Shooting without a spotter

[JimInNJ]

The quiet is bothering nomad, so I’ll see if I can stir up a little noise.

We’ve had some great discussions here about the value of a good spotter, but what about those poorly attended matches in the middle of the winter where everyone is shooting on a single relay.  What do you do then?

The last small bore match I was at I got all sighted in and my settings figured out before the match.  I started on Rams and was doing fine, but during the course of the match the wind shifted a full 180 degrees, from a left cross wind to a right.  By the time I got to Turkeys I was completely off of them and without a spotter I couldn’t find my way back.

I noticed that the experienced shooters like Jack Shaw grumbled a little about the wind, but still managed to turn in very respectable scores.  So how do you do it?

- Jim

[nomad]

Glad someone posted something. (I thought 'they' were sneaking around to cut us off at the pass!)

When I'm holding well, I can pick the smallbore bullet up around the pig line and track it from there about half the time, sometimes more. Some days are exceptional and I can follow it into the pig but you have to be really 'on' to see the bullet in flight prior to the pig and I'm usually not that stable. (Also there's the matter of more critical scope focus to deal with at the closer ranges.)

We use sloping metal backplates behind all our smallbore banks and they're repainted prior to the match. If you remind yourself to note the backplate impact marks before you shoot, you can usually pick up the impact 'splatter' of a miss after the shot and evaluate it ref the break even if conditions are not such that you can track the round downrange.

I can usually see SB POI on the target from pigs on out and make at least a SWAG about how far the bullet travelled from the breakpoint but, without a decent backplate or berm, I have no idea how you can detect misses when conditions don't allow you to see the bullet in flight.

Chickens go away so fast when hit that I seldom see impact through the scope when shooting. (It's very hard for me to see POI on chickens when spotting, especially when it's windy and the spotting scope's bouncing around.) Fortunately, it takes a REAL condition to make for serious problems on chickens and, when it's blowing that hard, 'shooter' wind is the problem!

[Fivepigs]

I remember one smallbore match when I was off at one end of the firing line having a conversation with Dave Imas.  Every once in a while he'd look downrange and mark an X on a scorecard.  I finally asked him what he was doing.  He said he was spotting for Dennis Dadian (who happened to be shooting chickens down the far end of the firing line).  I remarked that he had sort of an unusual way of spotting.  He told me Dennis wasn't going to pay any attention to him anyway, so there was really no point in going through the motions.  And he could mark X's on Dennis's scorecard just as easily from clear across the range.  I guess if you're good, you can spot your own hits and keep track of conditions yourself.

[nomad]

Where were you and what conditions were the competitors dealing with?

I'd bet that Imas (Did we ever figure out who he is?)  :-D  would be among the first to agree that, when looking at several inches of drift on the ram line -- not even uncommon at Raton or on ranges in Texas -- he doesn't 'spot' that way.

I've noticed that spotter/shooter teamwork intensifies markedly when the match is held where wind and mirage are serious problems...

[ajj]

Our last Highpower club match of '03 was in October. It was coolish and  overcast and windy and the turnout wasn't too good. Half the guys went home after the standard rifle match and we only had five for the hunter. One of those decided not to shoot, just spot, so we could run a one-relay match.
I started on pigs, which we shoot from the far end of our firing line, no spotter. It was kinda nice being down there by myself, no chatter or ribbing going on. I ended up getting my first 10-pin! Quite a thrill.
When I moved to turkeys Hugh came over with the scope. "A man who hits 10 pigs deserves a spotter." I managed to fumble the loading on the first string, drop a cartridge on the ground and get way behind on time. I thought I did a pretty good job forgetting about it for the second string but the scorecard shows that only one target fell. No doubt the pain showed in my face. Hugh picked up the scope and said:"See you later. A man who can't hit but one turkey doesn't need a spotter."

[dave imas]

most times it doesn't pay to pick somebody off the street to use as a spotter.  can do more harm than good.

As 5 pigs stated earlier, Dennis Dadian resolves the whole spotter issue by breaking center.  a good center break makes up for alot of wind.   but...  there are times that breaking center ensures a miss.  those times it is usually more fun to do something else.

another tactic for shooting without a spotter, or with one for that matter...  hold over.  don't chase the wind with your adjustment knob.  can/will get you in more trouble than it is worth.  trying to predict the next condition based upon your last shot is a scary business.  and...  if you aren't paying attention and turn your knob the wrong way, you can lose the target altogether.  ugh.  
in really messy conditions i'll wattch the flag as i am preparing my shot, hold over, then break it and hope in the last few seconds things didn't change too much.   real pain in the butt tho.  i think Dennis has got the idea.  break it center.

[Jerry G]

If your spotter doesn't give you good calls on your shots and takes his wind dope from the noise on the line, you are better off without one.  Most ranges have wind flags and you should be able to read them good enough to hit the animal with a good center hold.  A poor spotter can mess up your mind.

[jbeckley]

I happen to shoot at a range that is fairly windy at all times and one thing that alot of people do is if they are shooting pigs, they will go with what the wind is doing at the pig line, but they might have to shoot through a complete opposite wind at the chicken line.  A basic way to go is to read the wind a 1/3 of the way to your target, and another thing it isn't always constant, then you will do as Mr. Imas described as messing around with your windage knobs.

Another trick is to go out to the different banks and set the animals before a match or between practice.  Then you will definetly know what the wind is doing.  I remember a couple of years ago, at the Ysleta range in El Paso there was a pretty good breeze coming from a small arrayo going across the pig line, no big deal for pigs, but you had to shoot over the pig bank to the rams and that made a difference.    As said before, a good center hold will cure just about anything.   Jim