Shooting with a thermal, quickly judging distance can be very tricky. My thermal has a built in laser range finder, but I don’t always have time to use it. Yesterday I got to find my maximum distances with holding center of target. The targets were 8 inch round gongs, which is roughly the size of a pig head or coyotes body. From 50 to 285 yards I was able to hold center of target and still hit the target. This was using a 55 grain fmj from a 16 inch barrel with SiCo Omega suppressor. 285-350 required hood over with 350 requiring me to hold top of the plate. Pretty fun and good learning experience, makes me much more comfortable with rushing the shots when necessary.

Carry on.

P.S. an 8 inch plate at 350 yard through a thermal looks teeny tiny

Although you didn't mention it, I'm assuming you're shooting a .223 based on that bullet weight. The numbers you quote also fall in line with what the Nikon Spot On app quotes for the weight bullet and caliber for a 250 yard zero. 4.1 inches low at 300 yards would still hit an 8-inch plate at 285. Maximum height above target of 3.5 inches at 150 yards. 3.3 inches high if limited to a 100 yard range.

5.56,,, close enough for government work

That’s a good practice that more people should use. Myself included.

5.56, 5.57......whatever it takes.

MPBR, you have to know it. A lot of times you don't have time to do anything but acquire the target and pull the trigger in a hunting scenario. Good work.

Being able to quickly gauge the target distance is equally important. Google Earth Pro has a distance measurement tool that can be used to determine the distance between your stand and specific points on satellite images. Of course, the same can be found in the field ahead of time using a range finder. It was only after I began hunting open pasture land that I realized the difficulty in gauging distance with nothing for the eyes to use for reference. At least to me, deer appear much farther away when there are no objects around them the eyes and mind can use for reference, especially in low light situations.

I hunt a lot of “new to me” properties at night and seldom have the opportunity to see the place during the day, and never hunt from a stand or single position. So knowing this information for me is absolutely critical.

That’s a sweet idea. Something I need to do for sure.

An area chosen at random just to show how the distance measurement tool works...

It works with a regular scope in the daytime too. MPBR is by far the easiest and most efficient way to shoot under 400 yards. If you know your rifle and the approximate range it’s amazing how accurate you can be in the field. No calculations, no charts, no dialing needed.

It’s so simple it doesn’t get a lot of ink spilled about it or generate long forum discussions, but it just works.

It’s simple and useful, yes. However, way too many people rely on “wives tales” that they heard from their grandfather that the 30-06 he shot in 1958 sighted in 1 inch high at 100 yards is still MPBR at 300 yards, they take that as gospel and never actually practice it.

Where would a 30-06 that’s 1” high at 100 be at 300?

Depends on the cartridge, bullet, and rifle. Typically rifles are sighted in higher than that to get the largest window or “tube” for MPBR. Mine are 3” high at 100 yards. I know what each will do in 50 yard increments out to 400. Beyond that is where more “mechanical” precision methods are needed.

I will just stick to dialing it. Too easy. With a thermal BP is right. That is impressive.

On the contrary, there have been many long and involved ‘discussions’ on MPBR vs. dialing on here and many good points were made.
They both have their place. I agree with Big Pig in that many that practice MPBR do so because of what they have heard vs. what they have learned for themselves about their rifle/ammo combination.

I cant answer since I dont sight in 1" high at 100. My 3006 IF 1" high at 100 would shoot under the deer if aimed dead center.
Mine is sighted in 2.25" high at 100 and its dropping pretty good at 300. I have to start holding a little high after 250 and I have to really know the distance and feel real good about everything before I shoot further than that. Im good with getting closer or holding off if they are that far.

Speculating on approx. 2900 FPS, a rifle sighted in 1” high at 100 yards would shoot approx. 6.5” low at 300.

Sure folks argue about what method to use, but there’s not much need to discuss ad nauseum what the MBPR method is and how it works. It’s simple. You set your scope correctly and kill stuff.

I’ll agree that from 300-400 some might want to dial if it’s too much for them to remember one or two holds. But every time I see some dude on TV breathlessly asking “What’s the range?”, getting an answer of “216”, and then feverishly turning a scope dial as an animal is walking away or about to bolt - it makes me cringe. Quit wasting time dialing, concentrate on the shot, and kill the animal. Dialing at that distance in the field is like having to use GoogleMaps to find your way home from work every day.

I concur. But that doesnt mean i want to turn this thread into a dialing debate. To each his own.

I tend to believe that what has been described on hunting shows (distance ?, dialing, etc) is done mostly to add drama for the audience.
Other than that, NP, I agree with what you are saying when the ‘shorter’ distances are involved.

I think the drama is part of it and showing their optics sponsor, these shows are in a large part advertisements. Out to 350 yards which is my longest safe shot where I hunt mostly these days no need to dial just know your ammo, gun and self along with distance. Using that I have killed deer and pronghorn a bit past 500 yards with confidence and one shot each. The older scopes were not reliable enough to dial 30 years or so ago.