Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Which Kestrel?

Well most think the fun part of prairie dog hunting is the amount of shooting involved, not just the kill numbers. A very close miss can be much more entertaining than a red mist shot in my opinion.
i always take 3 guns, but only use 2 for most of the shooting.
I will zero on the holes that average the shot distance for the particular gun, then i just hold up or down from there.
Too much emphasis is placed on dialing now days in hunting situations in my opinion.
Read the book written by # 1 sniper Chris Kyle and you will find his 300 Win mag was sighted in at 400 yards.
And he just held up or down from there on all his shots, except for the very few at extreme distance.

i guess while hunting for now i will just carry my old range finder for now , shoot my handloads out of my 257 Weatherby with 7 1/2 twist barrel use 100 gr. Hammer bullets that shoot 3680 FPS average and Kentucky windage if i have to hurry a shot has worked in the past well . maybe in a couple of years some company will make it simpler to use much faster calculations for hunting ? my system is easy 200 yard zero , 304 for 300 yards 4 inches high ,416 is 400 yards 16 inches high and so on this card is tape on my stock this water proofed paper type card. then i just think about there and fire , takes seconds to figure out then. i wish all a great hunting season,Pete53

for years I ran the "Shooter" app on my cell phones. I used the Kestrel 2500 for most of those years then moved up to the 3500 as it had humidity readout. They always worked but having to input temp, barometric pressure, wind speed/direction and up/down angle could be time consuming; especially in a hurried hunting situation. Last year moved up to the Kestrel 5700 Elite and am in heaven. Besides hunting I shoot a lot of NRL Hunter, NRL22 and NRL22X matches and the 5700 has been invaluable.

Alan

I'm pretty certain that Chris Kyle didn't do that with a duplex reticle, or even LR dots/ballistic plex. As far as I can tell, the turrets go hand-in-hand with reticles that make such quick, precise holds possible, especially for wind.

My intent in asking about a Kestrel was to ascertain it's practical use while hunting in open, windy country. At this point I'm back on the fence and before spending any more money on "gadgets," as Stick puts it, I'm going to see what I can do with a rangefinder and trued DOPE supplied by the Applied Ballistics app. Got plenty of time to practice, and that's half the fun.

Again, I appreciate all the thoughtful replies.

I know some DOD types who might set their turrets to some intermediate range in an overwatch/security situation where they might have to engage targets quickly at different distances (hold under for 200 meters, hold over for 600, etc). But shooting with them on a flat range they dial like regular folk.

As far as using the kestrel for hunting, I only really take it out when I'm sitting in camp or eating lunch... in case of big weather change, altitude change, if I'm bored, etc. But that stuff is always on a dope card anyway. Knowing where your wind calls start to break down is still the whole game.

I highly doubt any of them zeroed their rifles for 400. I'd almost bet a dollar, they zeroed at 100 and moved their turrets to the 400 yard dope, checked to make sure it was good, if they even did that. I'd guess they shot their guns enough to know they were good before they ever deployed. Having your turrets dialed to the ranges where most of the engagements take place sounds like smart thinking and since a fella or target torso has alot of height you stand a solid chance of being within killing center mass at 200 or even 500 when shooting gets fast with such a zero, holding a shade high or a shade lower.

I would suggest thoes interested look up a guy named Ryan Cleckner..pertty good shooter, wrote a book or two, and has some good informative vids on the internet. I`ve learned a few things, you may too.

Well id suggest you read his book.
That will tell you exactly what he did and what he didnt do.
Also we fail to realize in this discussion that prior to the 80s there werent any scopes you even could dial, because none had dials.
Other than a very few target scopes like Unertl, which were very popular for that reason.
But they had to be set up properly or they wouldnt work well for dialing either.
And frankly most of them werent.
Most of the varmint shooters who rode around with a heavy barrel gun with a Unertl scope hanging in their pickup were cluless about how the scope worked.
It was simply window dressing, and all you needed to do was look at it to know that.
Another problem here is that prior to the internet and sites like this very few people were even aware that this type hunting was even happening.
But it was, and it was for a very long time, and being done very well also, without the need for gadgets.

Some "get" to read about shooting and others simply shoot. Hint.

A NSW Crane-esque 300 Winny is rather mundane as performance goes and because Droolers fixate headstamps,that obvious is never entertained. For extrapolation,neither A191(190 Sugar) or the MK248M2(220),can keep pace with a 22" 264 Kreed whistling a 147 at 2700fps. Supersonic range is eclipsed and that never don't not seal the deal. Read that again. Now one more time. Hint.

Now as to being enthralled with some Wives Tale "zero" range,that is equally as fhuqking humorous and folks who shoot,don't say schit that fhuqking Stupid. Hint.

If only because Facts matter and to the chagrin of Fhuqktards everywhere.

Now if only for conversation,let's Start At The Fhuqking Start:

"So for clarity,what are the SPECIFICS of said platform,you are wanting to Gadgetize? Rifle Make/Model,RPM,COAL,what's it fed from,mounting system,optic,ammo and how does it shoot,in your mitts. What's the application and how much do you shoot same? What LRF are you driving? KNOW going in,that little to none of that is going to be fhuqking "favorable",so holster your Hurt Tender Feelers welllllll in advance. Hint.

Dots are EASILY connected,less any fhuqking Fluff. Proficiency can NOT be purchased and spent primers remain THE SUPREME Tutorial. Hint."

I sure as fhuqk am NOT tickling the ivories betwixt shots,for some convoluted archaeic "reason". Hint.

Just saying.........................

It's amazing how the plain old White Box Hornady Match 147's have stolen the show.

I’ve used just about every ballistic calculator app out there, and have been using Ballistic and Ballistic:AE since it first came out in original guise (original and FTE), and have also been using a Kestrel 5700 Elite for a year and a half. The Kestrel does include more degrees of freedom in its solutions, but Ballistic:AE is far more user friendly. With good data inputs AE and the 5700 are within 0.1 MRAD of each other. I mainly use the Kestrel for prepping at matches, and it’s also a great reference tool for learning to read wind. But in hunting scenarios, while I often have the Kestrel with me, I nearly always use a DOPE card (and AE if I have time). I zero for a decent PBR, and dial beyond that.

Sorry, very bad writing on my part. Yes, they had normal zeroes (we got beat on if we didn't return turrets and parallax to 100 every time we reset or moved) and sometimes used an intermediate elevation setting. Othertimes they dialed for known distance, othertimes they dialed for known distance plus 6" (or whatever) so they could PID a target, othertimes they just used the reticle. But as you say they knew their gear frontways and back and used it in ways that civilians probably would not have thought of.