Rhino Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 I'm a laser rangefinder user too but I also like to use it to guess yardages and then shoot the distance with the rangefinder to check my estimation. I find it to be great practice for honing my skills at estimating yardages. Sometimes you find yourself having to estimate the yardage in a hunting situation. This past weekend a friend of mine started pacing the distance from a stand he had just put up to a point and yelled to me what I thought the distance was right as he started pacing it off. My answer was it looked like 33 yards. The amazing thing was it was 33 yards. He was shocked. He didn't believe I hadn't already paced it off in the past but I honestly hadn't. Good thing he didn't ask me about the next one because I'm far from being perfect at this skill. Practicing with a rangfinder sure has helped though. My question is do any of you do anything to sort of hone your skills at yardage estimation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MonsterBuckMatt Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Re: Estimating yardage experience is the best tool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hutchies Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Re: Estimating yardage Yep no doubt it is a hard task. I normally mark some trees around my permanent stands at 20 and 30 yards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
too_pointer Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Re: Estimating yardage I'm like Hutchies, I will pace of some sort of tree, bush or something in several spots around me for 20 yards. I can guess 10 yards better when the deer is beyond my 20 yard marker. I don't shoot past 30 yards too_ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCH Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Re: Estimating yardage The best suggestion I can think of other than practicing like you mentioned, is to get 20 yards burned into your head. Know it by heart. Be able to walk into the woods, stop, look around and say "That tree is exactly 20 yards away". If you can do this, it makes yardage estimation a lot easier. Another thing to remember is what I call ground shrinkage. You'll be judging distance by how much "ground" is between you and the object you're estimating. Let's say the object is 40 yards out. Well, first thing I do is find my 20. From my viewpoint there is a lot of "ground" between me and my 20, but I realize the distance from my 20 to the object(20 yards farther) will not be as much "ground". A lot of people will find 20 and double it, but your perception of the last 20 yards will not be the same as the first 20. Hope I didn't lose anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarvDog Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Re: Estimating yardage Last year when we cut shooting lanes we did some distance measuring with a rangefinder and selected landmarks. This year, I'll be using a rangefinder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Re: Estimating yardage that why i have been shooting 3D all summer to practice yardage estimation.. but i also use a laser range finder while in my tree.. i then just zap a few spots to remember so that i can make the right shot.. i also did the same thing. i set up my target and then went into my practice tree to do some shooting. i estimated the range at 42 yards and it was 44 yards.. it was close enough that i still made all 10 ring shots on my target. you will find that if you are pretty good at estimating range from the ground that in a tree its easier.. if you can see the ground all the way to the target... i just see 10 yard increments easier form and elevated postion.. however i will be carring my ranger finder to my stand each day.. once i get to know every spot and what diostance it is i just go over the numbers while i sit there . but i have been known to use it on a deer and then make my shot.. i have done this twice.. mostly because i had plenty of time to make the shot.. Shoot Strong Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BowHunter81 Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Re: Estimating yardage I hunt private land and I have a bunch of nice stands set up. I have paced off the distance to my surrounding shooting lanes and I know what the range is at all my stands, after seeing the range, you start to be able to have better luck in unfamiliar areas as to what the distance is, but I agree, It is only done thru practice and experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tyshe17 Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Re: Estimating yardage I shoot 3d tourneys to help the guessing, but carry a rangefinder around my neck under my left arm while hunting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Re: Estimating yardage i just bought a laser range finder this year and man i used it to mark some shooting lanes this year with some help from my dad on the ground. All i can say is wow what the heck was i doing before this thing because i was way off on my thoughts of distance, I guess from a treestand 20 feet up things look alot diffrent to me now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowJoe Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Re: Estimating yardage My buddy and me planted food plots starting at 10 yds and ending at 30 yds. very accurate way of ranging the deer. Other than that, I want to buy a range finder just to be accurate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dg Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Re: Estimating yardage I do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeviShot Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Re: Estimating yardage I use those little flags like you see in crop fields.I have them color matched with my pin's.Green 10yards,orange 20 yards and red 30 yards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Re: Estimating yardage LOL--I do the exact same thing Alan! "Great minds........" Well, this year I'll be limited to yardages under 40 yards thanks to my piece of crap Nikon 400, and the wonderful customer service department of Nikon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronS Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Re: Estimating yardage The best practice I've ever had for distance judging is 3D tournements. I used to shoot them a lot and got pretty good at judging distance. Now with family commitments, 3D's are history. I rely much more on my rangefinder now than I used to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruttinbuc Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Re: Estimating yardage 3D is a great tool for estimating yardage from the ground at standing targets. Up in a tree and hunting a live animal changes the game immensely. The rangefinder is always with me. Like Tony i use it to mark distances where deer might show up. I also estimate the yardage to see how close I am. The field shots are real eye openers for mistaking the distance from the stand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest buddy ahart Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Re: Estimating yardage I cant afford a range finder so i gotta make due with paceing shooting lanes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illinoisbowhunter Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Re: Estimating yardage [ QUOTE ] The best suggestion I can think of other than practicing like you mentioned, is to get 20 yards burned into your head. Know it by heart. Be able to walk into the woods, stop, look around and say "That tree is exactly 20 yards away". If you can do this, it makes yardage estimation a lot easier. Another thing to remember is what I call ground shrinkage. You'll be judging distance by how much "ground" is between you and the object you're estimating. Let's say the object is 40 yards out. Well, first thing I do is find my 20. From my viewpoint there is a lot of "ground" between me and my 20, but I realize the distance from my 20 to the object(20 yards farther) will not be as much "ground". A lot of people will find 20 and double it, but your perception of the last 20 yards will not be the same as the first 20. Hope I didn't lose anyone. [/ QUOTE ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Re: Estimating yardage pacing the distance off works very well for you guys that dont have range finders.. i have found that my steps are just about dead on out to 50 yards... heres how to find out your stride distance.. walk at an even pace and even steps to a known distance .. dp this 5 times to get an adverage.. if possible do several distances to get a good adverage for your stride.... that should get you in the ball park somewhere... Shoot Strong Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stinger-Hunter Posted September 23, 2005 Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 Re: Estimating yardage Always have the skills to estimate yardage without any tools. When walking ot your stand and spotting a deer, you won't have time to whip out an extra gadget. Here's what you do. Go to a football field and count how many normal steps it takes to reach 100 yards. Only count your left steps. Do the same on the way back. It should be around 60 or so. For me, I know for a fact that every 6 lefts = 10 yards. I place my targets according to this when practicing my shots and I pace out 10, 20, 30, and 40 yards from any stands that I hunt. Then about 2 months before the season I will occasionally guess distances and then pace them out to see how close I was. If you already know how many lefts it takes to reach 10 yards then all there is to do is practice around your house. I also practice memorizing 10 yards and then double or triple it to estimate where 20 and 30 yards is at. I find this works well. If you have the time to use your gadget, then all the power to you but you should always be able to estimate without it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.