I feel no need to challenge your assertions. I’d say that what you describe amongst competitor and instructors the case. There’s isn’t any sport that capitalized on the ability to effectively mil a distance. Instructors are focused on the specific skill sets that they t each and frequently display an overall lack of proficiency in areas other than there own subject matter- specifically that which they are responsible for teaching.
I will throw this out as well- assuming we misjudge our range by 50 yards at 600, leaving he realm of theory, I’ll talk about what load I know- my 7-08 is 3.6 low at 550 vs 4.2 at 600 a difference at that range of 18” or so that’s spine or bottom of lungs in an elk. At 400 yard and assuming only 25 error we have about 6” of possible error- not a big deal.
If you note in my actual example that I pitched I miled the range based on an environmental factor that was easily predetermined rahhree than the actual bull- again, this is real [bleep] but your proficiency at the task will mirror the effort put into training.
18” low or high is spine or bottom of lungs...? What about the 50% of the rounds that hit above or below your aim point?
So how do you know that the spruce limb your measuring is 18” and not 19”? Or 16, or 20, etc?
The answer is- you don’t. You don’t know if the buck you’re looking at has an 18” deep chest or a 16.5”. Or a 19”. Or anything between. Considering that the apparent size from back to brisket on a deer varies almost two inches just due to condition of their coat.....
As for your thoughts on instructors, this ain’t a measuring contest, however, I’ve/we’ve had multiple individuals that were current slotted snipers from your prior organizatio, and they couldn’t do any better. When I say that no one can consistently be within 25, and usually not even within 50 meters of the actual range on live targets- I’m not guessing. The reason is simple- you can’t know how big your target is. The same exact deer can and will vary over two inches from September to December. And they don’t all lose or gain size consistently.
I’ll be at Quantico in the next month. I’ll get instructors, students, and slotted snipers to measure deer on the unknown ranges. They will be lucky to be within 25m, 50% of the time. Usually it’s 50m, 50% of the time at best on live targets.
