58 
FOREST AND 
STREAM 
February, 1920 
RANDOM NOTES ON RIFLE SHOOTING 
THINK OF WHAT YOU’RE DOING, HOLD HARD, AND SQUEEZE HARDER AND SUCCESS 
IN BRINGING HOME THE BIG BUCK IS ONLY A QUESTION OF OPPORTUNITY 
By CAPT. JOHN A. CONSIDINE 
H AVING seen many articles on the 
art of deer shooting, some good, 
others indifferent, I feel constrained 
to dip into the subject myself and unload 
a few suggestions. 
First and foremost I want to go on 
record that I am not writing to you about 
that running deer that pops up from no- 
where, flashes into sight, and is gone 
again in the twinkling of an eye. To get 
that deer any hunter will admit that it’s 
a quick shot pure and simple. The rifle 
jumps to the shoulder, goes off, and — so 
does the deer in a great many instances. 
No, I refer to the normal case where one 
has an appreciable time, a few seconds 
suffices, in which to shoot and, as often 
happens, that first shot turns out to be 
the last; success or failure for the hunt- 
ing trip depending on that one opportun- 
ity to down your deer. 
The point that I want to bring out 
strongly is that most deer are killed 
standing and for that reason I want to 
emphasize the necessary rules to govern 
that form of shooting for, until one has 
mastered that class of rifle shooting, he 
is not prepared to proceed to the more 
difficult art of “running game shooting.” 
It matters not what kind or make of 
rifle one uses, — we all have our pet ideas 
on that subject. The prime essentials 
of good shooting are the same for all 
grades and makes. 
Both experience and the teachings of 
some of the foremost rifle shots in the 
U. S., have conclusively shown that good 
rifle shooting hinges on the cardinal 
points of correct position of both body 
and rifle, proper aiming, and last but 
most important that little known and less 
practiced “art” of squeezing the trigger. 
Once these points are grasped and 
thoroughly digested, rifle shooting be- 
comes easy and hits are assured, but like 
everything else practice and diligent 
practice is necessary in order to become 
a finished shot. 
T HE first point to be considered is 
position. Most shots at deer are 
fired from the standing position. I 
state this believing it to be a fact but do 
not advance the theory that the standing 
position is the best. Personally I never fire 
a shot from the standing position that 
I can fire kneeling, and I always pre- 
fer the prone position if time and con- 
ditions permit. One must decide in- 
stantly the position he is going to fire 
from and then assume it immediately. 
A good standing position is one where 
the bedy is half faced to the right, feet 
about twice their length apart, weight 
evenly distributed on both feet, left 
hand grasping the rifle approximately 
under the balance and pressing it firmly 
against the shoulder, left elbow well 
under the rifle and away from the body, 
right hand at the small of the stock and 
fingers around it, right elbow at the 
height of the shoulder and right arm 
in a horizontal plane, right cheek firmly 
pressed against the stock. 
For a kneeling position the following 
has been found very satisfactory: half 
face to the right and sit down on the 
right heel, left elbow resting on the left 
knee and in front of it, right arm as in 
standing position. 
In both the standing and kneeling po- 
sitions it is important to keep the right 
arm horizontal as this position does not 
require the shooter to strain his neck 
to get his head into the proper position 
for aiming. 
A good prone position is one where the 
body is at about 45 degrees to the line 
of sight, lying down flat on the belly, 
feet separated, elbows under the body 
and not so far apart as to cause un- 
steadiness, chest slightly off the ground, 
right eye as close to the cocking piece 
or hammer as the make of the rifle per- 
mits. Do not permit any muscles to 
be in a strained position as this will 
cause unsteadiness. If time and your 
desires permit, use the sling in the 
kneeling and prone positions. The po- 
sitions outlined above have been used 
in the U. S. Army and by many good 
game shots. These positions are given 
as a guide and may have to be modified 
to suit different men. Our doughboys 
cleaned up in the International shoot in 
France and good positions among other 
things had a great deal to do with their 
success. 
For deer hunting on the open mesas 
and hills one nearly always can assume 
the prone position, the game being seen 
from a distance and approaching under 
cover. 
In a number of occasions in the Big 
Bend country of Southwest Texas I have 
laid in cover or behind a rock and 
watched a herd of deer grazing about 
200 yards away, waiting for the big 
buck to turn broadside so that I could 
put one in just behind the shoulder. I 
say one, because my .256 by the way is 
my idea of a real sporting rifle, only has 
to hit once and I have nice juicy venison 
steaks and succulent spare . ribs all 
ready to be broiled. 
G REAT care should be used so that 
the rifle is always vertical and not 
canted, that is, revolved to the 
right or left, canting always makes the 
rifle shoot low and towards the side to 
which the rifle , is revolved. To illus- 
trate: raise your rear sight to its high- 
est elevation and hold the rifle in the 
aiming position. The vertical distance 
on the rear sight now represents range 
only. With the bore of the rifle as an 
axis rotate the rifle to the right through 
90 degrees. Here one can readily see 
that all range has been taken off and 
changed to windage. Hence, no mat- 
ter how little the rifle is revolved to 
one side or the other you always re- 
duce your range and put on windage to- 
wards the side to which the rifle is re- 
volved and shoot low and either to the 
right or left depending on which way 
the rifle was canted. 
Many hunters differ in the manner in 
which they align their sights, some pre- 
ferring to take a full front sight, some 
preferring a fine sight and others the 
various stages in between. The prac- 
tice of our best shots, however, has es- 
tablished that what is called the half 
sight is better adapted to all conditions 
and rifles and is the one advocated in 
this article. 
If a man targets his rifle for a fine 
sight and thereafter always uses the 
same amount of front sight, everything 
else being equal, he will continue to 
shoot consistently. The same can be 
said for the full sight. 
However, the advantage to be gained 
by the half sight is that it is much more 
easily and more accurately taken than 
any other. By referring to Fig. 1, it can 
be seen that the imaginary line A-B co- 
incides with the top of the rear sight 
and passes through the top of the front 
sight as seen in the aiming position. 
This gives the hunter a definite standard 
to go by and an accurate gauge of just 
how much front sight he is using an 1 
after practice can be assumed auto- 
