Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game I was given a lie detector test this weekend.

And I think I passed. I took a new member on my hunting lease for a tour this weekend and he had his laser range finder along. He was giving me the lie detector test on range / distance reading and here's how I did:

At my son's blind he asked how far I thought it was from the blind to the feeder. I said between 120 and 130 yards. The laser read 126 yards.

At camp he asked how far I thought it was from my trailer to the feeder at the other end of the sendero. I said 500 yards. The laser read 499 yards.

He hit me with the same questions on a few brush piles at vairous ranges from 120 to 480 yards and I got those within + or - 3 yards.

I did not do as well guessing distance across the canyons. Empty air has always been difficult for me to read. From the side of one canyon accross to the buzzards roost on the other side I guessed 480 yards and the laser said 463. At another canyon I said 520 yards and the laser read 500 yards.

I feel confident in my ranging ability out to 500 yards. At distances over 500 yards and across the canyons I believe I might want to use the laser. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I can match your skills if you multiply those distances by .1

You're my number-one hero, my LRF 1200 Scan is number-two.

whew, I thought this had something to do with rifles and a wife.

Dang good at ranging. Snipers have to do lots of training to be within 10%. Lots of training. You are well under that from what I read! Be happy about that for sure.

I still have to trust the rangefinder. Especially due to terrain and varying light conditions etc...

Jeff

In an area that you are familiar with, it is a little easier. As the distance goes up, the accuracy generally goes down. I'm usually pretty good out to about 250 or 300, but I don't have to be, cause my rifle's point blank is 340 yards - into an 8" circle.

Good eye, Superman! Do you have X-ray vision as well? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Man I stink at it,,, outside of bow range I do well to get within 50 yards!!!! thats why I keep my shots close.

When I went out on elk hunt a couple years ago my guide kept testing me. Overall I was real close more than not and he was impressed. The other side of that coin was that when I was wrong it was often by a considerable amount. The only guess that counts is when you pull the trigger.

every practical rifleman should play golf regularly...

Jeff, one must consider several factors when guessing range in an unfamiliar part of the country such as altitude, humidity, light conditions, terrain. ---- Ever see water run uphill in Colorado. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />-- no

Now, I wonder who that was? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Regards, sse

I'm real good at ranges in my moose hunting area. I've paced them off across lakes and the like when the water's stiff, then write them down on my map. I also own a 400 yard laser range-finder. Beyond that, I'm not shooting except in predetermined, paced-off conditions. My longest shot on moose (20 something now) has been 160 yards, however. Point blank range, practically speaking.

In the high country, I get fairly good (plus or minus 30) after about 3 days of guessing distances and pacing them off - out to 300 or so. Which is why I bought the range finder.....

I guess that you get better at range estimation the more you do it. Back in '03 I took my 25-06 to Wyoming for a guided antelope hunt. It was my first experience in that type of wide open environment and some of my buddies who already "been there, done that" told me not to trust my own estimates, but listen to the guide because if you've never hunted in that type of wide open space you probably won't be able to judge distance accurately. They were right. I was always guessing low on my estimates. I wound up refering to my guide as the human range finder. He was that good. I know how many steps it takes me to go 100 yards and this guy was almost dead on every time. I filled my doe tag at about 200/ 225 yards and he was right even though I thought it was about 150. Good thing I listened to him. He called my buck 325 yards and by my steps he was off less than 10 yds. I knew that buck was out there, ( dropped him in his tracks with a 117 gr. Sierra pro-hunter flat base) but by that time I didn't trust my guesses so I didn't even bother guessing. He said that he's been doing this for years and after awhile you get used to it. Now I own a Leica rangefinder and that helps you to get an eye for distance. Maybe someday I could get a little better at eyeballing distance without a rangefinder

That is the same open type country I shoot prairie dogs in. It takes some practice to be able to read it.

Practice makes perfect I guess. I'm getting a bit better than I was a couple years ago but I still don't consider myself good. I'm located in western NY state northwest of Rochester up along the south shore of Lake Ontario. Most people can't believe it when they see a lake like this, unless they live near one this big or live near the ocean. I hear things like "wow, you can't see all the way across", to which i reply, "you can get out there to where you can't see land ANYWHERE". Anyway, I've noticed on open water that my range estimation guesses get pretty lousy. Things always look closer than they really are. Must be why I was underestimating everything on the wide open, flat plains of Wyoming. Without some type of reference points between me and whatever I'm trying to estimate distance to my estimates get lousy. Now I remember my guide in Wyoming saying he could sort of lay an imaginary 100 yard ruler out in front of him and then flip it over in his mind to reach out there if it were over 100 yards. Like I said previously, I used to call this guy the "human range finder" so apparently he's onto something. As for me, well, I'm a little better than I was but I'm working on it. Maybe I'm a bit of a slow learner in that department, (grin).

Course, FVA's guide turned out to be a bad on-the-run shooter. How far you reckin' that bull woulda run with that hole in his gizzard if he hadn't stopped an' looked back from that outcrop? Anyhoo, I'm hungry fer upstate venison. Maybe we can do that trip an' invite a wolverine shutin or two. Job's wearin' me thin everywhere 'cept my gut boys. Need to smell some clean air, or at least a dairy barn.

Wonder what davy crockett used for rangin'? Folks say he could knock the eyebrows off a mosquito at 50 paces. Given the trajectery of yer common .45 roundball, I'd say he musta used something asides his noggin to judge distance. Or, maybe not. Me, I get better the longer I'm in a place. In the desert, things appear differnt than in the big timber or in canyon country. Familiarity with the landscape is real impotent, and skill in one place don't necessarily cover all the bases fer a traveling sharpshooter. Got no use fer lasers, but I'm real fond of leather boot laces.

We gave the same test to my 22 year old son this past weekend. He has been out to this lease only twice before. He hit every distance + or - 5 yards out to 500 yards. My friend was running the laser and he was impressed. I can only think that time shooting prairie dogs has helped him to read distance.

I have plenty of frustration in my life without golf adding to it. I think I'll stick to guessing and checking with the rangefinder.