This war wagon transports varmint hunter around the Longmeadow Game Resort, located in Colorado. You can bet that you will encounter strong winds on your varmint hunt in the Western States. Here are some tips on how to reduce the effects of crosswinds on your shooting and improve your hit percentage. You want to use the ability to change your shooting position and angle to put the breeze behind you. Benchrest or High Power shooters must use a specific shooting position. He must remain in place and deal with wind from any direction. Put the Wind in Your Back
A varmint-hunter can, on the other hand, move around to find the best spot for the wind. In most cases, you’ll get better results if you move your shooting position to the back of your body. This will reduce horizontal wind drift. Use wind flags to guide your fire in accordance with the prevailing wind. The String of Death is explained by a varminter named “Catshooter”.
I remember my first dog town experience in the Conata Basin in the Badlands region of southwest South Dakota. I was driving out with two other guys for 21 days of shooting and I had never seen wind like that. The weatherman said that if all four tires were on the ground then this was “mild winds”. After the first few days, we learned to be smart. We would park our truck on the upwind side of town, so that the wind was behind us. We then put a piece on a 3-foot pole and pointed it at the mounds we were going to target. We didn’t have any wind drift for the rest of our trip. We shot the dogs the string pointed at. We began calling our simple windpointer the “String of Death”. We were hitting the dogs at distances I wouldn’t repeat here (with benchrest rifles). After the first time, I always used a wind rig. Swivel Benches: Benefits
If you are shooting in a large varmint area, it is best to have the wind at your rear. You can adjust your shooting position to work with the breeze, rather than against it, if you have a rotating table. You can also place simple flags downrange (posts with colored tap) to alert you to any wind changes that you may not have noticed from your shooting position. If you cannot get the “wind at your back” orientation, then the next best setup is to have the wind directly at you. This will minimize the wind drift of your shots. Photos taken by Chris Long during Chris’s Wyoming Varmint Hunt.
