Then she] threw herself into her lovers arms.
The bull came crashing down, throwing foam and blood over Fays trousers….
In pre-war Kenya, John Hunter often had to fire quickly, offhand.
Errant shots could bring lethal penalties.
Of a rhino encounter, he wrote:
A bullet from my right barrel hit him above the brisket.
The [next] shot hit him fairly below the ear, and he went down.
At the same moment [another rhino] tore past … my scout hanging on his horns.
[It was] almost impossible to deliver a killing shot without hitting the boy.
[But not firing could doom him too.]
I fired for the rhinos shoulder.
Anxious moments later, he found the lad intact.
Whatever the stakes, every offhand shot starts before you pull the trigger, before you aim.
Good or bad, its slave to your footprint.
A bullet goes where your feet direct.
No one avoids offhand shots more assiduously than I.
The more contact with Mother Earth, and the lower my center of gravity, the better.
Denied a lizards-eye view, I sit.
Kneeling, a bit more wobbly, brings sight-line and bullet path over higher brush.
About all you’ve got the option to say for offhand is that its fast.
Your body will naturally relax at the shot.
If youve forced it on target, relaxing sends the bullet off the mark.
In my youth, Herb Parsons worked his magic over a table of assorted firearms.
Hed hurl oranges pell mell, pulp them with bullets from a .30-30.
Stationary marks got no mercy.
Hed drain a Winchester .351s 10-shot box from the hip, dicing 10 clay targets set on edge.
They arent hard to hit, folks, hed laugh, just easy to miss!
Herb hunted with Hollywood stars Clark Gable, Roy Rogers and Andy Devine.
He did the stunt shooting forWinchester 73, starring Jimmy Stewart.
Waterfowling, he liked small-bore guns.
At last, Herb put the .410 pump aside.
Your turn, he grinned.
A hunting guide observed: That man was a machine.
On July 19, 1959, during hernia surgery, Herb Parsons suffered a blood clot.
Yes, Parsons was gifted.
So too predecessors Annie Oakley, B.A.
Bartlett and Ad Topperwein.
In 1907, with Winchester Model 1903 .22s, Ad splintered 72,491 of 72,500 tossed 2 14-inch wooden blocks.
Half a century later Tom Frye took a run at that record with a Nylon 66.
Of 100,010 thrown blocks, he missed six.
Timing completed the effort.
Most field shots can also be taken from steadier positions than offhand.
When hunting, I look as much for places to flop prone as for animals to shoot.
But you cannot predict how your next chance will come.
Despite my best efforts, three of my last four elk were taken offhand.
Because were all built differently, an ideal stance is hard to pin down.
It can vary with shooting style, terrain, even the rifle.
In defensive-style shooting with AR rifles like Springfields SAINT, many shooters square up, almost facing the threat.
Knees are not locked.
Moving game begs a forward lean, adding weight to the balls of the front, pivot foot.
Rifles that set you on your heels in recoil can be controlled with a broader stance.
But to ensure against having to step back at the shot, some shooters lean steeply forward.
Recoil that urges a step back also delays recovery, whether or not you take that step.
A step neednt retard an aimed follow-up.
Once, on a timbered steep, I made a fast hit offhand on an elk that appeared suddenly.
Loose litter gave way in recoil.
I slipped downhill, throwing the muzzle and my next bullet high.
I was blessed with a third chance which Im not taking for granted.
Proper Prep
Outside competitive circles, few shooters practice offhand.
Egos are better served by tiny groups drilled from the bench.
Only five hunters hit it!
The backer, 22 inches square, had just 30 holes!
Such abysmal shooting bodes ill for opening day.
You neednt burn cartons of ammo to discover and refine your stance for better offhand shooting.
Gary Anderson, a Nebraska farm lad, dry-fired a .22 in practice.
The 1960 Olympics delivered his first National Championship.
In 1963 he took smallboreandcenterfire gold at the Pan Am Games.
A year later he set a world record and won Olympic gold in the 300-meter free rifle event.
Another gold and six world records followed, with 12 National Championships and seven World Championships.
His book, Marksmanship, is mostly on body position.
Shooters obsessed with gear, Gary told me, dont do the required work.
Montanan Lones Wigger distinguished himself in Olympic competition, earning two gold medals and a silver.
Disciplined practiceiswork, he assured me.
When you cant trigger good shots, quit!
Dont practice poor form!
No matter the position, the rifle must become an extension of your body.
Load your bones, not your muscles.
An ace offhand shooter, Wig practiced that position most because its most difficult.
Offhand shooting on a hunt differs from bullseye shooting.
When youre out of breath or wind tugs the rifle, you must accept more wobble.
Insist on a perfect sight picture, and youll tire before you fire.
Beyond the mechanics of position, you mustthinka hit to make one.
But dont demand the impossible.
When you get an acceptable sight picture, send the bullet.
The longer you aim, the more desperately you want to breathe.
Your pulse speeds up as eye fatigue burns a target image into your brain.
Wobbles become more intense as your muscles accede to the rifles weight.
You feel the shot unraveling, so you hurry it.
Try this after aligning your feet: Close your eyes, cheek the rifle, let it settle.
Repeat until when you open your eyes the sight appears centered.
What if your sight wont settle?
You cant miss or cripple game with a shot unfired.
