Building Confidence in the Shot – Shooting Longer When You Must Part 1 – Using the Reticle for Holdover Shooting
Can you make a clean 300 –500-yard first shot at wild game when it counts?
Often, we face a shot opportunity that may be longer than we are accustomed to. Having the right tools for the job and the knowledge of how to use them will give you the confidence to make the shot when it's time, whether it's ideal or not.
In this two-part series, we will first focus on using the reticle to make holdover shots on wild game. Part two looks at using dialable turrets to compensate for cartridge ballistics. Both articles will utilize a common hunting round, the 308 Winchester. While this is not about long-range hunting, it does concern how to be successful with a standard hunting rifle and cartridge in realistic hunting conditions and at a moderate distance on demand. Therefore, I will reference making a shot at a maximum range of 500 yards with factory ammunition (Federal, AccuBond 165 grains) and with a scope utilizing subtensions in the reticle for windage and holdover (Zeiss V4 4-16x50 with the ZMOA-1 reticle).
Our ballistic correction will require an application (app). I will be using the Zeiss Hunting app for our shooting solution. We need one other piece of equipment – a rangefinder. Any good quality pocket rangefinder will work.
We will use Minutes of Angle (MOA) for ballistic measurement in these articles, which is not the only way to reach the target as many shooters use the Milliradian (MIL) system of measurement. If you use MIL's to compensate for distance, the premise is the same.
What does MOA mean? A minute is a unit of measure equal to 1/60th of something, as in a clock. Angle references a single degree of a circle that is 360 degrees; thus, one MOA is 1/60th of one degree. That said, one MOA at 100 yards represents 1.047 square inch. I'm sure you've seen paper targets ruled in square inches. These squares are one MOA unit. MOA is ascending in size, like a cone. So, one MOA at 100 yards is approximately one square inch. At 200 yards, it is 2" x 2", at 500 yards it is 5" x 5", and so on. If your ballistic calculator tells you that your correction in elevation is 11 MOA at 500 yards, then you will be holding 55" high. MOA is just a way of communicating the bullet point of impact.
Making a long shot at wild game does not rely on guesswork. If you have not prepared to make the shot at any distance, do not shoot. We must demonstrate sportsmanship and only make ethical shots on wild game. Your preparation should take place long before the hunt, which is not a complicated process, nor does it rely on the application of complicated math.
When using the reticle for holdover, there is a way to acquire the knowledge you need to make a 500-yard shot and have it easily accessible. While you should, at some point, fully understand all relevant ballistic computations involved in shooting MOA or MIL, this is not a requirement in making quick, accurate shots in hunting situations. You only need to range the target, understand the information given to you from a ballistic app, then hold the correction and shoot.
Our first steps in preparing for this type of shot should begin with these three elements:
1. Understand the ballistics of your cartridge - There are many online apps for ballistics. Many are free. The cartridge manufacturer most likely will have one as do optics manufacturers. The screenshots below are from the Zeiss Hunting app. Follow them through to better understand the process of creating your load and retrieving the ballistic data. What we want to arrive at is the ballistic drop represented by the hash marks in the reticle (referred to as subtensions). Record the drops on a D.O.P.E. chart (meaning Data of Previous Engagements, which references the knowledge you have regarding the rifle and cartridge in various shooting engagements). A dope chart can be handwritten on a card or something more formal but will note the bullet drop in MOA for the yardages. In this example, we note the MOA drop for our .308 for each subtension in the reticle. I like to glue or tape these corrections to the inside of a flip-up scope cover, making them readily available.
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2. Understand your reticle – Generally speaking, all optics manufacturers have different reticle designs. I recommend you purchase an optic with a functional reticle, meaning it provides the shooter with both holdover information and windage information. In my opinion, you cannot make an ethical shot at distance using a standard plex reticle or some iteration of it. Below is an image of the ZMOA-1 from Zeiss. Every hashmark or subtension, represents one MOA on the both windage and elevation axis. Our goal is to simplify the process of converting from MOA to yardage by doing so in advance of the hunt and making the correction quick to access. The app will assign a yardage value to each hashmark. Then the shooter need only range the target and then holdover using the subtension with the closest yardage noted.
Use the subtensions as aiming points on the target. So, in a no-wind condition and using our DOPE example for the .308 from image 5 above - 11 MOA of correction at 508 yards - the shooter would use the 11th hashmark below the center of the reticle on the target as the point of aim at full magnification (16x).
Having ranged the target animal and having made the correction for elevation in the scope, you must make a wind call. Calling wind deserves a separate article. That said, there are several reliable ways to judge wind. I prefer to use mirage. If you’re looking through the scope and see the mirage boiling straight up, there is little wind. If the mirage appears at a 45-degree angle to the right, you can safely call wind value at 3-5 MPH, moving left to right. If the mirage is moving horizontal across the surface, then the wind is 5-8 MPH. There are many other indicators as well. Some shooters will look at the tops of grass or the leaves on trees for a clue. Grass will begin to move at 3 MPH and will whip at 5 MPH or more. Devote time to the study of the wind to become more precise. To make the wind correction in the reticle, note what the MOA value is for one MPH of wind. When making the shot, estimate the wind and multiply the MPH times the MOA value. With our .308 and the 165 gr AccuBond bullet, the ballistic solver says the wind correction at 500 yards is .40 MOA for one MPH of wind. Therefore, if I am on my target buck at 500 yards and judge the wind to be 5 MPH, I will hold 2 MOA of correction on the windage axis against the direction of the wind, using the subtensions in the same fashion as done for elevation on the vertical axis. (See Figure 6 for the correct hold using this reticle to make the shot at 500 yards – holding 11 MOA of elevation and 2 MOA of left wind correction).
3. Practice - Accuracy at 500 yards depends upon accuracy at 100 yards. You need ammunition capable of one MOA accuracy or better at 100 yards. Try different brands and bullets. If you handload, you should be able to develop a load tuned for your rifle. It’s not too difficult to load for a sub-MOA group.
After finding the load, locate an area or range where you can practice shooting to 500 yards or more. Shoot both paper and steel targets. Pick up a 1 MOA steel plate – that’s 5 inches in diameter (remember, one MOA @ 500 yards is 5”). Do not do all your shooting from the bench. Shoot as you would in the field – sitting, kneeling, from shooting sticks, etc. Place the target at unknown yardages and use the rangefinder and reticle to practice holdovers. In doing so, you will mentally condition yourself for the shot with the added benefit of memorizing your subtension holds at different yardages. Shoot in varied wind conditions and learn to use the windage subtensions to hold for correction. When you can consistently ring steel with confidence, then you can make a longer shot on game when it counts.
Good hunting, friends.