Reply With QuoteI use shooter for my ballistic info. It's been good in the desert, mountains, sea level, and pretty much any conditions I've ever used it in.
What software are folks using that's shooting related - reloading, shooting, hunting?
On my phone (Android) I run:
onX Hunt - for topo maps, private/public land boundaries, etc.
XFR - MagnetoSpeed Sporter app
PDF Maps - for backwoods navigation (mainly Forest Service MVUM files)
I may install Shooter for ballistic data rather than relying on websites and/or my printed spreadsheets.
I am hoping to find an app similar to the one Russ uses - Ballistic: Standard Edition - for Android. Checking out:
- MyShots
- TargetScan ISSF
- Plink Log
I use shooter for my ballistic info. It's been good in the desert, mountains, sea level, and pretty much any conditions I've ever used it in.
i use shooter as well...the big thing is getting out and shooting in different conditions and truing up the app...i have ballistics AE and its just to slow and kind of a PITA to set up...but im technically challenged.
Ok for a hundred dollars a shot, how many app users of any type be willing to take the bet for first round hits every time regardless of distance or conditions?
I have hodgdon reloading app. Nikon spot on. And a reloading calculator for finding out what each round cost.
Ones been spot on for distance, but wind calls is still all on me!Originally Posted by yobuck
Where are the $100 dollar shots taken from? And how big are the targets?
I use Shooter and Bullet Flight L2 by KAC. Both of those are geared more towards LR shooting/ballistics than what you're wanting to do though.
As for using the apps vs. dope charts, they do pretty much the same thing. I think the main advantage is that you're able to change different factors under different conditions and still be pretty close to your mark. Obviously, windage is going to be on the shooter, and the guys shooting tactical comps are more than likely using hold-offs as they're much faster... I don't think first round hit probability would change much if at all using an app vs. not using one though.
[I]"In the end, run what 'ya brung because it's better than nothing and don't give two ****s what some interwebs chat board guy says about your rig."[/I]
O K Winnie for Hair Boxers benefit, im going to run a simple scenario by you.
Youve had a second job for 3 years saving for a trophy mule deer hunt in Colorado.
Your Savage 338 Lapua is just tearing ragged hole groups with 300 Bergers.
You feel confident out to about 1500 yds if necessary in taking a shot at a trophy.
You have your favorite ipod program, a Kestral wind meter with all the information it produces,
and 2 very good rangefinders. Your information has been set up for the 7000' + elevation you will be hunting in.
Your on the last day of your hunt which so far has produced nothing. But now at 11 am your guide has found a 30" plus
muley laying down in thick oak brush. You can clearly see his head, neck and most of his shoulders. You will be shooting
across a wide deep valley with a large stream. Both your rangefinders say almost the same distance at 1240 yds.
Your Kestral says 10 mph left to right wind. But youve also noted hawks flying above that seemingly never flap their wings.
Also youve noticed some airborne leaves on the opposite side occaisionaly. Your prone/bipod shooting position will be marginaly
comfortable due to the uneven terrain and the bipod will be at full elevation due to that also. Your guide has warned that a close
miss will probably end your oppurtunity. Besides that your heart is pounding much faster than normal and the hair you dont have keeps
getting in your face. Youve grown very confident in you ability in using your equiptment while practicing at home. But for some
reason you dont feel the same right now. Youve already dialed in all the information as gathered from your devices. But your guides
fears of one shot keep entering your mind and this aint no paper target and there aint no tomorrow.
The option you have although not without risk, is to swing say 100' to the left and send a shot at the base of a small tree
just where it touches the ground. It will certainly alert the deer but will it make him run off? The solid information gathered from the shot
might be worth the risk? The guide just shrugs his shoulders on the idea and leaves it as your call.
So Winnie, theres 2 out in the last of the ninth in game 7 and your up. What would you do?
Send it!. If I practiced with my 243 and like I have at this range and beyond to just under 1400yds. the 338 is going to give me much more confidence. I'll close my eyes tae a deep breath focus on the task and get er' done. Once in a lifetime opportunity calls for once in a life time performance.
I pass on the shot and use every minute of legal hunting time to close the distance and eliminate variables that stand between me and a clean ethical shot that I am comfortable making every time first round.
Worst case Muley and tree both live to see another day, and I go home with great memories and a stalk story from the trip. Best case we pull it off we have an even more epic story about the rack hanging on the wall.
That's just me and how I operate in the field. Others would take that shot on the chance they could make it. I value a clean kill and not having the weight of a potentially wounded animal on my conscience.
Dont forget, you will never catch up with a deer without a lower jaw, and he would die very slowly in a couple weeks.Send it!
Just things to consider.
No I understand, even though you provided a very solid scenario there's still a lot of unknowns that would be considered. A lot can happen in another 5-10min or more. However, if I was going on a hunt where shots lie this are more common. I would spend a lot of time in the off season preparing to be comfortable at these king of extended hunting ranges.
Easier said than done. In another 5 minits he could decide he's hungry and just get up and walk off also.
And unless you feel like getting wet Hair Boxer, you wont be getting any closer.
Fact is there are only 2 options to choose from unless you choose to walk away.
To me, the most telling part about the answers to yobuck's question is that each person approaches it differently and will make the decision on what to do accordingly. There is no "right" answer in this situation, just the one that we are most comfortable with.
I never meant for this to become a discussion on hunting ethics, rather a thread to share what people use on the technology side to meet their needs. Yobuck throwing the "first shot" challenge out there is a good reminder that technology only goes so far and ultimately we are responsible for the choices we make with our weapons.
Here is my perspective being a new hunter
First a fancy wind meter that you hold in your hand is worthless when you are hunting out in rough terrain and shooting 1000 yards.
Any gaming infraction in CO is a felony. If your going to take a shot an animal, you better pray and make sure that you are able to track the darn thing.
Assuming that planets are all lined up in your favor and you take the shot, what happens if the muley moves in the seconds it takes your bullet reach him?
work hard to get close to the animal or have your buddies drive it towards you.
newbie from gr, mi.
you need topo map, I use google maps.
you need blm/property ownership maps, subscription bases ones are pretty expensive, I am cheap, I do self hunt. you can get free maps and then overlay them on garmin etc. I am sure you can do the same with google maps or google earth, tell us if you figure it out.
ballistic software: you should range where you hunt BEFORE you go out to hunt and have markers identified for distances and have your cheat sheet. It is highly unlikely you will have the time plug in numbers into pda software, then dial it in, then check wind, then drink some gatorade, then then a beta blocker to slow your heart down, then kiss the bullet and load your rifle and take a shot.
newbie from gr, mi.
At 1240 yards with the scenario you suggested the 338 with 300 grain bullets should find its mark.
It's no different then a 350 yard scenario that 90% of the people take every hunt. The difference is you have the proper equipment and practice time behind the weapon.
I'm taking the shot! Being a bow hunter who practices year round you know your limits of an ethical first round hit. You know your equipment and it only increases your confidence in your shot. If something feels wrong of different you let down and fix the problem or get closer. A rifle is no different and a 338 with a 300 grain bullet leaves a lot of room on a marginal hit unlike an arrow.
Are you implying that nobodys ever lost a deer using arrows? Or just you have never lost a deer using arrows?
Frankly ive never drawn a bow on even a target let alone an animal.
But many of my friends are very serious about archery. All will admitt to having lost a deer.
And you know what thats hunting, nobody likes or plans to do that.
And there is a major difference between 350 and 1240 yards even with the 338 Lapua.
But there is no question as to its ability here, just the shooter and how much faith he has in himself and his gadgets and programs when crunch time comes.
Well then the whole thing wouldnt apply to you because you wouldnt have placed youself in that situation anyway.
And thats fine, its your call how you go about hunting.
You know what, i dont own a windmeter and i dont know anybody else who does.
The 350 vs 1250 was written poorly on my part. A 350 yard shot with the typical rifle hunter who is poorly practiced, uses a poor rest probably has just as big a chance connecting on a buck at 350 yards as a guy shooting a 300 grain 338 with the proper equipment, practice and knowledge to shoot a deer at 1240.
I'm not implying a bow hunter ever looses a deer. I don't know where you got that idea from. "A 300 grain bullet leaves a lot of room for error on a marginal hit unlike an arrow." Big difference between a buck hit by an arrow and a buck hit by a 300 grain 338. You could hit a buck with a 300 grain berger in the hind quarters, guts, face, neck ect and chances are it won't go very far. Chances are it never lives another day let alone another season. Cant say the same with an arrow that hit the same areas.
Being a bow hunter who practices year round it gives me confidence in my ability to make the shot with my bow at the distances I've practiced. It's no difference then a guy that is proficient with his 338 and practices out to 1500 yards. If your nervous about the shot like the guy suggested in his scenario you make the adjustment and fix the problem just like you do in practice.
Hunting is hunting and if you do it long enough you will loose an animal with what ever weapon your using.
Id agree to what your saying here more than i did your first post. But the poorly prepared hunter at 350 would actually
be a bigger problem than a well prepared one at 1240 by a long shot. For the average traditional hunter just out there hunting,
350 is a very long shot. But im not implying he couldnt, just that he probably wouldnt be lets say equipted to do so.
I dont believe after about 45 years of hunting long range that there would be anybody on this site who couldnt hit that deer at 1240 yds.
Most just dont realize they can because theyve never tried it. And beyond that they are also cluless for the most part as to what it takes
and how to go about it. The emphasis is always on the need for a better and bigger gun with the right scope. Also on the need
for the latest and greatest other equiptment that makes it almost a sure thing. Provided of coarse youve done your part by practicing, practicing.
In reality very little of that is true. And i can prove that given the oppurtunity. Its already been proven by Dr Thunder and a few others here who
have visited Bang Steel in VA. You need to know how much elevation needs to be added to the scope in order to hit a target at the distance you wish to shoot.
Beyond that you dont need anything but the ability to hit it or recognise the reason you didnt immediatly. And therin lies the problem and also the key.
Its not about windmeters, ipods, or any other devices that have come along and succer people into believing they are needed.
Are they helpfull? well maybe, certainly more for some than others.
But their not going to make much if any difference on getting that deer laying over there at 1240 yds.
Ill take the sighter shot, and if i can get away with it ill take another one after that.
That will tell me wether or not im going to go for the deer, not some gadget.
I fully realize some types of competetion require shooting prone/bipod and maybe no sighters.
But hunting dosent, if were going to be shooting at animals at great distances either have a proper rest or dont do it.
Spend the windmeter money on building a good light weight portable bench and have
your buddy carry it while you carry the gun.
All this isnt directed at you Muley, just combining all into one post.
Where do you hunt muleys by the way?
There you go then saying exactly what I'm saying. In archery and practicing year round I know what it takes for me to make a first shot where it counts. You being practiced in 45 years of long range hunting know you can't make a first shot hit at that range with the bipod sitting as tall as it is and shooting uncomfortable. The bipod height will change the harmonics of the shot and miss. So you make the adjustment until you can. Whether that's taking a first shot somewhere else, getting closer or having the guide spot you shooting at the deer and making the adjustments. Being a bow hunter I know without a doubt unless darkness is approaching 1240 yards is where a stalk for me begins, but if it's last day last hour I'm lobbing a 300 grain bullet. If there's lead in the air there's hope. Without hope you will eat the tag.
Utah
Well thats where the 45 years pays dividends. Somtimes its best to eat the tag.
If you cant get 2 shots to land in the same place, you need to be questioning your motives.
As for the spotter, thats key to long range hunting. Without one there shouldnt be any, just that simple.
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