Wind reading intervals?

[fe7565]

Those of you with much wind readings experience, if you had a way to read the wind by the target's location from your shooting position: at what intervals would you like to know accurate wind direction and speed? Realistically... Every second? Every 10 seconds? Every 30 seconds? Every minute? Every 5 minutes?

 

[woogie_man]

Constantly ideally, as this will tell you what is actually going on at the target. This is why you always look for mirage, as you will always have an indicator then.

 

[fe7565]

Constantly ideally, as this will tell you what is actually going on at the target. This is why you always look for mirage, as you will always have an indicator then.

Great tip on mirage! Learnt something new.

Let's say you do have a windmeter device, but you only have one. What about the location of a windmeter between you and the target? Halfway?

 

[LDP]

I dont care what the wind is doing before or after my shot I only care what its doing when I am squeezing the trigger. Also you have to know what the wind is doing along the whole projectiles path not just at the target. What type of terrain will the projectile pass by or thru also has a big impact on wind. If you are going to truly be good at wind calls you have to understand how the terrain and temp effects wind or air movement not just what direction and velocity it appears to be moving at the targets location. Terrain is a little less of an impact on airguns since we dont normally shoot long enough distances to have a projectile pass thru a wide open field then along a hillside and finally over a canyon or valley. Its still good to have at least a basic knowledge of what terrain and objects like a stand of trees effect has on wind.

 

[fuznut]

At the distances I normally shoot ( 50 yds and under )my opinion based on nothing more than seat of pants observation seems to suggest the near gun wind has the most influence on the pellet. Maybe due to a longer time of influence? The closer it is to target the less I worry about it. Might not be the case in longer distances. Or for that matter not the case at all? Hope it helps ha!

 

[woogie_man]

The wind meter will generally only tell you what is going on at your location. It takes time to learn what the wind is doing down range 5 yards, 20 yards, 50 yards etc down range. They may all be different depending on the area. So unless you have a meter every 5 yards or so it could all be meaningless.

To many people get stuck on having numbers at certain places, and get over whelmed with data. Learn how to shoot in a variety of conditions and learn. One advice would be to keep a DOPE book for each rifle you have, Data On Previous Engagement. Keep as much data as you think you need and learn what the rifle is doing at different times.

 

[elh0102]

Your goal is to release each shot under the same condition. I regained my sanity and quit BR competition long ago, but the only way I found to attempt that goal, is by using multiple wind flags. Many are made with an attachment that helps gauge the wind speed. So, you can watch them all closely, trying to find that common condition for each shot before time runs out. Or, identify the most prevalent condition, then shoot like hell when it shows up and get your group on paper. If you're a score shooter, that doesn't work well, since you care where each shot hits, so you have to try for a known condition in which you can place a shot. To answer your question, you need to check it as often as you can.

 

[woogie_man]

Exactly what elh said!

The one thing that should be asked as well.... what kind of shooting are you looking at doing? Hunting you have wind flags all over the place..... trees, grass, water, dust, cottonwood tree seeds...etc. If you are bench shooting you have the ability to be really anal about things Put as many flags out as you can and learn to read them.

I do mostly hunting and the target shooting I do is with my powder rifles. So setting flags out to 1K yards can be a pain, so you need to learn how to use other elements to judge the wind.

 

[fe7565]

Thank you all for the great inputs. Valuable information!

 

[L.Leon]

In nature there are lots of "wind indicators", I pay attention to what's happening "wind wise" at my location and the target. Then I make what I like to believe is an "educated guess" as to my hold off for windage. Oftentimes, in the field I've seen that pellet zip just to the left, or right of the intended prey. But mostly I've been rewarded with good kills.