Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

174 CAMPING AND WOODCRAFTa city man, in those days, wanted to practice with arifle at targets, he had to join a "schuetzen" society.(In Missouri the organized militia had no range, andnever fired a rifle except with blanks!) So we had tofall back on a foreign system that never yet hasfound so much as an English name. The schuetzenmethod did teach a man to hold steadily and to letoff delicately, and this is the A B C of marksmanship.But it stopped there. It taught the ABCforward and backward till the pupil became, perhaps,wonderfully expert in such exercise ; but it never gotbeyond ABC and Z Y X. It taught him to drivea nail with a bullet, offhand ; but nothing about quickfiring with accuracy, nothing about hitting movingobjects, nothing about judging distances and makingtrue allowance for them, nothing about aiming at aneutral-colored object that blended with its surroundings.Our men were "crackajacks" at drillinga squirrel's head, but only the few who took regularhunting trips in the wilderness had any idea of whatkind of a thing to look for if they went after deeror any other big game.Rifle Practice.—Times have changed. Civiliansnow can join clubs that have the use of militaryranges, where they can use practical weaponssupplied by the Government, at known and unknowndistances, deliberate fire and quick fire, resting atease or after a skirmish run. They may, if theychoose, rig up "running deer" targets. All this isexcellent practice for one preparing to go after biggame.If you are so situated that you cannot join sucha club, nor use a powerful rifle in your neighborhood,get a repeating .22, learn first to drive tacks with it(in a city basement, if need be), then take it outsomewhere that is safe for the purpose, and shoot atmiscellaneous objects, at unknown distances all theway from twenty to a hundred yards. If you canget a friend to roll a barrel for you down a bumpyhillside, try it at various angles—good training beforeyou go to shoot at deer on the bound.It is nractice. intellieentlv varied nractice. that