Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

MARKSMANSHIP IN i HH. wuuu:^ lojWhen a deer Is running In the open, follow It withabout as you would a bird with a shotgunthe rifleonly don't "lead," that Is, consciously. At a hundredyards, a high-velocity bullet will reach him in thetime that it takes him to go, say, four feet, it yourrifle is swinging with him, you don t have to holdahead. And most shots at running deer are at ashorter distance than that. Try to catch him as heAnyway,strikes the ground at the end of a jump.beware of firing too high. Most of the time he is"hugging the ground" pretty close.In thick timber, don't try to swing with him—you can't see him well enough. Pick out an openincrthat he will cross, and fire the instant his headcrosses above your front sight (this is a general idea—"lead " In this case, depends on distance), ihenyou will, at least, not send your bullet whack intoan intervening tree.Although one may often get a chance for a standingshot, yet I think it Is best to spend most of one starget ammunition (at home) in snap-shooting.snap-shooting with the rifle I do not mean merelyglancing along a barrel and disregarding the sights.You must see your bead, and, in case of open sights,you must see' that the bead is well down in thenotch; but It Is snap-shooting to press the triggerinstantly when it first touches, or rather when itswings close to, the object that you want to hit,instead of waiting to swing back and steady down,as one would do when aiming deliberately. iosnap-shoot at the right instant, without pulling ottto one side, is a fine art.hJyThe main trouble, in such cases,^is to select theri-^ht spot to shoot at, and then to find it over thesights. With a deer, for example, the color is soneutral and the outlines are so indistinct, even ingood JIght, that a man's eyes can seldom distinguishthe exact spot that he wants to hit- Hejudges where it must be, from the general bulk oJtheanimal ajid the position in which it is presented.Where To Aim.—Standing shots, even at a con»