texasaggiebowhunter

WHEN I WAS FIRST UNSURE OF MY RANGING ABILITY IN MY HEAD, I WOULD TAKE A MEASURING WHEEL ADN MEASURE IN EVERY DIRECTION THAT I COULD POSSIBLY SHOOT FROM MY TREE. THEN AT LIKE 20-30-40-50 YDS I WOULD PUT TAKE A STICK AND STICK IT IN THE GROUND GIVING MYSELF A WAYPOINT TO LOOK AT FROM THE TREE. I HAVE ALSO SEEN GUYS USE SPRAYPAINT AND MARK THEIR YARDAGE. BUT THIS IS ALL FOR HUNTING. FOR 3-D YOU NEED TO PRACTICE PRACTICE THEN PRACTICE SOME MORE

robinhood11x

Hi zac123
It is illlegal in IBO to judge yardage with set pins other than the ones you use to shoot with.I judge yardage several ways and most of the comments given to you already are very good suggestions.Most importantly is to get to a 3D range and look at all Mckenzy targets that are made.
somtimes i will step off a yard at a time with my eyes out to 10 or15 teen yards then eye from the target back to the 15 .And i will step off the shooting stake to get different looks at the animal from the side.
Small animals look farther away, bigger look closer .Also each class has a max distance so if in hunter class 35 yards is all the farther a target can be .Remember that !!!


shootem straight !!!!!!

Arthur P

I wish you guys would turn off the flippin' caps lock. All that yelling makes my head hurt![X(][>:]

ewolf's method IS against the rules, but it's one of those things... Nobody can prove he's doing it unless he admits to it. Besides, when you boil the whole thing down to basics, memorizing all the sizes of all the targets and how they relate to the pin gaps and such... That's more work than just learning to judge yardage in the first place.

I like the increment method.

121553

I do it the same way Jimpic does it, I do it in increments but I use foot steps and one footstep equals that of one yard, so I ask my self, How many steps from the target to an object (rock,bush,ect.) between me and the target and then how many steps from this object to me?
I am usually pretty good at judging distance and its usually a little forgiving up to 30-35 yrds, but if your 5 yrds off beyond this range, it makes a big difference. It will all come to you in time and the more you do it the better you'll get, good luck, Bobby

c903

Visually judging distance without an aid can be difficult. Some learn, some never do. I sometimes believe that some people that are consistently good have mental range finder in their head

I have seen some shooters do fair while on the ground and in an area that does not have much visual obstruction and contrast. Get them in the fields and, especially, in a tree, the same people cannot even come close no matter how long they practice and are exposed to range-estimating situations.

I have never had a problem with visually estimating distance. If you ask me to verbally state the estimated distance, I can and I am usually very close or right on. However, when I am shooting I do not mentally register the distance in figures. I just feel the distance. I know that (feeling it) sounds strange, even untrue. Nonetheless, it is true in my case.

If you know that you just cannot estimate distance, and do not believe you will develop the skill, set up visual distance markers in your zones. For insurance, I sometimes use markers when the area I am in is hilly and overly heavy in contrasting objects, color, and light.

logs

Zak123, there are a lot of good suggestion here and I'll add one more beside the practice of quessing and walking it off until you get better at it.

Estimate the distance half way, than double it.

Most often your furthest target will not be more than 40 or 50 yards on the long side. Therefore if you can get a good grip on 20 or 25 yards you can estimate out to fifty with no problem.

I have a range finder for hunting but I continually practice estimating as I good for walks. I estimate the distance to the next tree, street sign or when inside the end of a hall or the next store in the mall. It is like anything else, practice pratice practice.

ewolf

Could someone point me to the page with the IBO rule that states you cannot use pins to judge yardage. I just cannot find the darn thing. I want to be within the rules.

Shockwave

I do a slight variation on the "incremental" method others have described above. The first thing I do is pick out something that I believe to be 20yds away. This distance just seems to jump out at me, since I shoot 20yds indoors in winter leagues and practice outdoors at 20 quite a bit. Once I've picked my 20yd object, I just step off in my head 5yd increments past that to the target.

A buddy of mine uses a method similiar to C903. He judges distance based on what pin he thinks he should use. After shooting a 3D target he can't even tell you what distance he shot it for. He'll say something like, "Oh, it looked like a long 2nd pin, so I held that pin a little high". The scary thing is he is a decent shot and I shot against him in several 3D shoots before we became friends and hunting partners.

So basically you need to practice and find a method that works for you. There is no substitute for getting out and shooting some 3D's, though. You'll find a method that gets you in the ballpark in no time.

Good luck ... Shockwave

Rack-attack

I use an ancient passed down form of range finding. Tought to me by my fore-fathers many moons ago.

Translated from the old writtings it is called.....NIKON

ampahunter

Got my morning chuckle---looks like 3D shoots began 'after' your fore-fathers departed, then ranging distances reverted to prehistoric calculations.