Like many of you, my first weapon was a BB gun. I don’t remember asking Santa Claus for one but on my fifth Christmas, I found a Daisy air rifle under the tree. My favorite targets were the big yellow breasts of the Meadowlarks that fed on the leftover cow and hog feed behind our house. Now I find that shooting meadowlarks and a few of my earlier targets was illegal.
Living on a ranch and being able to walk out the back door and begin hunting helped me learn basic hunting and shooting skills. I think one of the most important things I learned while trying to kill a cowbird or other small critter was how to position my body in order to improve accuracy.
Through the years, I have had the opportunity to introduce a number of people to predator calling. When we walk in to make a call, I will generally point to a bush where I want my hunter to sit and by using hand signals, point to the area I want him/her to cover. Almost without exception, the hunter will sit with his/her shoulders square to his area of responsibility. Years of shooting offhand will tell you that you need to point your off shoulder to the area you are prepared to shoot. In other words, if you are right handed, you should point your left shoulder to the shooting zone, if you are left handed, then you would point your right shoulder to that area. Not only will this position make it easier to hold your firearm steady, it will allow you to shoot at least 100 degrees without a shift of your seat.
Another thing that I have noticed is when I ask a hunter to go sit by the bush or tree, they will almost always sit with the cover behind them. This is fine if the sun is at their back; however, if the sun is striking this area, you should sit in the shade of that bush. I sit in the shadows even if it means that I have to sit off to one side, being careful to stay against the cover so that I am not just a black blob with nothing to break my outline.
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