The best practice for shooting in the wind -- for me -- is prairie dog shooting. I often bring my deer rifle or my elk rifle out prairie dog shooting. I just can't get that kind of practice at a range.
Each of our hunting experiences are different. I don't often see a deer (elk yes) standing broad side at 550 yards. But even with a summer's fun shooting at PD's (with lots of practice) and thinking that I probably could get a killing shot at 550 yards, I won't do it. (PD shooting and antelope hunting is much more alike than deer or elk with PD's.)
Part of the issue is terrain. In the areas where I see/hunt elk, well it doesn't look like where I shoot PD's. Where I often hunt deer, farm ranch country the terrain is different to. But where I hunt deer I feel much more confident on hitting the Kill zone than where the elk are at longer ranges. Example, I'm sitting/standing in a tree covered area. I see elk across the meadow or ravine in the far trees. How can I judge the wind in such conditions?
I'm afraid to say how far my furthest shot at deer was taken (successfully) but that was many years ago (about 50), when my favored deer rifle was an 03 and it had a 4x Weaver scope. Let's just say, I got in a vehicle and drove to the dead deer.
My 700 ADL 300 WM with 180 grain partitions is sighted in 1.5" high at 100 yards, at 250 yards that hits about 2" low, at 300 yards it hits about 5.5" low. (300 yards is my absolute maximum range for shooting big game). That 300 WM shoots 1 MOA, at 300 yards that is close to a 3" grouping. At a 10 mph cross wind the drift is about 5 1/2" at 300 yards. It's about 16 1/2" with a 30 mph cross wind. If the wind is gusty, if the wind is close to 30 mph, the maximum range I'd shoot lowers -- with a 30 mph cross wind the drift at 200 yards is 7" approximately. So -- maximum distance for me is more about wind than it is about elevation, cause I just can't judge the wind in ravines/meadows etc. especially when I'm out of the wind.
I think the duplex reticle has enhanced my ability to hit things at long distances. But I'm not going to buy a scope that has a range finder built inside, especially one that adjusts elevation depending on range. I'm not going to have a dial on my scope that changes elevation setting -- once it's sighted in, it stays. And I do not want gadgets that can fail nor do I want to rely on gadgetry for my hunting. If that's what floats your boat, that's ok, it's just nothing I would do.
