01-21-2019, 08:16 AM
2019-01-20
2200-2300
15F
5 MPH E
Goal: Cattle overwatch
Environment: Cool, very overcast, no moon ( I could not find even a hit of it and it rose at 5pm and sets at 7am, so it should be high in the sky, but nada ... that's how overcast it is !). Snow, drifts up over knees, so still very luminous from ambient light from safety lights in surrounding sections and lights from towns 10-40 MPH away bouncing off clouds.
Equipment: 65G(18) mk6 3-19x T3 ELD-M 123 PVS-9a kn253 Radius ELIR-3, RRS Tripod, Helmet 2 x PVS-14s, Illum and RGBW Vis light
![[Image: 39856902023_cfbf8452a7_h.jpg]](https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4874/39856902023_cfbf8452a7_h.jpg)
Activity: I took the helmet with the 14s but never turned them on. DIdn't need them. Even with no moon, the luminosity of the snow makes it bright enough to see by. Most of our snow is powder so it goes "scrunch, scrunch" when you walk thru it. If you go really really slowly, you can minimize, but almost impossible to eliminate completely and get anything done. The creek is running ... a thin sliver of running creek in the middle of the otherwise frozen creek ... so it still acts like a sound barrier. So until I crossed the creek, I was sound covered relative to where I was going. Got in to the apple orchard and the snow was deeper, so I went slow to minimize the scrunch. I could see fine and no critters in the apple orchard. Had to move thru some trees with overlapping branches to get where I wanted to be. I decided to break a couple of the branches, but did it slowly to minimize the sound Then crawled under 2 pairs of trees with overlapping branches and made it thru. GOt back up and setup along the fence between the apple orchard and the alfalfa patch where the cattle are. I feed two bales today, so I knew they would be out there working on them.
I had a 180 degree field of view to the north, west and east in the alfalfa patch. The cattle were to the north of me. I got pictures and distances in all three directions. I was on 3x most of the time and it seemed like a lot of magnification.
Someone before me, hung a toilet seat in a tree along the east edge of this pasture and I could see it find at 518yds and I dry fired on it. My hold is 4.2 up at 500yds so putting 4 mils at the top of the toilet seat, I covered it will 1 mil .. which is 18 inches at 500yds and I just measure my toilet seat in the house and whaa laa it is 18 inches !
As to wind, the wind was blowing from the East no more than 5 mph and I was shooting ENE so minimal effect, but I held a tiny bit right a quarter of the width of the toilet seat. I cranked up to probably 9x for this "shoot". When the gun is loaded I don't actually pull the trigger when dry firing, I just mentally set up the shot and aim and then go "bang" in my head. Not all toilet seats are shaped them same, but mine in the house is 12 inches wide over half its length, so actually I don't think this would've been a tough shot.
Back to doing my 180s. I would pan and halt and pan and halt and look for movement and anything odd looking. But other than the cattle I saw nothing.
Here is shot of cattle at 172yds ... the second bale is 25yds behind this one right along this angle, so we can't see it.
![[Image: 45907127385_fc977c0342_h.jpg]](https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4885/45907127385_fc977c0342_h.jpg)
Here is shot to the West ... 582yds to that clump of trees ...
![[Image: 46822108371_22974e1b1e_h.jpg]](https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4883/46822108371_22974e1b1e_h.jpg)
And here is shot to the East 518yds ... sorry for the fuzz ... I am terrible at handheld pics.
![[Image: 45907161505_9d4b2af48e_h.jpg]](https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4848/45907161505_9d4b2af48e_h.jpg)
The image was fine, I could see tree branches. I did not turn on the illuminator, didn't need it.
I wasn't cold either. I wore a light sweater over tee shirt, a light jacket over that and wet suit top over that. On my head I had two of the thin balaklavas and a team h. bump.
2200-2300
15F
5 MPH E
Goal: Cattle overwatch
Environment: Cool, very overcast, no moon ( I could not find even a hit of it and it rose at 5pm and sets at 7am, so it should be high in the sky, but nada ... that's how overcast it is !). Snow, drifts up over knees, so still very luminous from ambient light from safety lights in surrounding sections and lights from towns 10-40 MPH away bouncing off clouds.
Equipment: 65G(18) mk6 3-19x T3 ELD-M 123 PVS-9a kn253 Radius ELIR-3, RRS Tripod, Helmet 2 x PVS-14s, Illum and RGBW Vis light
Activity: I took the helmet with the 14s but never turned them on. DIdn't need them. Even with no moon, the luminosity of the snow makes it bright enough to see by. Most of our snow is powder so it goes "scrunch, scrunch" when you walk thru it. If you go really really slowly, you can minimize, but almost impossible to eliminate completely and get anything done. The creek is running ... a thin sliver of running creek in the middle of the otherwise frozen creek ... so it still acts like a sound barrier. So until I crossed the creek, I was sound covered relative to where I was going. Got in to the apple orchard and the snow was deeper, so I went slow to minimize the scrunch. I could see fine and no critters in the apple orchard. Had to move thru some trees with overlapping branches to get where I wanted to be. I decided to break a couple of the branches, but did it slowly to minimize the sound Then crawled under 2 pairs of trees with overlapping branches and made it thru. GOt back up and setup along the fence between the apple orchard and the alfalfa patch where the cattle are. I feed two bales today, so I knew they would be out there working on them.
I had a 180 degree field of view to the north, west and east in the alfalfa patch. The cattle were to the north of me. I got pictures and distances in all three directions. I was on 3x most of the time and it seemed like a lot of magnification.
Someone before me, hung a toilet seat in a tree along the east edge of this pasture and I could see it find at 518yds and I dry fired on it. My hold is 4.2 up at 500yds so putting 4 mils at the top of the toilet seat, I covered it will 1 mil .. which is 18 inches at 500yds and I just measure my toilet seat in the house and whaa laa it is 18 inches !
As to wind, the wind was blowing from the East no more than 5 mph and I was shooting ENE so minimal effect, but I held a tiny bit right a quarter of the width of the toilet seat. I cranked up to probably 9x for this "shoot". When the gun is loaded I don't actually pull the trigger when dry firing, I just mentally set up the shot and aim and then go "bang" in my head. Not all toilet seats are shaped them same, but mine in the house is 12 inches wide over half its length, so actually I don't think this would've been a tough shot.
Back to doing my 180s. I would pan and halt and pan and halt and look for movement and anything odd looking. But other than the cattle I saw nothing.
Here is shot of cattle at 172yds ... the second bale is 25yds behind this one right along this angle, so we can't see it.
Here is shot to the West ... 582yds to that clump of trees ...
And here is shot to the East 518yds ... sorry for the fuzz ... I am terrible at handheld pics.
The image was fine, I could see tree branches. I did not turn on the illuminator, didn't need it.
I wasn't cold either. I wore a light sweater over tee shirt, a light jacket over that and wet suit top over that. On my head I had two of the thin balaklavas and a team h. bump.