My hunting partner and I have kicked this idea around for quite some time, and it has serious merit. I get to shaking my head at the long-drawn-out communication that often occurs between spotters and shooters. Not only is the dialog long, but it is also confusing to the shooter and poor performance in the field is pretty much guaranteed! When Ernie Bishop and I shot the WTRC shoot in Wyoming, we had great dialog and our performance was evident, taking 2nd place two years in a row at this difficult cross-country shoot. But, as the saying goes: "THERE is ALWAYS room for IMPROVEMENT." So, grab a cold one from the fridge and listen up! For those of you who have been to my shooting school, you will remember the SHOOTER READY, SPOTTER READY technique that we teach. It works pretty well and is easy enough to teach. However, it takes most students a couple of days to get it down. They always want to ADD UNNECESSARY WORDS to the dialog: Boy Jonas, that was really close, I'd just come over a bit more and let's try-er again. You'll git-er this time. Aaarg! The dialog does nothing for the shooter, it wastes time, and is confusing as hell! What's close? How much is a bit more? Am I out vertically or horizontally? You get the picture! The NEW SYSTEM we've developed is far simpler and very concise. ( As the KIWI's would say) Let's have a "GO" at it. Let's begin by identifying the players. The Spotter is called ALPHA, the Shooter is called BRAVO, Hold is called CHARLIE and DELTA is the word for FIRE. Using the phonetic alphabet makes it very simple; there are no confusing words that interrupt the shooting sequence. Once the target is identified (more on this in another article) the spotter calls out ALPHA; when the shooter is on the target he calls BRAVO. Both spotter and shooter are now on target. The spotter's job is to call the wind and let the shooter know when to fire. CHARLIE is the word for "HOLD," and as the desired wind approaches he can say CHARLIE CHARLIE (prepping the shooter to get ready). When the wind is perfect DELTA is uttered and the shooter FIRES. Here it is in real-time: ALPHA... BRAVO... CHARLIE... CHARLIE-CHARLIE...DELTA! Upon impact, the spotter simply calls the correction NEEDED to hit the "X", not the amount the shooter missed by. There should be NO confusion as to what needs to be put in the rifle. UP/DOWN 2-MOA, LEFT/RIGHT .5 MOA. Always call the correction in MINUTES or a FRACTION of a MINUTE. There is a bit of leeway here in how the correction can be done. The shooter remains on the rifle after firing the shot and CYCLES THE BOLT. When he is back on target he calls BRAVO (letting the spotter know he has acquired the target and is ready for any necessary correction, or whether it is necessary to shoot again). The spotter should know the "CLICK VALUE" of the shooter's scope (i.e., .250 or .5 MOA, or whatever?). He can call the correction in MINUTES (allowing the shooter to do the math, converting minutes to "clicks") Or, the spotter can do the MATH and the shooter just counts/feels the tactile clicks in his/her scope to make the required correction. The latter is the better choice IMHO. While keeping the target in the scope, the shooter feels the "tactile clicks" and repeats the correction back to the spotter. Keep in mind the shooter stays on target and SHOULD KNOW the direction (clockwise/counterclockwise) his/her dials turn to elevate and adjust wind without breaking stock weld to look at the dials.

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As a custom rifle builder, I get dozens of calls a month with individuals wanting me to build them the latest wonder-magnum featured on the cover of some gun rag. Typically it’s some gun scribe who is extolling the virtues of the new cartridge and how it kills more effectively than present-day choices. Bull elk, distant mule deer, and far-away exotics don’t stand a chance when shot with this wicked new development. Blistering muzzle velocities, zero hold-over to the next zip code coupled with BC approaching .999.

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Taking dangerous game seriously...