Resources Be a Better Field Target Shooter in 15 minutes- Bracketing with Bill Rabbitt

[Franklink]

Yeah like I said, if a guy shows up, "heavy on the bracketing, and light on the range by focus" they're gonna have a frustrating day.

I'd be frustrated if I only knocked down the one target that could be bracketed.

 

[Scotchmo]

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I'd be frustrated if I only knocked down the one target that could be bracketed.

Only one target? That’s an exaggeration. You would likely do a lot better than that. Even being “light” on focus range finding, someone would knock down a fair share. Though unlikely to win. I’ve shot UKHFT matches with fixed focus and no cinder blocks. Just guess the distance. Still hit enough to be fun. Try just guessing all the distances at the next match. You’ll be surprised at how many you will hit.

 

[Franklink]

Only one target? That’s an exaggeration. You would likely do a lot better than that. Even being “light” on focus range finding, someone would knock down a fair share. Though unlikely to win. I’ve shot UKHFT matches with fixed focus and no cinder blocks. Just guess the distance. Still hit enough to be fun. Try just guessing all the distances at the next match. You’ll be surprised at how many you will hit.

The "one target" was referencing your example.....

Don’t go light on either. I find utility in the possibility that even one target has a convenient target feature on which to bracket. And even when there are none, I’m still OK. That’s why we should be prepared to focus range find as well as bracketing.

My comment was that bracketing has limited utility at matches I attend because MANY of the targets are missing the magic 2x6 or cinder block. Even when there's a cinder block in our woods matches, it'll be intentionally covered in leaves and/or other forest detritus.

I've never bracketed a single target in a match.

Like I said originally I can see how bracketing would be great for places where somebody is making an effort to make bracketing possible by conveniently placing a reference object right at the target, but not very useful otherwise.

 

[Scotchmo]

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I've never bracketed a single target in a match.

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Put the necessary preparation effort into it, and then actually try it. Then you’ll be better qualified to judge it’s utility.

As explained in the video, many will find some benefit in knowing how/when to use bracketing in field target.

I’m presently setting up a 60x scope for WFTF. Though it already focus range finds well, I’m finding the 40mm kill zones that will be on all targets past 35 meters to be a quick reality check for the focus range finding.

 

[Franklink]

I've never bracketed a target because I haven't needed to.

50 and 55 are the same thing at 19fpe. Even 47ish through 55.....Good wind read and steady hold and it'll go down.

Unless something catastrophic happens, my typical match is 95% or better knockdowns. When I miss it's a jerked shots or misread wind or a brain fart where I held in the wrong place in the reticle, not because I thought it was 48 yards when it was really 52 yards.

But, AGAIN, if you're struggling to make targets fall, and have the benefit of a 2x6 or a cinder block match, by all means, have at it.

 

[Scotchmo]

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50 and 55 are the same thing at 19fpe. Even 47ish through 55.....Good wind read and steady hold and it'll go down.

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Theres some truth to that. And definitely doable these days with the 16x scopes in Hunter Division. That’s why I like 20fpe. When we were limited to 12x scopes, I relied on bracketing more often.

Good that you typically shoot 95% or better, so you don’t need it. That’s very rare for me.

 

[Franklink]

12x was VERY hard. Knockdown ratios of the Hunter winners went up drastically when the change to 16x occured.

I remember winning monthly Hunter matches with scores around 38/48 back in the 12x days.

Now that it's 16x, you best not miss more than 1 or 2 or at most 3, or you're gonna be down the rankings a few slots.

So yes, I agree. With downrange features that could be bracketed, I can see how that method could be MUCH more useful in those times of 12x.

 

[Franklink]

Good that you typically shoot 95% or better, so you don’t need it. That’s very rare for me.

Thought I better fact check myself so looked up the match reports from where I shot sub20 fpe ft matches last year....Normally shoot in more matches in a year than this.

The Duncan and Luna matches usually have Ts in the 32-36 range, while the Mormon Lake are usually a bit lower, id bet they average 28-32Troyer.

Duncan April 2023 = 49/52 Open
Luna June 2023 = 50/52 Hunter
Luna July 2023 = 58/60 +4 Hunter
Mormon Lake June 2023 = 45/48 Hunter
Mormon Lake Sept 2023 = 45/48 Open

247/260 = 95%

Edit: just remembered that I shot in a match @ Rio in November. 53-60, Hunter. Hard match that day. High overall was a 55/60.

So with that Rio match included, I'm not quite 95% for 2023.

300/320 = 93.75%

 

[Scotchmo]

12x was VERY hard. Knockdown ratios of the Hunter winners went up drastically when the change to 16x occured.

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Though this is off topic, it’s related to what you said there. Higher top scores might not all be the result of allowing 16x scopes. There are also now more standardized courses with lower difficulty for the hardest targets. And those are the targets that even top shooters would often miss.

You don’t see any 60T targets these days. And with a 1” at 50yds, if your ranging was off by 2yds, it was probably a miss. No matter how well you read the wind.

During my early years of FT: