ORIGINAL: jlbspd
This is a "new" concept to alot of people, this scout setup idea, although its been around for yrs. To me there is no faster way to get on target and get a shot off. This is the reason swat teams / military around the world have gone to such a setup. FAST TARGET Acquisition is the name of the game when your hunting shorter range and heavy cover.
Try doing this with a standard rifle and a high powered scope. Example- yourdeeror whatever isin heavy cover, at close range and not sticking around for his picture to be taken
.... try this- Go out and pick up your rifle, pick a target at 50-100 yrds..think of this target traveling at aSTEADY pace as if it was on a mission and its in heavy cover. Now see how fast you can get your "high" powered scope with short eye relief on that target and pull a shot while its moving, before it would disappear. Some can do it, some think they can do it and others better not think about it at all LOL... It will be accepted by some and not others. It takes practice. The beauty of this is you hunt with both eyes open, another adopted training method of law enforcement special teams. This allows you to see everything else while staying on your target. Also, something ive found out is you can take a scout rifle or any rifle for that matter, fling it around, pretend going thru the motions, you then can take the scope of choice, peek thru it pretending its on the gun.... but it doesnt all come together until you mate the two together...then its true beauty...my opinions though
The trick to
FAST target acquisition with a scope mounted in the traditional spot is to
KEEP BOTH EYES OPEN, at least until you see the target in your scope. This is at least as fast as with the scope way out on the end of the gun, and a lot less clumsy! In addition, long eye-reliefscopes, even of low magnification, have quite small fields of view. IF you use a standard scope of similar magnification as a scout scope, the field of view is HUGE in comparison! I use a 6X42 fixed-power Kahles Helia on my elk rifle. It is plenty fast when you keep both eyes open, and I have no problem immediately acquiring targets as close as 25 yards in black timber with it the very instant the butt of that Ruger No. 1B hits my shoulder. Yes, it does require practice. Developing ANY shooting skill requires practice. Many people instinctively close their off eye. Then, they strt "hunting around" for the target while looking thru the scope with one eye. That is a BIG MISTAKE! No wonder they have difficulty finding a moving target!