Wind, the lost post from wwa

J

Johnny M

Guest
JohnnyM,
On the internet, you can find "wind rose diagrams" that show the theoretical effect on POI for various wind directions. Those wind roses are somewhat reasonable for steady state, laminar flow wind conditions. Unfortunately, steady state, laminar flow conditions are about as common as unicorns.*
The reality is that you need to correlate the flag conditions that you see on that particular range and that particular day with the consequent points of impact of your bullets on your targets. (That's why
they put sighter bulls on the targets.) And you need to memorize those flag conditions and resultant POIs so that you can ajust your POAs for those conditions when you go to your record bulls.
Don't worry about where the wind is "supposed" to push the bullets. Just shoot sighters and see where the wind is "actually" pushing the bullets.
(On a different day or a different range, the same flag conditions may result in significantly different POIs.)

I try to put out my flags and study them for at least ten minutes before the match starts. Also I study other nearby flags, particularly those upwind of me. They can warn me of impending changes before the changes get to my flags.

I identify two or three wind conditions that I like. Those conditions must last long enough to be shootable. (Many “good” conditions don’t last long enough or come around often enough to be shootable.)
One of my conditions is the "prevailing" condition, even if it doesn’t seem good. If it’s the prevailing condition, I may be forced to shoot in it whether I like it or not. I try to select conditions when all of my wind flags read approximately the same. At least, all of them should point in generally the same direction even if they don’t read the same speed.
I avoid shooting when some of the flags read wind directions that are opposite of other flags.*When the relay starts, I shoot enough sighters in my chosen conditions to determine where those conditions are causing my bullets to impact. (Yeah, it's a memorization exercise. Those of us who have reached the age of senelity struggle, but that's the only way to shoot respectable scores.)*

“CHASERS” VS “WAITERS” --- There are two styles of shooters -- those who “chase conditions” and those who “wait for conditions”.
Shooters who chase conditions tend to shoot at a fairly constant rate. They guess the appropriate point of aim for whatever condition exists at the time they are ready to shoot.
Shooters who wait for conditions use their sighters to select two three conditions that they want to shoot. Then they wait for those conditions during the match. They tend to shoot far more sporadically than those who chase conditions.
Admittedly, waiting for your condition to return, while your timer counts down, can be hard on the nerves. But, in my experience, chasing conditions results in far lower scores than waiting for conditions.
I wait! I try to be patient. I wait for my conditions. If they don’t come back in a reasonable time, I go back to my sighters and shoot the new PREVAILING condition. Then I go back to the record targets.*If the wind conditions are reasonably steady, you can look at the flags, then look through your scope, adjust the POA, and shoot.
But, if the wind conditions change every few seconds, you may have to adjust your POA for a specific condition, watch your flags until that condition appears, and then pull the trigger without looking back through your scope.
It's kind of scary to shoot without looking through the scope, but it can be necessary.
One other note: There is no such thing as a "calm". A "calm" is just a switch in progress. And, "calms" promote mirage which is never helpful to accuracy. I avoid shooting in calm conditions
 
Did we all get a education on shooting the wind in the bowl at Meridian!!

JohnnyM,
We got a education shooting the wind at the Meridian ARA match! Most of it is the way it was blowing. It was fun to do, we can chalk it up as another match shooting the wind. Still have a lot learning to do yet. We have a lot of work to do now for sure!
YBRF! Rambo
(Douglas)

Congrats to Vblackwell for winning it!!
 
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