Tips for estimating distance?

[Extendo Clip]

I had a bird that was probably within range today and presented its head for a clean shot. But it didn't even cross my mind to pull the trigger because there were some trees and branches making it hard to estimate the distance; in the moment it felt like miles away. After replaying the event over and over on the drive home, I think he was in range. I could make out his eye separately from his head, and I could see the brown and black bars on his fan.

This brings me to my question: do you guys have any way of knowing when a bird is in range based on some feature of the bird? For example, would being able to distinguish the brown from the black bars on his fan mean he's close enough? Or being able to distinctly see his eye?

Thanks 

[howl]

I don't estimate distance to the bird. You mind can play tricks, filling in details you can't actually make out. That is one of the ways your brain makes up for less than perfect eyesight.

Instead, I pick out trees that I think are forty steps and shoot ASAP when the bird is closer than the trees. On a grade look at the part of the tree that is level with yourself. Do it over and over while scouting and hunting to get your eye in.

Forty of my steps is about 38 yards. Having a gun that will kill to fifty yards, and only shooting at forty steps means eye have at least a ten yard cushion to cover range estimation errors. You need the extra ten yards or more, because no matter how far your gun will kill, there is always the temptation to shoot too far. If your gun only does 40 and you shoot to 40, you will eventually underestimate the distance and spray a bird. I pick 40 as the max distance for ability to have a pattern that isn't crazy tight closer in.

I've never really regretted letting one go, but I have most certainly regretted taking an iffy shot. It's just not worth the risk. 

[Ontario_caller]

I place out 10 yards at a time , 10 yards is fairly easy to accurately judge. I do 10 , 20 , 30 to 40. I've done this for years while bow hunting without a range finder. Get yourself a range finder and see how accurate your estimates are you will be surprised how close you can be when done in 10 yard increments.
Or you can do as my hunting partner does and range objects or landmarks around him with a rangefinder when he sits down to call. He keeps mental note of that magic 40 yard mark and if the bird
Is at or inside this it's bang O.
Lots of ways to skin this cat, find one your most comfortable with and practice it in the off season.
Just a note, field birds are much harder to estimate when you have no reference points , obviously.

[kjnengr]

Extendo, being able to range the bird by being able to see some feature of the bird would greatly vary by eyesight.  A correlation that I could make would not translate well to you or anyone else.

Do you have a range finder?

I think the best way to estimate yardage is to simply get better at the skill of estimating yardage.  This can be done by "practicing" estimating yardage by guessing the distance of objects in your surroundings and then using a rangefinder to verify.  As you do this you will get better at estimating distance. 

As mentioned by Ontario_caller, learn to estimate distance in segments whether they are 10 yard or 20 yard segments.  Or you figure out what your max range is for your gun and then learn what that distance looks like.  Be sure to practice this in both open and dense areas as sometimes thick vegetation or open areas can play tricks on your eyes.

[Extendo Clip]

Extendo, being able to range the bird by being able to see some feature of the bird would greatly vary by eyesight.  A correlation that I could make would not translate well to you or anyone else.

Do you have a range finder?

I think the best way to estimate yardage is to simply get better at the skill of estimating yardage.  This can be done by "practicing" estimating yardage by guessing the distance of objects in your surroundings and then using a rangefinder to verify.  As you do this you will get better at estimating distance. 

As mentioned by Ontario_caller, learn to estimate distance in segments whether they are 10 yard or 20 yard segments.  Or you figure out what your max range is for your gun and then learn what that distance looks like.  Be sure to practice this in both open and dense areas as sometimes thick vegetation or open areas can play tricks on your eyes.

I see. I have been practicing this in open areas but today was in thick brush which made me think he was really far away.

[outdoors]

Iv always put a decoy out 20 big steps
If I don't use a decoy Iv made it a habit to have my rangefinder with me

[Sir-diealot]

I carry a small rope with a rock just big enough to keep the string from moving. I place it on the ground in front of blind and then walk out until I feel my fingers hit the tape at 25 yards and place my first decoy there and then walk to the end of the rope which is 30 yards and put my next decoy there or slightly to the side of the other decoy and then I know when turkey gets between those two decoys I am golden.

[1iagobblergetter]

Years ago I would put a stick in the ground at 20yds and 40yrd so I would be less apt to misjudge distance at a set-up . Also i would look at objects when i wasnt hunting and guess and then measure them out to see if i was right.After doing that and all the patterning I do judging distance becomes second nature.

[Marc]

I carry a small rope with a rock just big enough to keep the string from moving. I place it on the ground in front of blind and then walk out until I feel my fingers hit the tape at 25 yards and place my first decoy there and then walk to the end of the rope which is 30 yards and put my next decoy there or slightly to the side of the other decoy and then I know when turkey gets between those two decoys I am golden.

While I greatly enjoy your posts, I disagree with the decoy idea here...

When I use decoys, it is to draw birds into range, not to "range" birds.  Turkeys all too often hang up on decoys, and if a bird hangs up at 20 yards on my decoys that are 25 yards away, he is out of range (for me)...  That same bird hangs up on my 10-15 yard decoys and he is still in good range.

On the occasions when I do use decoys, I want them visible to birds (hopefully from multiple avenues of approach), and I want them close to me.

As far as judging range, I would agree with Howl and Ontario_caller...  Use the terrain and the landscape to judge range.  As soon as I sit down, I first note any direction that is unsafe to shoot, and then I look at where I can shoot, and what aspects of the terrain are within my shooting range.

I agree with both Howl and Ontario_caller, that judging a turkey can be a difficult prospect...  Sometimes our brains tell us what we want to hear/see, and seeing that fluffed up bird with a brightly colored head, he can look closer than he is... 

I pick out real estate that is in range, and I know when the bird passes "that rock" or "that tree" that he is in my comfortable range...   With foliage, trees can be helpful, cause if the top of a tree is 40 yards away, certainly anything on the ground in front of that tree is in range.  If you struggle with range estimation then get a range finder, and mark trees and rocks within range.

Admittedly, in the early morning hours my ranges are probably considerably tighter then when the sun comes up...  Things look further with less light, and as the sun comes up, I re-evaluate the terrain and my ranges.

And remember, that range estimation only comes into play when a bird stops coming closer...  Admittedly, these days I hunt alone most of the time, but I have been surprised in the past by hunting partners that shoot a bird (or shoot at a bird) that is walking towards us?  If a bird is slowly (or quickly) making his way towards me, I let him keep coming...  As soon as he passes one of my range markers, I know that if the bird stops coming closer, or gets nervous, or is approaching a physical barrier,  I can immediately shoot him without taking time to think about it.

[Sir-diealot]

I think rangefinders are useless for turkeys myself, they require to much movement in most cases to get on the turkey. (This may not be a problem with people like me that blind hunt) but why spend several hundred dollars on a rangefinder when I get the same advantage from a $3.00 rope?

I can see your point with they may hang up before the decoys, but if that is a worry you can move them in much closer to you. I put a turkey decoy with fishing line attached to it in front of my blind when I deer hunt in case my movement is detected by deer but during turkey season I don't like having them that close if I am on public land.

My max range is 30 yards, my eyes just arn't good enough to go any further. Same for bow hunting deer and I use this same kind of range thing for them with a twist, I use orange, blue and yellow markers set at 10, 20 and 30 yards around my entire shooting area.

I have an eye problem where I only see with one eye, not talking dominance here, everybody has that, I only use one eye at a time, that is why when I drive I make sure I am several car lengths behind to give myself a gap for error. I have had at least 3 eye surgeries when I was very young that I remember and have been told I had 5 Very cross eyed when I was young and some other stuff I never really understood but because of it I am horrible at judging distance, when I reach for something say a pen that somebody is trying to hand me I normally come up very short, sometimes even 2 or 3 times and then they just cram it into my hands so I have had to use little tricks most of my life to get around these problems and the decoy one is one that I think will work well for me, before this I would set up my decoys in the dark and think I was at 20 yards and then when they sun came up I was at maybe 20 feet. I do like there sticks shoved in the ground thought though.

[silvestris]

I have that moving around and placing markers is often counterproductive.

[Yoder409]

I don't guess anymore.

I carry my rangefinder.  When I setup, I quickly zap several distinct trees or other objects in my anticipated kill zone and remember how far they were.

Pretty easy.  Pretty quick.  Pretty effective.

[Cut N Run]

I regularly hunt the same spots on small farms and have ranged trees, logs, and rocks from each location.  At my old lease, I tied black cord around small trees about a foot off the ground 35 yards in front of a couple of the trees I hunted from often.  It definitely took the guess work out of determining range.

I bowhunted for deer since high school and got familiar with estimating distances and the ten yard increment method Ontario_caller mentioned is spot on.  Though it takes practice judging from the ground compared to up a tree.

Jim

[MK M GOBL]

I play my game up close, if I set a decoy it's 15-17 yards, (The bow is a bit different because typically in a blind and set 8-10 yards) In the timber no decoy, no blind I pick my sets so my kills are still in the under 20 yard game! I love having them in your face when I pull the trigger!! I also have a scope on my gun that will give you the under 40 yard range, Circle of Death

Timber Hunt and killed him at 17 yards!


MK M GOBL

[Marc]

I think rangefinders are useless for turkeys myself, they require to much movement in most cases to get on the turkey. (This may not be a problem with people like me that blind hunt) but why spend several hundred dollars on a rangefinder when I get the same advantage from a $3.00 rope?

You do not use the rangefinder to range a bird, you use it to range rocks or trees in the area (long before a bird comes in), so that when a bird passes particular landmarks, you know he is in range...

You do not need an expensive laser range-finder for this type of task...  You are not ranging a deer at 400 yards, you are ranging a rock or tree at 40 yards or less.  (My cheap optical range finder from the 1990's is accurate enough for this type of activity).

As a bow-hunter, this is likely not necessary for you...