Why do I suck at long range?

[ElkTycoon]

the stars need to align to have conditions good enough to take a long range shot at an animal. I’ve killed a lot of elk in the 400-700 yard range and 1 killed at ELR, and it’s always been very calm conditions. Elk are out feeding at the edges of daylight when wind is typically the calmest too, so it can happen.

But once the wind picks up, or the setup on the rifle isn’t just right, or the animal is moving which would rush a shot, I pass. If the entire situation isn’t perfect, you just can’t shoot (at least I don’t). So that’s my trick at reading the wind… only shoot when it’s calm enough that reading the wind is easy (with a kestrel to confirm it all).

 

[Formidilosus]

how does a more shootable rifle aid in reducing wind or making better wind calls?

It doesn’t. It helps you to have a recovery mechanism when it goes wrong- because eventually it will, and the difference between an absolute catastrophe of a rodeo and a simple learning event is how quickly you can recover.

In training it helps because the more you see during, and after the rifle fires and the bullet strikes, the more and quicker you learn.