Thoughts on Kestrel

I shoot a .223 with 75gr Hornady A-Max handloads that are extremely accurate. Have ballistic charts printed off and a great scope (Burris XTR II) to dial up bullet drop and a great range finder to nail the target range. My issue is with windy days and long shots trying to guess windage. I suck at it.

Enter the Kestrel, or, at least my interest in the Kestrel meter. I'm looking at the 5700 Sportsman and I'm wondering if it is worth the cost. It has ballistic software that will give a firing solution for anything within the range of my .223. So far my max effective range is just over 800 yards.

I'm curious to hear from anyone who uses one of these as to what you think about the meter and the software that comes with it. Is it worth the cost?

I'm hunting rock chucks and jackrabbits with an occasional coyote.

Thanks,

First, I don't/haven't used one.

Just remember, the Kestrel is only going to give you wind speed at your location. If the locations you are shooting is fairly flat/featureless, an area where wind speed could be constant all the way to your target, I believe it would be beneficial.

If your shooting area has wind speed/direction changes between you and your target I believe it could be detrimental - if the wind speed/direction of the shooting location is significantly different than the direction/speed along your path you may chase impact based on the wrong input.

I have a kestrel 3500. Rick W stated exactly what I would've wrote. Works good for learning wind but it truly ends there. I use mine for humidity/temp/Baro pressure tho.

Definitely agree with the above, but my first thought reading your post was "Sucks at reading wind" and "shooting 223 out to 800yds".......... Even if you're good at reading wind, shooting 223 can be a challenge at half that distance in windy conditions. Using Litz data, and assuming roughly 2800fps, just a 5mph "breeze" is going to knock you off by more than 2.5' @ 800yds!

I appreciate the replies. You are correct, shooting my 223 out to 800 yards and hoping for consistent hits is a stretch. No pun intended. When there is no wind that rifle will punch milk jugs at that range quite nicely though. What I hope the Kestrel will do for me is to help in stiff crosswinds while shooting Idaho rock chucks this spring. Just out to 500 yards on those little targets will really help.

I ordered the 5700 Sportsman today, so, wish me luck.

140 gr bullets at about the same velocity might be better in the luck department. lol

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Originally Posted by yobuck

140 gr bullets at about the same velocity might be better in the luck department. lol

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HAHA that's funny.

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Originally Posted by yobuck

140 gr bullets at about the same velocity might be better in the luck department. lol

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I agree 100%... that's why I'm building a 260 Rem now.... I've got the 22-250 for shooting in low wind out to 500 yards... (Sag rats=prairie dogs, but smaller) But I wanted something that would buck the wind better and carry out to 1000 yards.

It's a great round for yotes, rabbits, fox, prairie dog, badger, deer, and even elk... if you don't want to run a 140 then there is the 95 gr. v-max also... that would be perfect for a rock chuck at longer range.

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Originally Posted by SageRat Shooter

I agree 100%... that's why I'm building a 260 Rem now.... I've got the 22-250 for shooting in low wind out to 500 yards... (Sag rats=prairie dogs, but smaller) But I wanted something that would buck the wind better and carry out to 1000 yards.

It's a great round for yotes, rabbits, fox, prairie dog, badger, deer, and even elk... if you don't want to run a 140 then there is the 95 gr. v-max also... that would be perfect for a rock chuck at longer range.

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My other center fire rifle is a 25-06 and I don't reload for that one. I'm hoping one day to take a wolf with it but I don't hunt varmints with that one. The 75gr A-Max is about as heavy a bullet as I can put through a .223 and still retain decent velocity without max loads. Those 75's seem to do fairly well in the wind and are extremely accurate. Last spring/summer I killed over 300 rock chucks with that gun/bullet combination. Windy days are my problem beyond 200 yards. I took the rifle to a range a couple of days ago and had an estimated 16mph crosswind at 90 degrees left to right. I used the Shooter app on my phone to put in the wind and plot a solution and it was spot on at 300 yards. Rock chucks are not very big and in the wind they seem to get smaller. (at least that's my excuse for now) I'm hoping that accurate data from the Kestrel will improve my long range windy results.

Wind always separates the wheat from the chaff in long range shooting. Learn to read the wind and you can be competitive in any shooting circle. Kestrel can give you some.great information but it.can't see what is happening.downrange and with the constantly changing conditions.

Read about how the experts do it. Get you some wind.flags and watch what they do. Try to shoot when the conditions are the same.

No competition shooting for me, at least not at this point. I'm just interested in not missing rock chucks.

If you're shooting private property, I'd plant some small surveyor flags at 25-50 yd intervals along the range. No reason you can't do it on public lands but you'll need to pick them up when you're done.

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Originally Posted by Rick_W

If you're shooting private property, I'd plant some small surveyor flags at 25-50 yd intervals along the range. No reason you can't do it on public lands but you'll need to pick them up when you're done.

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I am on private land and that is a great idea!! This poor farmer has rock chucks like dogs have fleas. Every field that touches the lava rock flows is completely cleaned off for several yards into the field. It is striking how much those things eat. The farmer loves me by the way. I also make it a point to own up to my bullet holes in his pipe when it happens and I carry pipe repair kits just for such an occasion. (they are rare but it does happen)

Thanks for the tip!!!

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Originally Posted by Idaho

I am on private land and that is a great idea!! This poor farmer has rock chucks like dogs have fleas. Every field that touches the lava rock flows is completely cleaned off for several yards into the field. It is striking how much those things eat. The farmer loves me by the way. I also make it a point to own up to my bullet holes in his pipe when it happens and I carry pipe repair kits just for such an occasion. (they are rare but it does happen)

Thanks for the tip!!!

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You're welcome.

Another idea is to use varying lengths of surveyors tape at each interval to differentiate between varying wind speeds.

The tape is a good idea, now to train the varmits to hang out till the conditions are good enough for them to get hit.
Problem is they don't listen very well. lol

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Originally Posted by yobuck

The tape is a good idea, now to train the varmits to hang out till the conditions are good enough for them to get hit.
Problem is they don't listen very well. lol

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Not necessarily good but the same.

Update 3/31/17
I've had several opportunities to use the Kestrel with my .223 on windy days while chasing rock chucks. I've killed several chucks over 300 and a re few past 400 yards with 10 to 12 mph wind blowing. All I can say is this thing is amazing! I search for chucks with my 4 power Leica rangefinder and then mark the azimuth and range with the Kestrel and read the wind and it gives me a firing solution. All I have to do is dial up the horiz and vert numbers from the kestrel and do my part on the trigger. It is nothing short of amazing to see a chuck fly off the rock he's perched on 435 yards away with a crosswind blowing. As far as I'm concerned the kestrel makes shooting deadly accurate and very much fun.

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Originally Posted by Idaho

Update 3/31/17
I've had several opportunities to use the Kestrel with my .223 on windy days while chasing rock chucks. I've killed several chucks over 300 and a re few past 400 yards with 10 to 12 mph wind blowing. All I can say is this thing is amazing! I search for chucks with my 4 power Leica rangefinder and then mark the azimuth and range with the Kestrel and read the wind and it gives me a firing solution. All I have to do is dial up the horiz and vert numbers from the kestrel and do my part on the trigger. It is nothing short of amazing to see a chuck fly off the rock he's perched on 435 yards away with a crosswind blowing. As far as I'm concerned the kestrel makes shooting deadly accurate and very much fun.

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Out there in Eastern Idaho you have a couple things that don't exist near where I live. Wide open spaces are scarce on my side of the State, relatively flat land, and lastly "rock chucks". Now if they'd only let us shoot "Alley Rats" in Seattle :cool:


Another factor that drives most shooters off the end is that wind here never comes from the same direction but has a general swirling characteristic as if it was just a bunch of dust devils that got together as they head through the area. Whether it's watching a Benchrest match with a field full of wind flags, all pointing different directions, or looking out over a mile long field of grass and watching the tops sway back and forth to all points of the compass within minutes. Also, winds at ground level can be drastically different than those up where your bullet will spend a lot of time, sometimes 10-15 feet in the air (or more).

I have sometimes wondered if a good old fashioned weather balloon with flags along the tether line (like Used Car dealers put up) would do the trick. Watch the flags up and down the tether to see if the wind is consistent way above the ground.

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Originally Posted by Deadshot2

Out there in Eastern Idaho you have a couple things that don't exist near where I live. Wide open spaces are scarce on my side of the State, relatively flat land, and lastly "rock chucks". Now if they'd only let us shoot "Alley Rats" in Seattle :cool:


Another factor that drives most shooters off the end is that wind here never comes from the same direction but has a general swirling characteristic as if it was just a bunch of dust devils that got together as they head through the area. Whether it's watching a Benchrest match with a field full of wind flags, all pointing different directions, or looking out over a mile long field of grass and watching the tops sway back and forth to all points of the compass within minutes. Also, winds at ground level can be drastically different than those up where your bullet will spend a lot of time, sometimes 10-15 feet in the air (or more).

I have sometimes wondered if a good old fashioned weather balloon with flags along the tether line (like Used Car dealers put up) would do the trick. Watch the flags up and down the tether to see if the wind is consistent way above the ground.

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Wow, your description of swirling winds sounds like an unwinnable situation. Basically all you can do in that case is shoot and hope for the best. I will like my Kestrel. As long as I do my part on the trigger it is spot on.