Sent in from John Tate. I guess we’ll file this one under “there’s more than one way to skin a cat.” If something is “wrong”, but the results are there, then it isn’t wrong. The great thing about competitive shooting is providing objective, empirical measure to sort out what idea(s) actually work.

Connecting with the Wind Or Surfing F-Class
by Larry Bartholome

The range I shoot on allows me to shoot out to 1,000 yards, but it has NO flags, no pits and I don’t even try to read the wind. I let the bullets go where they may while testing, but I try to test in good conditions. I am mainly concerned with the elevation of loads. Since I don’t get any practice and shoot few matches I haven’t developed the habit of watching flags, etc.

So….what do I do to win as much as I do? As I wrote before, I basically chase the spotter. I try to connect with the wind since I know I can’t read it. I use the word “connect” because when I am connected (i.e. in the zone!) I can see mirage changes pretty well. If I become unconnected due to a distraction of any kind I have lost the wind connection and usually points.

Of course I am watching what indicators I can while “chasing”. I try to note what the mirage looks like and file it away in my mind’s eye. Of course here comes that old memory problem, da. I keep my eye in my rifle scope as much as I can while the target is in the pits. I don’t use a spotting scope and I don’t plot shots. That is too distracting for me.

Read more:
www.ssusa.org/articles/2015/7/6/connecting-with-the-wind-or-surfing-f-class/