Are there any thread addressing this and if not is there anyone that has some shooting time with one that wouldn’t mind sharing some of their thoughts. TIA
Kestrel HUD
- Thread starter fili.herrera
- Start date
Fondled one but haven't shot with it. It's really big, didn't seem easy to navigate. I'll wait for gen 3 or 4.
I used one that I had borrowed. It serves a purpose to some but it depends on your intended use.
For competitions, I didn’t see the need for it. I use either tape or the edope card to write target distances and Dope on. No need for the expensive hud for that.
For a shooter/spotter scenario, I can see the use when the shooter is on the gun and a spotter has a kestrel in hand. The info displayed on the HUD via Bluetooth from the Kestrel could be useful to the shooter in that scenario.
Im sure there are scenarios I’m not thinking of but it’s really just dependent on your needs.
For competitions, I didn’t see the need for it. I use either tape or the edope card to write target distances and Dope on. No need for the expensive hud for that.
For a shooter/spotter scenario, I can see the use when the shooter is on the gun and a spotter has a kestrel in hand. The info displayed on the HUD via Bluetooth from the Kestrel could be useful to the shooter in that scenario.
Im sure there are scenarios I’m not thinking of but it’s really just dependent on your needs.
New Kestrel® HUD and Kestrel® Ballistics 2700
New for 2019 Kestrel® HUD, a companion device for your 5700, and the Kestrel® 2700 Ballistics featuring Applied Ballistics® Ultralite.
www.snipershide.com
I'm going to be using one on a PDog hunt the week after next with a Bushnell Nitro 1800 feeding my Kestrel the range. I've tested it the range and the system is quite responsive and should work good for a hunting application.
I've been running one for a while now (got one from the first batch) and I am really happy with it. I'll disagree with the poster above that said it's not great for matches, as that's exactly what I am using mine for. I can manage all of my data from the Kestrel itself (target distance inputs, etc) and they replicate to the HUD automatically. Easy to see and read in daylight, no more handwriting stuff (my handwriting sucks anyway), can set it up to show holdover/unders easily, battery life is excellent, and I always have a detailed DOPE chart right on the HUD in case of a Kestrel failure or a blind stage.
Just got mine in...I can def tell it’s gonna take some fiddling with to get use to but I can def appreciate its usefulness. It’s smaller than I thought it would be, even mounted on my 22 mdt chassis. So far I’m impressed. Guess it’s time for some more range time for practical use.
If you have a 5700 Elite, spend some time getting familiar with the Target Card page.
Thanks for the advice on it. So far I can see the utility in having this and of course the “cool” factor but it’s isn’t gonna be worth anything without practicing with it.
Overall I am extremely pleased with the kestrel 5700 in a weather vane mount + HUD combo for PDog hunting! The Bushnell Nitro 1800 worked well as a basic LRF, but did not meet expectations for a fully integrated LRF-Kestrel-HUD system. You can read my thoughts on that here and the Kestrel-HUD-Terrapin combination here. If you have the funds and want the fully integrated LRF-Kestrel-HUD system definitely grab a Terrapin!
One feature of the HUD that saved the day for me was the ability to quickly change the Target Range manually via the buttons!! The Nitro was just too damn slow communicating with the Kestrel, but it was super fast to range targets. Thus I typically had a firing solution within 10 seconds, even with manually adjusting the range via the HUD. Battery life is AWESOME! I had it on for three days straight ~7 hours per day, and I'm still nearly at full battery power. I found the display quite easy to read in anywhere from bright Sun to overcast. This is a short video of the HUD showing real time wind readings for a 90 degree cross wind DOF for my 55gr VMax load going 3200fps at 200yds. It was a bit spicy this day with 30mh gusts and temps in the mid 50's.
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Which terrapin do you have? I was looking into that and was leaning towards the Terrapin-X...TIA
I ran mine in a match yesterday and it worked great. I would recommend playing around with it for a while to figure it all out.
