I took my targets out today and experienced all kinds of frustration - for some reason my dope at 600 yards was way off from what it had been last weekend. I was shooting way over the target, but having a really hard time spotting my misses. I finally figured out where I was hitting, and found I was 7 tenths of a mil higher than what I had last weekend. Finally got on target and started tagging it regularly.
This was the first time I've tried to shoot fairly long distance with a good amount of wind, so it was good experience. I'm still relying on my ballistic calculator app while I get things figured out. I guestimated the wind at 15 mph, at almost 90 degrees with it coming from just slightly behind me. Either the app was just a little off or my guess wasn't correct (more likely) because I didn't have to hold off quite as much as expected, but it was good enough to get my windage very close. I do have a wind meter on order so that should help me get better at estimation, when I have a known value to check against.
I also got some practice ranging targets with the mildot reticle. I actually knew the range because I used my GPS to set them, but it was good to range them with the scope and check it against the known distance. Generally I was pretty close. The hardest part is deciding just how many mils the target is covering....is that .8 or .75?
After I finally got back on at 600 I was kicking myself for not loading up more ammo, because I only had 5 rounds left. I packed everything up and moved back further to 900 yards. My first shot was .5 mil high and windage was right on so I dialed in my adjustment...and proceeded to put the next four rounds just barely off the edges of the gong. I was so close each time it was maddening, but I couldn't quite connect. I was shooting through a valley where the wind swirls around, so I think that was the big problem. Still, I got some experience and learned something. I'm getting there....
