July 28th 2022
This war wagon transports varmint hunters to the Longmeadow Game Resort, Colorado. Here are some tips to help you minimize the impact of cross-winds on shooting and increase your chances of hitting. You should use your ability to move between shooting positions and angles to reduce wind noise. A High Power shooter or benchrest must work from a designated position. He must remain still and deal with the wind, regardless of its direction, as it moves along the course.
A varmint hunter, on the other hand, can move around and choose the best wind direction. You will get the best results in most cases by moving your shooting position so that the wind is at your rear. This will reduce horizontal wind drift. Once you are in place, you can use wind flags for directing your fire in accordance with the prevailing winds. The String of Death – A Varminter calling himself “Catshooter”
I can still remember the first time that I was in a dog town in Conata Basin in the Badlands region of southwestern South Dakota. I was accompanied by two other men who drove me out for 21 days to shoot. I have never seen wind like this before. The weatherman said that these were mild wind conditions if all four tires were on the ground. After four to five days, we started to get smart. To keep the wind at our back, we would park the truck on an up-wind side. Next, we took a piece string and placed it on a 3-foot long stick in front of the shooters. The string was to point at the mounds we were going. We didn’t have wind drift for the rest of our trip. We simply shot the dogs the string pointed at. Our simple wind pointer was called the “String of Death” by us. We were hitting dogs at distances I wouldn’t have done with benchrest rifles. I took a wind rig similar to that the second time out.
If you are shooting in a large varmint area, it is important to position your camera so that the wind is at your back. You can adjust your shooting orientation to work with wind and not against it if you have a rotating bench like this. To alert you to wind changes that may not be obvious from your shooting positions, you might also consider placing simple flags (posts with colored tap) downrange. You may also want to position simple flags (posts with colored tape) downrange to alert you to wind changes that you might not notice from your shooting positions.
