to two decades and have killed several animals with it, but I've always treated my rifle hunts similar to how I treat my archery hunts, and therefore have never had to take a shot beyond 100 yards.
That said, I've been putting in for some rifle hunts out in vast areas where I realize the day may come where I might need to make a shot much further than that, and as such I'm wanting to spend this next year getting dialed in.
Right now I have a 2008 era Remington 700 7mm Mag that I just put a new scope and Timney Elite Hunter Single Stage trigger on. For the scope, I went with a Swarovski Z5i 2.4-12x50 (4W-I reticle) with a ballistic turret. To pair with this scope, I picked up a pair of Swarovski EL Range TA 10x42 binos. My plan is to dial my rifle in with a 200 yard zero using Nosler Trophy Grade 7mm Rem Mag 168 Grain AccuBond Long Range ammo. I grabbed the new Garmin Xero C2 Chronograph and plan to get chronograph the Noslers to give me more accurate ballistics. From there, I want to input that info into the Swaro app, setup a rifle profile with the data, and then test the ballistics with my gun at a range up to 600 yards to make sure it's true.
Once I feel good about that, my plan was to have Swarovski make a custom turret cap for me for this scope/rifle/ammo setup. This way I can range a target (or animal), get a linear yardage, a ballistic solution in yardage, and then be able to dial my new scope to that solution using the custom turret cap.
My goal is to be as accurate as possible up to 600 yards (700 if my scope has enough room to dial it that far, which I think it might), and then spend the summer putting a lot of rounds down range with this setup to make sure I'm really confident with it. I already was hitting 500 yards with my previous scope (older Zeiss MC 3-9x40 with Rapid-Z reticle), so I'm confident that I can stretch out to the 600-700 range with a dialing setup and a more sophisticated ballistic solver than what I was using previously (I was using ChatGPT to help me create a dope card for my old setup haha).
My question is about Kestrels for wind. I'm still new to most of this as I'm someone who typically hunts with a bow all season, and usually do that on the ground from brush blinds, so most of my hunts are typically up close and personal. As such, learning to shoot at distance is still all new to me. That said, I've been doing as much homework on this as possible, and the one thing I feel like I've yet to figure out is the best way to adjust for wind.
I understand that range time is the number one way I'll grow in this area, and as such I plan to dedicate a lot of time during the summer learning how to read and judge for wind. But, I also want to have the ability to utilize the 4W-I reticle's windage hold marks by reading wind with a Kestrel and figuring out where to hold based on what the Kestrel tells me. I do realize that my scope is a second focal plane scope and that I'll have to figure out the MOA values of the hashes at various magnifications. But, I plan to figure that info out and then create a dope card that I can reference for that.
I don't want to use the Kestrel for dialing elevation on my scope. That's what I have the Swaro binos for, and in most cases when the wind is calm, I plan to just use the binos and nothing else. But, when the wind is up a little, I wanted to have a Kestrel that could help me compensate for that. What I'm trying to figure out though is which one to get. I've read up on the differences between the models, but wanted to ask the question here to people who have used them and who might could point me in the right direction. The hope is to let the Kestrel know the range I get from the binoculars, then take a wind reading and get a solution on how much MOA to hold from there.
I'd love some advice on what Kestrel to grab. I also would love to have thoughts on my approach to all of this. I understand it's a complicated subject and that wind where I'm standing isn't necessarily the wind where I'm shooting, but I want to learn how to be as competent as I can with what I have to work with.
Next year I plan to build out a Seekins Havak Pro Hunter PH3 in a 7mm PRC with a 22" barrel, a suppressor, and a Swarovski Z5i+ 3.5-18x50 (4W-I reticle) scope. I want to make that my 1,000 yard gun (hunting at 600 and down, 1,000 only for steel) and plan to use the Kestrel for that setup as well when the time comes. For now though I simply want to push my current 7mm Mag to the 600-700 yard mark and am working to make that happen. Thanks!
That said, I've been putting in for some rifle hunts out in vast areas where I realize the day may come where I might need to make a shot much further than that, and as such I'm wanting to spend this next year getting dialed in.
Right now I have a 2008 era Remington 700 7mm Mag that I just put a new scope and Timney Elite Hunter Single Stage trigger on. For the scope, I went with a Swarovski Z5i 2.4-12x50 (4W-I reticle) with a ballistic turret. To pair with this scope, I picked up a pair of Swarovski EL Range TA 10x42 binos. My plan is to dial my rifle in with a 200 yard zero using Nosler Trophy Grade 7mm Rem Mag 168 Grain AccuBond Long Range ammo. I grabbed the new Garmin Xero C2 Chronograph and plan to get chronograph the Noslers to give me more accurate ballistics. From there, I want to input that info into the Swaro app, setup a rifle profile with the data, and then test the ballistics with my gun at a range up to 600 yards to make sure it's true.
Once I feel good about that, my plan was to have Swarovski make a custom turret cap for me for this scope/rifle/ammo setup. This way I can range a target (or animal), get a linear yardage, a ballistic solution in yardage, and then be able to dial my new scope to that solution using the custom turret cap.
My goal is to be as accurate as possible up to 600 yards (700 if my scope has enough room to dial it that far, which I think it might), and then spend the summer putting a lot of rounds down range with this setup to make sure I'm really confident with it. I already was hitting 500 yards with my previous scope (older Zeiss MC 3-9x40 with Rapid-Z reticle), so I'm confident that I can stretch out to the 600-700 range with a dialing setup and a more sophisticated ballistic solver than what I was using previously (I was using ChatGPT to help me create a dope card for my old setup haha).
My question is about Kestrels for wind. I'm still new to most of this as I'm someone who typically hunts with a bow all season, and usually do that on the ground from brush blinds, so most of my hunts are typically up close and personal. As such, learning to shoot at distance is still all new to me. That said, I've been doing as much homework on this as possible, and the one thing I feel like I've yet to figure out is the best way to adjust for wind.
I understand that range time is the number one way I'll grow in this area, and as such I plan to dedicate a lot of time during the summer learning how to read and judge for wind. But, I also want to have the ability to utilize the 4W-I reticle's windage hold marks by reading wind with a Kestrel and figuring out where to hold based on what the Kestrel tells me. I do realize that my scope is a second focal plane scope and that I'll have to figure out the MOA values of the hashes at various magnifications. But, I plan to figure that info out and then create a dope card that I can reference for that.
I don't want to use the Kestrel for dialing elevation on my scope. That's what I have the Swaro binos for, and in most cases when the wind is calm, I plan to just use the binos and nothing else. But, when the wind is up a little, I wanted to have a Kestrel that could help me compensate for that. What I'm trying to figure out though is which one to get. I've read up on the differences between the models, but wanted to ask the question here to people who have used them and who might could point me in the right direction. The hope is to let the Kestrel know the range I get from the binoculars, then take a wind reading and get a solution on how much MOA to hold from there.
I'd love some advice on what Kestrel to grab. I also would love to have thoughts on my approach to all of this. I understand it's a complicated subject and that wind where I'm standing isn't necessarily the wind where I'm shooting, but I want to learn how to be as competent as I can with what I have to work with.
Next year I plan to build out a Seekins Havak Pro Hunter PH3 in a 7mm PRC with a 22" barrel, a suppressor, and a Swarovski Z5i+ 3.5-18x50 (4W-I reticle) scope. I want to make that my 1,000 yard gun (hunting at 600 and down, 1,000 only for steel) and plan to use the Kestrel for that setup as well when the time comes. For now though I simply want to push my current 7mm Mag to the 600-700 yard mark and am working to make that happen. Thanks!
