The above picture of my son, Eric, and I at the blackwood Sporting Company rifle range was taken the day before Father’s Day. The staff at Blackwood are very helpful and make us feel welcome each time we visit the range. They routinely place us at the end of the shooting line. This placement provides plenty of room to setup and allows us to be comfortable that the verbal aiming instruction is not intruding on any other shooter’s space.

Belated Thanks

This post to thank Eric for his hunting help is several months past due. On this range visit, Eric and I were test firing my deer rifle to verify zero. Back in January, after multiple trips to the range and two boxes of ammo, during the week before my first successful deer hunt, Eric accurately sighted-in the Accufire Noctis V1 sight. The final adjustment made had an x-coordinate equal to zero and a y- coordinate equal to eight.

Read on for more details about these important numbers.

Test Correction

As described on the Hunting page, At age 12, I selected the distracter answer for sighting in a rifle on the Nebraska Hunter Safety Exam. I answered you should adjust high and to the right if your shooting high and to the right. With the classic scopes of my youth, , making such an adjustment would result in you shooting even higher and further to the right.

When sighting-in the Noctis V1, you actually enter the x-and-y coordinates of where the bullet hits (point of impact) relative to the bullseye (Point of aim). This means, the final adjustment Eric and I made was to correct for a point of impact that was eight inches high of the point of aim.

What do you think, should I contact the Nebraska hunter safety Exam preparers and ask for a test correction?

Picture Perfect

To allow for the settings to be verified each time before a hunt, Eric took a picture of the dialed-in Noctis V1 settings. my hunting companion, Kirk Musgrove, and I referred back to the picture several times during a turkey hunt in April because power management and wi-fi connection issues cause the Noctis V1 to freeze. Each time technical issues occurred, troubleshooting was necessary to find a solution to make the Noctis V1 more stable.

Ultimately, we determined that while we were in the stand, it was best to run the Noctis V1 on an external battery without the removable batteries installed. This configuration was successful as a Blackbuck doe was harvested.

What Changed

Upon returning from the April hunt, Before locking my gun back in the safe, I was surprised to find a y-coordinate setting of zero-point-three instead of eight. I also was surprised during the June zeroing range visit to only have a point of impact one inch left and one-point-inch high of the point of aim at 50 yards.

Help Wanted

For two months now, I have been trying to get in contact with Accufire. I wanted to purchase their external battery solution and confirm the troubleshooting steps and work-around solutions are the best approach to make the Noctis V1 stable. Now, I also want to talk with someone to understand how the y-coordinate change and point of impact relate to each other. If anyone at Accufire reads this post, contact me at blindcaninesports@gmail.com.

Continuous Improvement

Before firing my first shot at an animal, I was concerned my blindness might add a variable to hunting that would result in a poor placed shot. Kirk and I have made three shots and ethically killed three animals. To continue our success, I need to better understand the technology, so each time we hunt, Kirk and I can improve our technique.

X-Sight

No, the x-coordinate did not change on my Noctis V1.

But, I did order a fourth generation X-Sight from American Technologies Network. Stay tuned to Blind Canine Sports, There will be future post related to testing the use of ATN sights from a blind hunter’s perspective.

Now, I need to go and order more ammo, so Eric and I can enjoy future range time. Thanks again, son!