Clicking is usually the most precise way to make long shots. An elevation dial customized for your load, such as the Leupold CDS, greatly simplifies the process. (Photo courtesy of Leupold)
June 27, 2025
By Richard Mann
“Hold on hair, never on air.” That’s some of the great advice from Craig Boddington’s latest book, “50 Great Stalks.” Basically, it means do not shoot from so far away that you must utilize a shooting technique or tool to compensate for trajectory or wind. Of course, with today’s high-velocity cartridges, precise-shooting rifles and high-tech optics, hunters are shooting at previously unimagined distances. There are several effective techniques for this, but what many don’t realize is the oldest of these is the one you should be most familiar with. Let’s examine the most common distance-shooting techniques and tools, and the pros and cons of each.
KENTUCKY WINDAGE This approach has been around as long as we’ve been shooting rifles. Kentucky windage refers to any shooting where you aim at a point other than where you want the bullet to hit, to compensate for bullet drop or wind. In fact, hunters using more modern tools and techniques, like ballistic reticles and target turrets, still often use Kentucky windage, too. For example, if you’re using a ballistic reticle and the target is at 325 yards, but your reticle’s aiming points are set for 300 and 350 yards, you could hold the 300-yard aiming point a bit high, or the 350-yard aiming point a bit low. Similarly, if you’ve clicked in a shooting solution with your elevation turret and missed slightly left due to wind, you might hold just a tad into the wind—off your desired point of impact—for your follow up shot.
Last year, I was watching a waterhole in Africa, just east of the Orange River in the Northern Cape when in sauntered a big warthog. I’d outfitted my rifle with a traditional scope with a duplex reticle and zeroed it at 150 yards. At the distance I’d ranged the warthog—245 yards—I knew my bullet would drop about 8 inches. So, I aimed just above the killing spot, with a bit of daylight between the reticle’s horizontal wire and the warthog’s back. He dropped at the shot.
Practically speaking, of all the distance and windage shooting techniques, Kentucky windage is the most important to master. This is because in hunting you often must act quickly for a first shot and even faster for a follow-up shot. There may not be enough time to be clicking around, and as already mentioned, your ballistic reticle might not provide the exact correction needed.
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BALLISTIC RETICLES Right around the turn of the last century, Burris introduced the Ballistic Plex reticle with four additional aiming points located along the reticle’s bottom, vertical wire. This was not a new concept, but it was the first time a manufacturer incorporated it into a non-custom riflescope. Before the Ballistic Plex, we had Mil-Dot reticles, but Mil-Dots don’t directly correlate to trajectories; they’re just consistent measurements. The Ballistic Plex was brilliant because the additional aiming points correlated to common bullet trajectories, usually at 100-yard range increments. It gave hunters an immediate reference for shooting at distances, and they could still hold on hair, just not with the center of the reticle.
Carefully obtaining and recording your DOPE is a critical aspect of using target turrets and clicking in your shooting solution. (Richard Mann photo) Soon, other manufacturers followed suit with their own versions, and the concept has evolved greatly since. In some cases, not only will ballistic reticles offer trajectory compensation, but they may also have horizonal lines as opposed to dots you can use to compensate for wind. Of course, the downside to the ballistic reticle is that it will not perfectly match your bullet’s trajectory. A 400-yard aiming point with your rifle/load combination might instead be on target at 382 yards.
A trick to making a ballistic reticle work better for you is to sight your rifle in at the farthest distance using the aiming point for that distance. You’ll be dead on at long range and only slightly off at closer distances where it doesn’t matter as much. I like ballistic reticles, but only if they’re simple. Complicated reticles can confuse you when you’re under the stress of a tough shot or aiming at a trophy animal.
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I was using one of my Scout rifles to cull springbok in South Africa when my PH spotted a lone ram. He’d ranged it at 412 yards, which is a poke for a Scout Rifle. However, I’d outfitted mine with a Burris 2-7x32 Scout scope with Ballistic Plex reticle. Also, because I’d worked with the combination on the range, I knew my bullet’s drop and the distance each aiming point correlated to. I’d zeroed my third aiming point dead on at 400 yards, so I applied some Kentucky windage, held on the springbok’s back, and the bullet drilled him through both lungs.
CLICKING With target turrets, you click a shooting solution into your riflescope so you can “hold on hair” no matter the distance or wind. But for this to work, you must have a DOPE—data on previous engagements—chart so you’ll know your bullet’s exact drop and wind drift and the clicks to correct for it. Clicking is absolutely the most precise way to make shots at long range because there’s no guessing and because you’re not relying on aiming points that do not exactly corelate to the distance you’re shooting.
One problem with clicking is you must conduct a lot of shooting—practice—to establish your DOPE. Ballistic charts and apps can get you close, especially if the range isn’t very far, but they’re not a replacement for actual confirmed data. Another problem is you must make the correct number of clicks. This might seem obvious, but just like you can get confused with a ballistic reticle and use the wrong aiming point, you can also read your DOPE incorrectly and/or input the improper shooting solution into your riflescope. Swarovski offers a factory custom and user-customizable turrets with its new Z5i+ riflescope, and both can reduce confusion.
In hunting, shot opportunities may be fleeting. You should be able to quickly compensate for bullet drop using Kentucky windage. (Richard Mann photo) On another cull hunt in Africa, my son was taking a 548-yard shot at a blesbok ram. We had the DOPE for the distance, guessed as best we could on the wind and clicked in a shooting solution. But he missed, just in front of the ram’s chest. The ram looked like he was going to bolt, and there was no time to be clicking around. I gave my son a quick Kentucky windage call, and he drilled the blesbok with the next shot.
THE BOTTOM LINE Whichever method you plan to use, know your bullet’s trajectory and wind deflection. This is how you determine which aiming point in a ballistic reticle to use, and how many clicks you must apply. It’s also what lets you apply Kentucky windage, by itself, or in conjunction with a ballistic reticle and/or clicking. Cool tools can help you shoot more precisely at distance, but they’re not shortcuts. There’s no substitute for practice on the range and becoming intimately familiar with your rifle/load combination’s external ballistics. It’s a fundamental element of being a hunter and a rifleman.
This article was featured in the May 2025 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe .
