In Range Accurately judging distance is vital to a successful hunt

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In 2004, while deer hunting in Westmoreland County, a mature doe was spooked by an approaching hunter and quartered away from Alan Cohen of Cranberry.

“At first she was running fast through the woods, starting out about even with me,” he said, remembering the hunt while shopping in the ammunition aisle at a local outfitter. The doe was within 50 yards from him when she burst out of a grape thicket at full speed. He didn’t have a shot.

“As she crossed in front of me, going left to right, she started to slow down, [appearing] smaller and smaller as she got farther away,” he said.

The deer slowed to a walk and looked back.

“I estimated she was now about 100, 120 yards outbut she stepped behind a big tree,” he said. “Next time I had a clear view I had to refigure the range again in my head. Based on her size in perspective I guessed she was about 200 yards away now, so I aimed high for the top of her back above the shoulder, squeezed off and hit right behind her shoulder. She dropped where she stood.”

Cohen’s story of a successful hunt illustrates a constant quandary that many hunters never overcome. No matter how well a position is picked, scent is reduced and movement is kept to a minimum, the shot will miss if the range is miscalculated.

Cohen estimated the deer’s range at three junctures and weighed those calculations against his ammunition’s ballistics — all within about 15 seconds. His successful shot started on a practice range about two months before he pulled the trigger.

Putting three rounds in a quarter at a given distance is great, particularly for hunters who can convince deer to stand still at that range. Fortunately for Cohen, he knows how his gun shoots. When his .30-30 Winchester was sighted in at 100 yards, he said, the 150-grain bullets dropped about 2 inches at 150 yards and 7 inches at 200 yards. Estimating the deer’s range at 200, he aimed for the top of the back and scored a perfect heart-lung shot.

The best way to learn the ballistics of a particular sporting arm and its ammunition is on the shooting range, testing for projectile drop at a variety of distances. Options exist in the digital age. Without downloading an app, free ballistic calculators permit users to choose caliber, bullet name, grain weight and other criteria from drop-down menus. Mouse-click on a button for projectile drop in inches and other statistics — the ballistic calculator at GunData.org coordinates side-by-side comparisons of two calibers or bullet types. GunnersDen. includes a rifledslug database, useful before hunting in Special Regulations areas such as Allegheny County, where the use of centerfire rifles is banned. Reloaders need to be more specific, but a good internet ballistic calculator can be a good tool before hunting.

Understanding projectile drop at various ranges doesn’t help hunters who can’t judge distances. A sporting goods industry association posted an article that claimed fewer than 50 percent of firearm deer hunters carry a common tool relied upon by nearly all archery deer hunters — the rangefinder. Archers need to know when a deer is within the 30-yard safe-shot zone. Rifled slugs and sabot loads drop rapidly after about 100 yards — range miscalculations are common among slug gun hunters. Centerfire rifle ballistics can vary widely.

Don’t range a whitetail as it’s approaching — there is typically little time and the extra movements may be seen. As soon as the morning grows light enough to see, range and memorize natural landmarks at several specific distances in all directions. To the north, for instance, the maple tree is 100 yards away, the log is at 150 yards and the bush marks 200. Recalling the bullet’s ballistics, that might mean zero drop for any shot between the muzzle and the 100-yard maple, a two-inch drop at the 150-yard log and aiming 7 inches high at the 200-yard bush. During pre-hunt scouting, some hunters mark ranges with stakes or colored ribbon.

Another common tool can be as effective as a rangefinder and less expensive. It’s called the thumb.

Start by knowing the average human arm is about 10 times longer than the average distance between human eyes, which is 2 inches. Extend an arm, elbow straight and point the thumb up. Close one eye and with the thumb, cover a distant object, say, a white-tailed deer. Call that point A. Without moving head, arm or thumb, open the closed eye and close the other eye — the thumb will appear to have moved off the deer toward one side, point B. Estimate the distance between A and B by comparing it with the estimated length in yards of some constant. For example, the average shoulder height of a deer is 1 yard (measured from the ground to the back above the shoulder). How many deer “shoulder heights” wouldfit between points A and B? Multiply that number by 10 (the ratio of an arm length to the distance between the eyes). The result is the approximate number of yards to the target.

Long before risking a bad shot and wounding a deer, test that formula on a confirmed distance.