Gun Practice:
Don't be a Bench Warmer

Gun practice and sighting in a rifle are not accomplished at the same time. Do some hunting-situation practice away from the bench rest.

Build a Stable Base Under You Rifle

Most of us think we know how to shoot a rifle if we've done it all our lives. However, there is much to learn about establishing a stable base before shooting that Dad may not have taught us. To prove that all we have to do is ask ourselves how many times we've missed when we shouldn't have!

If you attend a firearms training academy (highly recommended for anyone) like Front Sight Firearms Training Institute, or Gunsite Academy, etc. you learn that the prone shooting position is the most stable. Sitting is a close second, then kneeling. Standing is the least stable, especially without a rest. Of course, the circumstances of the opportunity will dictate how much time you have to get into position and the visibility of your target from a lower position.

Do Gun Practice From the Prone Position

Rest the fore-end of the rifle on your left hand (for right-handers) with your elbow beneath (not to the side) of the rifle. Tuck the butt of the gun firmly into your shoulder and rest your other elbow on the ground. Drop your cheek firmly on the stock. Your two elbows and entire lower body will provide a very stable shooting base.

Move Your Thumb!

This will keep you from pulling the rifle off the "bull's eye" to your "shooting side". If you shoot a little to the right (or left for left-handers), it may not be your scope or sights. It could be your thumb. Don't adjust your rifle scope for this error. Correct the error.

Use Your Pack for a Rest

The Sitting Position

This gets you very low. If your belly is making that difficult, try sinking your elbows into the V formed by each knee. This all gets you very low and stable in the sitting position. You'll have to take your breaths before sinking in, since this low position limits your diaphragm. Tuck in the rifle butt tight, relax, breathe and squeeze properly as described below.

Kneeling Position

Rest your butt on your right heel with the bottom of your right toes on the ground. As before, rest the soft part of the back of your arm (just above the elbow) on your kneecap. If you put your elbow on your kneecap it will wobble around. Take your breaths, lean forward, relax, focus and squeeze.

Relax and sink as low as you can into this position. Experiment with the foot that your sitting on during gun practice to see if you can make this more stable. Try sitting on the inside of your ankle instead of on your heel. Sink your leg down into the ground. The side of the ankle may be more stable, but will put more strain on your knee. I can't do it very long. A pack or coat between your butt and leg can make this more comfortable.

Figure out the best way to do this in gun practice, before you're looking at an elk in your sights.

Shooting While Standing

Be aware of your limitations in this situation. Personally, anything much over 50 yards is pushing it for me. Gun practice will let you know your limitations.

When there is no time for anything else and the distance is within your ability, face the target squarely (don't turn to either side). This minimizes the movement caused by the recoil. Square up your feet at shoulder width apart. Your right foot should be back a little from the left (opposite for us lefties).

Rather than dipping your head to your sights, always bring your sights/scope to your eyes while you are focusing your eyes on the target.

Give it a Rest

Try Shooting Sticks

It’s important to learn during gun practice how to shoot a rifle with shooting sticks. You'll find that you can easily lean bi-pod sticks forward or backward to lower or raise the front of the gun. It is not necessary to separate the legs of the sticks in order to do this. Get to know this procedure during gun practice, rather than in a hunting situation.

Tripod shooting sticks that are long enough to use standing up add bulk and more steps to set up from a broken down state. While standing, you’re rifle will still not be as stable as when your back side and legs are anchored to the ground, in addition to the sticks.

Resting the gun on someone’s shoulder is not a good idea. The shoulder volunteer is not that stable, no matter how hard he tries to be, especially when expecting the explosion. Common sense says it just isn’t safe anyway.

Put Your Brand on 'em!

During gun practice it might help to get in the habit of imagining your gun as a branding tool. You are going to “brand” a cross (your crosshair brand) on the target (animal or paper). Take two or three relaxed big breaths. Take another comfortably full breath and let half of it out. Then hold your breath.

Put the center of the “cross” exactly where you want it to be “burned on”. Once you have placed the reticle on the "spot", focus on the reticle. This will blur the target, but focus on your reticle.

Hold it steady and begin to squeeze, or "press" the trigger, while you imagine burning the cross on the target. If using sights, focus on the FRONT sight.

Marry the Rifle and Scope, Divorce the Explosion!

The explosion is the gun’s responsibility. The explosion is not your focused goal. Holding steady, focusing on your reticle while holding it on a very small spot on the target while you squeeze the trigger is your responsibility.

Good Follow-through

That's good follow through, rather than jerking your eyes to the side to watch the animal. During gun practice get into the habit of quickly reloading for a second shot, just in case.

If you have properly sighted in your rifle, the spot where you last saw your reticle on the target is where the bullet should hit, or below it if you had to hold high. When you've learned how to shoot a rifle well, you will remember the spot the reticle (or sights) touched when the gun went off.

When my youngest son started using the branding imagery, he began shooting accurately at the range and during gun practice. The improvement was dramatic. A couple of weeks later, after successfully tracking an elk herd, he was holding his “crosshair brand” on an elk at 275 yards. He used a stable tree trunk while he was on his knees for stability. He slowly “branded” the animal right behind the front leg.

As I watched through binoculars, the gun went off. The elk ran briskly out of sight into adjacent trees. I saw no evidence of a hit before it quickly disappeared. I asked him if the shot surprised him. He said it had. I asked where he last saw the reticle. He said, “Right behind the leg”. I told him, “Then your elk is down”.

The shooter divorced himself from the explosion and let it surprise him while he was still in the on-going process of simply focusing, holding and squeezing, while using the branding imagery. Sure enough, the elk only ran about 30 yards and dropped dead. The bullet hit at his point of aim. His very first elk was down.

Practice Hold Over

If you don’t know how far an animal is, but you know significant drop will probably occur, it may be safe to hold on or slightly below the spine, above the lung area.

With an elk, it’s best to get the bullet into the lung area to avoid having to track a wounded animal for long distances. During gun practice guess distances and check with a range finder so you know your limitations, preferably in the terrain you’re going to hunt in. Most of us find that we just aren’t that good at eye-balling distances, especially over up and down terrain.

Use a Small Caliber Rifle for Gun Practice

It’s best to avoid fast shooting with a semi-automatic rimfire, which teaches the shooter not to take careful shots. Take your time, just like you would with a big rifle, making every shot count. When you move to big guns, pretend it is a .22. Don’t anticipate the big boom! It should always surprise you.

“Stump shooting” or hunting small game is a lot of fun during the off season and keeps good shooting habits sharp. A gopher at 100 yards is tough to hit and requires good focus skills. Most summers two or three of us burn through a brick of .22 shells and eliminate over 150 gophers to the ranch owners’ delight.

There’s nothing worse than tracking a wounded elk until the blood sign disappears. Gun practice is an important key to successfully putting a bullet into an animal’s boiler room after all the hard work it took to set up the shot. Put the time in to learn how to shoot a rifle well and your chances of closing the deal rises dramatically.

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