It's important to practice from real world field positions. The author fired this group with a 7mm Dakota 97 Hunter rifle, from the sit with a sling.

6. Run all your hunting ammunition through the rifle, from the bottom of the magazine through ejection. This is especially important with handloads. Had I spent more time shucking cartridges through my new .300, I might have found the extraction problem that caused the stovepipe jam on the elk hunt. A cartridge that's too long may bind up in the magazine. One that feeds well may still be too long at the case mouth or shoulder to chamber easily. A bullet with a long shank may grab the rifling when you press the bolt home, making lockup difficult. Extracting a cartridge gripped by the lands could leave you with a plugged bore and a magazine full of loose powder.

By the way, if you handload for a rifle to be used in hot places, mind the throttle. Ammo that's civil on a cool day can get belligerent after a long ride in a Jeep on a sweltering August afternoon, whether you're after pronghorns or gemsbok.

7. Think about useful accouterments, like scope covers. Rain or snow can obliterate a sight picture. If you let dust accumulate on lenses, removing it can leave microscopic scratches. I like rubber covers that flip away under tension and are held to the barrel/fore-end by a rubber band. Transparent covers are good too, because you can aim through them in a pinch. I don't like hinged caps as well, because they seem to get in my way when they're open. Because I mount my scopes very low, some objective caps cannot slip between scope and barrel. Check before you buy. Another item to consider is a new sling. Almost every bolt rifle that goes afield these days wears a strap. But a sling is properly a shooting aid, not just something to hang the rifle from your shoulder. Brownell's Latigo sling is my favorite, as it has no claws, and the shooting loop is quickly adjustable.

Yet another accessory worth a look is a belt pouch for cartridges. A local saddle-maker fashioned mine to my pattern, from soft leather. It holds eight rounds, each in a full-length loop stitched to the back and covered by a fold-over flap that snaps down. The pouch hugs my hip, protecting the cartridges as it keeps them quiet and accessible.

8. Practice range estimation. Many hunters miss game because they think it farther than is actually the case. This happens most often when the animal is on the far side of a canyon or above or below the hunter, is backlit, partially obscured or well camouflaged against its background. But you can also miss low--typically on flat ground or when shooting at brightly front-lit game or animals silhouetted on the horizon. Use a laser rangefinder to help you where pacing is difficult.

Remember that a bullet doesn't follow ground contours. Neither is it affected by gravity pulling on its nose or tail (at least, over normal hunting ranges). What you must know is the horizontal component of your bullet's flight. Guess within 10 percent, and you'll hit inside the vitals out to 300 yards with most big game rounds.

A rangefinder is less useful on the hunt than you might think. You often won't have time to use it, and light conditions may be poor (bright light is not what you want). Besides, animals seldom present an ideal flat, reflective surface for an accurate read. But rangefinding excursions before season can train your eye to accurately estimate distance without help.

This group, shot with hunting ammo from the bench with a Browning A-Bolt in .270 WSM, shows exceptional accuracy.

9. Get in good physical shape. Rifles, scopes and cartridges with lots of reach won't help you shoot game if it ambles over a ridge as you're setting up. You won't get long shots when bucks and bulls go to the thickets. And you won't find the lunker antlers most hunters want unless you go where most hunters don't. Jogging is good exercise; so is walking, preferably under a pack. Regularity is important, as is discomfort. If you stop before you hurt, you limit improvement. When training at low elevation for a high-elevation hunt, exercise until you gasp. Otherwise, you'll gasp on the hunt. Seek out steep places and uneven terrain, to condition your feet and ankles and hone your sense of balance.

Drop excess weight. Some hunters obsess about paring ounces from their rifles but carry extra pounds over their belts. The prospect of hunting shouldn't keep you grim-faced as you ready for the season, but a little sacrifice in preparation can make the hunt both easier and more productive.

10. Practice follow-up shots. As much as we want to make one-shot kills, and cultivate our marksmanship to that end, we can all miss. Sometimes you'll get a second chance, as the animal stands, confused, or struggles to escape with an injury. At the bench you probably take your time with each shot, picking the fired case from the breech instead of ejecting it. Maybe you load singly. To practice for follow-up shots, load the magazine with three cartridges. From a hunting position, aim carefully and try hard to make a center hit with the first round. Now cycle the action and fire again. Repeat, allowing yourself five seconds between shots. Keep your eye to the scope and forget about the brass. In the field, you'll want follow-ups to come automatically. Training makes a habit of fast, accurate follow-ups. If you expect to shoot running game (I seldom do), this routine used on a running deer target or bouncing tire will speed your cadence and smooth your shooting rhythm. You'll hit more often.

When you get a shot, what you know can be as important as all you've done to prepare for it. One thing you must know is your maximum effective range. There's no sense shooting farther; but sneaking up on an animal entails risk. To determine your outside limit, fire six groups, two each from sitting, kneeling and offhand. Do it from hunting positions, with a trail-ready rifle. A sling is permissible; rests and bipods are not. Now, toss out your worst shot from each position. Divide into 12 the average measure of each pair of groups. Multiply the result by 100, and you get your maximum effective range.

For example, say that, from sitting, you print a five-inch group and a six-inch group. Deleting your worst shot, you come up with the five-inch group and one that now measures just four inches. Average group size: 4.5 inches. Divide 4.5 into 12, and you get about 2.66. Multiply by 100 to get 266, the maximum range in yards at which you should be able to plant 9 of 10 shots inside a 12-inch circle. That level of accuracy will bring you lots of venison. The bigger vitals of an elk or a moose allow you to shoot farther with the same high odds (use 16 instead of 12 in the equation).

Note that this arbitrary formula gives you the outside limit, because on a hunt many things conspire to make shooting difficult. An error in estimating range or doping the wind can put the center of your group outside the vitals. Shivering or panting, you'll make the rifle shake, sending bullets wild. If you don't feel comfortable with a shot, it's not a good shot to take. If your blood is up and you find yourself in a hurry to shoot at distant game, think first about the limit you imposed on yourself before season.

Part of the value of prepping your rifle for the hunt lies in preparing yourself, mentally and physically. The most effective riflemen put little conscious effort into a field shot. Rather, the routine is so well practiced that it comes naturally, a fast but smooth sequence of calculations and physical actions. The bullet goes where the sight rests when the striker drops. If you can't control the rifle, you'd best not shoot. Gravity, wind and drag act in predictable ways. If you can't accurately gauge their collective effect, you'd best not shoot.

Come to think of it, knowing when to shoot is as important as knowing how to shoot. Because, hit or miss, no one but you is responsible for the shot you fire. And blaming a botched shot on your gear or the game or the conditions won't absolve you. You had all year to ready that equipment, and to learn when not to pull the trigger.