Advice on choosing tactical reticle for long range hunting application

[KY_Windage]

The scope is not that critical. What is critical at long range is knowing the (nearly) exact distance.

Suppose an elk at 250 yards that you misjudge by 50 yards (you think it is 200 yds, or 300 yds. Assuming an accurate round shot off a good rest, you will probably still kill that animal, with either mistake.

Now assume the elk is 650 yds away and you make the same 50 yd error (you think it is 600, or 700). You will probably completely miss the animal.

Please also do not make the mistake of thinking that because you can shoot 6" groups at 600 yds off a bench means you are good to go on elk at 600 yds. The difference between the best field rest and a benchrest is usually significant.

 

[dthomas]

I have the same leupold scope on my deer rifle. I really like it, i don't do any long range hunting but wanted the extra magnification for target shooting. I also prefer sfp scopes for hunting. Tmoa reticle is a good duel purpose reticle. I think it is a great hunting scope that has long range capabilities but for a strictly long range tactical scope their are better choices.

 

[sscoyote]

I have also been fascinated with rangefinding features of reticles (stadiametric rangefinding), especially after my gunsmith told me of a 500-yd. shot he made on a coyote using a 6-284 that he'd reticle-ranged (he's a great story teller). He also convinced Mike Dowd to use the Duplex reticle on his VX-III years ago as a point blank range rangefinder by adjusting the magnification (and consequently subtension) to use in the old Steel Safari years ago allowing him to make fast shots on the 12" diamond steel I guess they used to shoot, and he actually won the match several times by applying the system--fascinating I thought. That was 20+ years or so ago and I have put countless hours into the stadiametric rangefinding systems using any number of reticles and even iron sights for the purpose--fun stuff. I have only ranged a couple coyotes using the systems that were successfully reticle-ranged and it worked out to about 500 yds. once as I remember and a point blank reticle-ranging system the other time. I have found the back to brisket measurements of game animals varies too much to make most reticle ranging unsuccessful, except for antelope which I've successfully ranged many times in the past (I get a lot of opportunity to test it whilst coyote hunting in the winter). The math behind the systems is very fascinating if you're the type who can get into it, and has more applications than just rangefinding. We once calcd the size of a target to .3" of it's true dimension at 1000 yds. using a mil-dot reticle at a magnification other than calibrated. We had to calc the subtension on a target of known dimension at 500 yds. (reverse-milling) then remilled the 1000 yd. target to accomplish it. Don't minimize this skill even if it's not that consistently effective on game. The more you know the better you'll be able to accomplish long-range applications.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Art,
You NEED a precise range on the animal. Using a reticle is a guesstimate, and useful for some applications. But its not a precise range to get accurate drop for the precision needed to cleanly kill game. There are so many factors involved when making the kind of shot your talking about that you want to stack the odds in your favor. I live in very open elk country, long shots are the norm, we do have to guess wind but not distance. I do prefer a moa hash mark reticle as well, but in a hunting situation I do not use it.
One thing hardly discussed about long range hunting is the rifles tune at long range. Im shooting a couple times a week at 1k with hunting rifles, tuning and working with the ballistics. A well built hunting rifle will shoot 1/4 moa at 1k on a GOOD day if you have it tuned. You need them shooting like that so they hold .5 moa on the bad days, and it does not take much at all to change the tune that much. Barrels constantly change tune through the day, the smaller sporter barrels have higher amplitude so when they start going out of tune they do it dramatically. At those distances your barrel harmonics can help you or hurt you. When the tune goes the wrong way you will see vertical you wouldnt think was possible! You will never see it up close. My point is, its a lot of work staying on top of a rifle to maintain peak accuracy at long range, having the ballistics working with the tune thats changing in weather conditions, learning to dope wind, and then making a good shot... it all adds up to errors. Distance is not an error we want to throw in the mix. Good luck on the scope choice, I think you will be pleased with the Leupy.

 

[Downeast]

I am no big fan of LR hunting by the "average" hunter. I have taken whitetails routinely out to 400-500 yards. But for every one I shoot I let a dozen walk. I use FFP tactical mil scopes. Vortex and Burris. The reason I use them is because they are on the rifles I shoot all year. Hunting season is short, so I use what I have and what I am comfortable with. I do range deer using my scope and reticle. I have measured the chest of hundreds of dead deer laying on the ground from spine to brisket (I was a game biologist for 30 some odd years). "Average" is 18 inches here in NC for adult deer. If I can "mil" an animal I can quickly estimate the range based on a simple home-made chart using this formula:
Size of Target In Yards X 1000 / Mils read = Range to Target (in yards). 18"/36" equals 0.5 yard X 1000/ Mils = Range in yards. Given enough time (30 seconds to a minute) I can get a good idea of the distance to the "target".

I also make myself a range card while I'm sitting in a stand or at a specific location using a range finder. I range distances to trees, buildings, parked farm equipment, etc. and record them on my card. Some of my permanent stands have a map with known ranges stapled to the inside of the stand. When I hunt an area for the first time I range whatever prominent landmarks are around my hunting location and within a few minutes I have a good idea of how far I can take a shot. For my regular old hunting rifles with duplex scopes I limit the range to 300 yards. That is my every day comfort zone. Then I use my range finder and record all landmarks out to 300 yards. If an animal is within this 300 yard zone he is in shooting range. Any animal outside that distance is "safe".

So, if you are going to shoot at animals at LR you really need to do your homework. I have access to a 1,000 yard range and for fun we hang known size steel plates at unknown distances. It's really hard to judge distance out beyond a few hundred yards so you have to "range" the plate and use the formula. The "game" is you get one cold shot at each target. It's a bit humbling to say the least. But if you can't hit the plate on the first shot you have no business shooting at animals.

 

[Delfuego]

@sscoyote Mike Dowd is a stud. But i'm pretty darn sure he and both kids all use LRF/Binos and graduated reticle scopes at Steel Safari these days. The technology is there and it's cheap $400 will get you an awesome range finder. There is no reason not to own and use one.

Plus the OP "is no Mike Dowd"

 

[sscoyote]

True that sir! Just thought I'd mention that the math is another piece of the puzzle that's good to know and does have some applications, and if you happen to be into it is quite fun.

 

[sscoyote]

Couple years ago I was at a match shoot and gave a talk on reticle-rangefinding. When we got back on the line next day one of the guys was actually interested in it and so we reticle-ranged the "500 yd." steel target with his Ballistic Plex reticle and were coming up long on the range by 40ish yds or so. We were thinking the "mil-reading" was off but I thought to check it with my laser and sure enough the lasered range was the same as what the reticle-ranging calcs gave us. Have had a number of these kind of experiences over the years.