Reading tricky conditions

[Les Fraser]

Reading tricky conditions is a topic we all have a view on and should encourage some conversation. Recently Canberra presented some difficult conditions through out the day and some got a handle on it and some didn't.

There is mostly two types of shooters those who run a condition and those who try and pick there way through it. Either style will being you undone if you can't see the target.

Flyshooting is very much a work in progress and you should at every opportunity seek out some advice if what your doing is not working for you.

My own rule of tough conditions is this time the wind cycle or condition with a stop watch then know your paremeters to work within and then see if the target clears during this time and time this. At Canberra the range is always going to be hard and you score well if you limit bad shots you don't have to shoot all tens but keep them in the 6 ring in and you are in with a chance.

In my own experience a 2MOA wind verses a Mirage that is running at 4 moa i will back the mirrage every time even if it is going the opposite direction,over 5 MOA i always back the wind.

Whats your thoughts and experiences??

[Deane Thrower]

Great topic Les,

My experience has shown me I have no where enough experience at reading wind HaHa. In all seriousness but, personally I really struggled at Canverra and for a number of reasons.

Firstly my biggest issue was I didn't have a plan. I realised after the shoot that my excitement took over and as soon as the commence fire instruction was given I was off and racing. After watching yourself and Anthony waiting for the condition you wanted it clicked, you have 7 mins not 2mins.

The other issue I found was, with the mirage taking the sight picture away and losing the abiltlity to see bullet holes, I was shooting blind and worrying about pulling good shots and in turn didn't watch the wind drop off and lost 2 shots off the scoring area.

It is very apparent that there are many tools needed to shoot good scores consitantly, and ranges like canberra highlight your strengths and weaknesses. I personally like that because I know now what I really need to focus on. It's great to have a rifle that groups well and is tuned to perfection, but if you can't read the wind and don't have a plan of what condition you WANT to shoot on your going to get spanked like I did.

Great topic and I'm keen to see what our fellow fly swatters have to say

Cheers
Deane

[Michael Bell]

Well Deano..you've hit every nail on the head...you certainly need to have your rifle tuned to perfection as it's impossible to predict where an inaccurate rifle will place the shots...

You certainly need to have a plan....not a hard and fast plan but one with a little flexibility built in. A simple version of this could be to use one sighter...wind to the mark..use another sighter which hopefully will place on top of the 1st....go to the target & get off 3 which hopefully will all land in the 10 ring ( obviously you are being very careful to shoot in the same wind conditions ).
Now..if the wind has changed wait until it comes back...use your last sighter and then your last 2 scorers.....Simple really...you've just shot a 59.03  ( don't I wish it was this easy!!! )

Lastly you certainly need to be able to read the wind flags....my advice would be to RUSH to get your flag set and never shoot without them.
Regards,
Belly

[Les Fraser]

I couldn't agree more with Belly's comments and he is proof that practice does pay off and having your own wind flags builds capacity in your shooting library.

Other very critical things come into play like adjusting your objective lens to view the mirrage and what is the information you are getting back. lots of shooters want that clear and concise sight picture and it looks great but why are my shots all over the place because it is a seemingly easy wind day. That is becuase if you have ajusted your scope correclty you can see there is infact mirrage working on your bullets flight and you just can't see it.

To adjust your scope get the sight picture as clear as you can at the target and adjust the objective lens off fractionally i mean just a very very small ajustment so it is a little unclear and this will highlight the mirrage to you if you come back to far you will be viewing the mirrage 100yards away which is no good. Mirrage has more of an effect on your bullet than you realise as a boiling mirrage will put the shot high even in the absence of no direction.

what do other think

[Anthony Hall]

Hi Mate,

I certainly agree about shooting over your own flags..... makes more difference than most people realise.

As for the mirage and focusing the scope..... at 200-300 I can understand defocusing the scope a fraction.... but at 500 on all but the clearest days (bugger all mirage).... it is a fight to see bullet holes and very easy to see the mirage :)  I like to focus mine to remove all parallax and that seems to leave the mirage clear if it is there and bullet holes clear until the mirage starts.  I like to focus my scope first thing in the morning in clear air..... and leave it alone once the mirage comes up... that way if it clears up you will see it straight away...

I agree that the mirage tells a valuable story, and you can often see a change of direction in the mirage before the flags move.... or better still a pattern to the mirage that you can shoot on.

Cheers

Anthony