Field Marksmanship for Hunters

We'd been stalking the gemsbok herd for more than an hour before we finally got into range. My client got on the sticks and found the bull's shoulder in his scope, but the shot never came. I was focused on the bull in my binocular when I noticed the sound of his rapid, labored breathing.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

He nodded quickly, but he didn't look so steady, so I distracted him with a question about his scope setting and edged in a little closer. I told him to take a deep breath and offered him the use of my shoulder for his right elbow. He didn't seem too enthused about my offer, but once he settled in behind the gun again, he rested his right elbow on my shoulder, took yet another deep breath and squeezed the trigger, dropping the broad-shouldered bull within a few steps of where it stood at the shot.

Later I asked him if my shoulder made a difference, and he nodded enthusiastically. "It made me a whole lot steadier."

That shot led to much discussion around the campfire that night. Though we all agreed on the merits of the shooting sticks and most of the seven hunters I had in camp were pretty well versed in basic shooting positions, none had spent much time mastering the basic field positions, nor had they given much thought to how to use their surroundings to make those positions even steadier.

Building Blocks
Every hunter should be comfortable with the four basic shooting positions: offhand, kneeling, sitting and prone.

Offhand is the least stable position, but Murphy's Law dictates that it's the one you'll be forced to use most often in the field. A proper offhand stance starts with the shooter facing 90 degrees to the right of the line of sight (opposite for lefties), feet shoulder-width apart, weight evenly distributed on both feet. Your right (support side) elbow should be parallel to the ground, your support hand should be directly under the rifle's fore-end so its weight is supported with bone, and your head should be erect. Always keep your head erect and bring the rifle up to your face, not the other way around.

The kneeling position is stable and fast to assume. Simply face right and go down until your right knee touches the ground. Your left elbow should be directly under your rifle and just ahead of your knee so there is no bone-on-bone contact. Kneeling is a great hunting position because it is high enough to allow you to shoot over low brush and long grass.

Sitting is more stable than kneeling because it allows you to rest both elbows just inside of or in front of your knees. You'll have to experiment with this one a bit to get the right position for your body, but once you get it down, you'll be amazed at what you can do from a solid sitting position.

A good prone position is nearly as stable as any bench rest. But a proper prone position isn't the half-cocked position you're probably used to seeing. The prone position has your body, rifle and target all in perfect alignment.

If it's done properly, you shouldn't have to move the gun much to get on target. At the shot, your rifle should come straight back into your shoulder and back on target. If you're not perfectly aligned, your rifle will kick off to one side or the other. You can shoot very well from prone with nothing but your arm for support, but you can do some serious precision work if you can rest your fore-end on a rock or day pack.