Range estimation tricks anyone?

[Fatelvis]

Without using a rangefinder..........When estimating range to a target, do you use any special tricks/methods to make it easier or more accurate, like breaking the distance into equal smaller parts, using your thumb, picturing football fields,etc.?

 

[mbs357]

Eh...I've always had huge issues with telling distances, lengths, etc with my eye. Very bad at it. The best I can do is look at it, compare it to objects I've seen at ranges, and guess.
e.g., I KNOW that from where I was that day we were shooting, and I KNOW that the target was exactly 100 yards away. So I try to imagine the actual size of the object close up, and compare it to the size of the target, then their sizes at range...and guess.
It's hard. =(

 

[308win]

I use to play a lot of golf so on ranges up to 275yds or so I can usually get within +/- 5yds regardless of the terrain and at 100-120 or less I can get within 1-3yds. Over 300 and I need a mildot (both centerfire rifles have mildots). They aren't as fast as a laser ranger but they work if you practice.

 

[Dave R]

Somewhere in the first 100 pages of the novel "Point of Impact" is a very practical method of range estimation that'll work for hunting, or whenever there are critters around.

I'll mangle it in the retelling, because its been a while. But something about, if you can distinguish the eyes in the head, you're with 100 yards. If you can see other facial features, you're within 200 yards, etc.

Another one that worked for me when goose hunting is, unless you can see the white band on the neck plainly, you're outa range.

 

[sscoyote]

Been working with reticle ranging/downrange zeroing/windage systems for a couple yrs. now, and here's what i've come up with regarding the subject:

www.ottllc.com/specialtypistols/sp20.pdf

 

[4v50 Gary]

Confederates were taught the English method. They'd pick out an object (cannon, limber, man, cavalryman on a horse, house), estimate the distance, and then march to it. After a week or so of practice, they got pretty good or were washed out of the sharpshooter corps. When they were proficient on flat land, they tried the same over hilly terrain (and that was deceptive).

Modernly, if you're in the city, figure about 200 yards per long block and 100 for a short one. Count the blocks.

 

[Preacherman]

If you can see the shoelaces, you're too close!

 

[Bear Gulch]

If you can see the color of the birds plumage, you are withing shotty range (my dad taught me that one). If you can clearly see the critter's eye, you are within bow range.

This brings up General Putnam's order of: "don't fire until you see the white of their eyes". Try it some time. It is really close.

 

[birddog]

Bear....do you mean the critter's eye BALL? I can pretty easily see a deer's eye past 35 yards, but that's already past bow range.

 

[larryw]

I think Bear's operative word was "clearly".

 

[Joejojoba111]

A trick for longer ranges is to find a distance you are fairly certain about, then multiply or divide it to get the target distance.

eg1) I think that tree is 100 yds away, and the target looks about 3 times as far as that, so I guess the target is about 300 yrds away.

eg2) I think that meadow is about 600 yds away, and the target is about halfway to that meadow, so I guess the target is about 300 yrds away.

eg3) When I hold my arm outstretched in exactly this manner, with my head in exactly this position, then my extended thumb is about the size of a car/house/person/post at _____ yds, and the nail on my thumb is about the size of ______ at ______ yrds.

Come to think of it, for eg3) it might just be better to hold your hands together

 

[Horsesense]

I don’t think in terms of "number of yards" but in bullet arch.

I started out shooting lots of .22 from a rifle and had plenty of wide-open space to get good at shooting long shots. When I graduated to centerfire, my mind just built on what it already knew. I like to sight in a rifle at about fifteen yards and get to where I can put them all in the same hole then shoot long shots to get an idea of what the arch is. I burn up a lot of ammo until I get the hang of a new gun but I seem to retain the info. Of course if you change ammo you will have a learning curve.
I'm no long distance expert by far but I do ok

Edited to add:

During the civil war, they would start counting when the enemy guns would smoke and stop when they heard the sound to figure the yardage.

 

[Bear Gulch]

Clearly meaning you can see that glosssy, orb. My observation says that if you can see eye lashes it is at about 10 yards.

 

[Hardtarget]

A buddy of mine gave me this.
Thumb Range (man)
wider than thumb- less than 100 yd.
same as thumb- 100 yd.
half of thumb- 200 yd.
I don't know how well this works. Next time to the range maybe I'll get to take a look.
Mark

 

[natedog]

The front sight post on a Garand and an M14 is the same width of a torso at 100 yards.

 

[Fumbler]

I'm a forest management student (graduatiing in may) and have had a lot of field experience.

We use chains a lot. A chain is 66 feet, or 22 yards, and a square chain is a tenth of an acre, blah, blah, you get it.

Well, having paced off many a chain (12 paces-1 step for me and many people) I've kinda started gotten decent at estimating distances while hunting by guessing how many chains there are between me and the target. It's helpful in small game hunting, but I still suck at guaging long distances in open areas because I don't normally pace in open areas.

 

[Texian Pistolero]

I think it comes down to practice, practice, practice.

I've often thought of buying a laser rangefinder (cost not bad these days)

then walking aroung guestimating, then checking estimate.

In the '70's, I was in infantry officer training, and was doing call for fire on mortar range. There was an old tank hull down range.

I had read that a tank is so many degrees at a given distance, and tried using the milscale in the issue binos.

The instructor was really impressed when I nailed that sucker on the first salvo.(not sure that is the word.)

 

[lee n. field]

Pistol or rifle distances?

When I go out for walks I'll guestimate distances, then pace them out.

 

[Texian Pistolero]

RIGHT!

What "Lee N. Field" said!

Go to your local high school oval track. Find the measured 100 yards.

Learn what your measured easy (no strain) double step pace is for 100 yards.

(Last time I tried, I was 55 double steps for 100 yard.)

Then just estimate, then walk, then verify your estimate by pacing off.

Carry a small calculator if you are "numerically challenged."

If you focus, you'll get real good, real quick.

 

[Lee F]

I don't remember where, but I have seen a range card for sale out there somewhere on the NET. It had a series of graduated holes cut into it. If held at a full arms length the different sized holes would be filled by a 5' 10" man at various distances. Of course it had to be "calibrated" for your arm length with the help of a friend on a known distance course to be truly effective.

 

[4v50 Gary]

HorseSense mentioned the audio method and I recall that some Admiral used it too to guesstimate the distance. What Lee F described is a called a Stadia (Civil War vernacular) and a couple of us have been trying to get tin/brass smith Ted Cash to make one. One of the Berdan reenactors made one but it's for a man who is 5'8" or someone mounted on a horse. The chain kept it exactly 18" from the eye and you slid the bar until the man (mounted or not) fit into the scale at which point you read the distance. BTW, if you're looking a shorty like Phil Sheridan, you're likely to overestimate the distance.

 

[Texian Pistolero]

In basic,

I was taught the "flash to bang" (audio) technique,

but this is of little use to a sniper,

unless the bad guy sees you and shoots at you first.

but if so, you got other problems than range estimation.

 

[Fatelvis]

Im primarily interested in long range pistol-long range rifle distances (200-600 yds.). Thanks for your input guys!

 

[sscoyote]

I'll give u an example of range estimating using any stadia-stadia measurement in ANY optical device, such as plex reticle, mil-dots, even the cards with holes in them, or iron site meaurements as mentioned above. The mil-ranging formula is simply a generic formula that defines any angular measurement at 1 distance relative to another distance. All u need to know is the subtension measurement at a know distance then plug it into this "adapted" mil-ranging equation to establish a range chart for a particluar target size. (I'm copying this from a recent post on Accuratereloading.com regarding a guys Steiner binocs that had a mil-style dot-dot subtension of 5 mils or 18" @ 100 yds.)--

Deke, here's the way it would work with your binocular on say a buck deer (maybe 18" back-brisket). 1 of the permutations of the "adapted" mil-ranging formula is- target size (in inches) x 100/reticle subtension (inches)/quantity of gap target subtends in tenths of the total gap subtension (much easier to apply than it sounds), and if the reticle has 5 mil stadia, then that equates to about 18". If we substitute the figures we get the following:

18 x 100/18/1 gap unit= 100 yds.
18 x 100/18/.9 gap unit= 111 yds.
18 x 100/18/.8 = 125, etc.

only when the deer takes up .3 of the 5 mil stadia-stadia gap will it be of asny consequence really since that calculates to 333 yds., and many flat shooting rigs will shoot to that distance as a point blank range without havng an absolute need for a rangefinder.

Truth is if u use a scope with a plex or ballistic reticle u'd be better off establishing a backup ranging system with it than the binocs probably, simply by plugging the subtension (either x-hair to plex post tip, or post tip to post tip) into the above equation to make ranging charts for your reticle for different size game.

If u're gonna be trying to range targets for 1st shot connections to 600 yds. or so, i believe u're gonna have to get pretty accurate, and this adapted mil-ranging formula will give u the 2nd most accurate option to an optical device specifically designed for ranging. In my opinion reticle ranging is good to about 400-500 yds. with any degree of consistency, but i've successfully ranged targets to 725 yds. on occasion, and have heard of guys using it to 900+ yds.-- SOMETIMES!

 

[Malamute]

The best trick is a lot of field shooting.