We've talked in this column about the importance of being able to call your shot--not only knowing in your heart exactly where the sights were when the trigger broke but also rapidly judging the animal's reaction and listening for the sound of the bullet striking flesh. Unfortunately this is not a perfect science, no matter how experienced you are.

You certainly need confidence in your equipment, sure knowledge that your zero is right and you have the accuracy you need to accomplish the job. This is at least partly why I like big game rifles that are far more accurate than the job really calls for.

Perhaps even more importantly you need confidence in yourself. This is where shooting practice, lots of it, comes in: Sure self-knowledge of exactly how steady you were (or were not) when the trigger broke, and exactly where the sights were at that moment.

If there is any possibility of taking another shot, this is ultimately what that decision must be based on. If there's any doubt whatsoever, you should try again if you possibly can because the potential consequence, false confidence, is far worse than not enough.

Just keep in mind that this is not perfect science, and it's not a perfect world. Stay humble. If I've hit an animal and it goes out of sight, it doesn't much matter how good I feel about the shot. I have plenty of bad moments until the recovery is made. I don't think this comes from basic lack of confidence. Maybe it's a streak of pessimism, or maybe it's just reality: Stuff happens, and nothing is for sure until meat is on the pole.

Remember, too, that no two animals react exactly the same upon receiving a bullet. Last year I shot a nice Texas whitetail about as perfectly as I could. I hit him with plenty of cartridge and a bullet that opens nicely. I'd worked the bolt quickly, and this was one of those times when I could have fired again, although I would've had to have been very fast. But in the end I did not shoot because I was sure I'd hit the buck well enough.

Fifty yards later, on the spoor, I wasn't quite so sure. There was plenty of blood, and it looked fine, but a medium-size buck hit where I thought I hit him, with what I knew I'd hit him with, shouldn't have gone 50 yards. Another 50 yards and I was really worried. Now I was replaying the shot over and over again, and was starting to wonder if I'd hit him too far back. There was still plenty of blood, but Murphy's Law applying, a morning drizzle was turning into steady rain.

Another impossible distance, possibly as much as 50 yards more, and I almost stumbled over him, stone dead, the bullet channel quartering from behind one shoulder, through the chest and out the off shoulder. He shouldn't have gone that far, and I had no reason to second-guess what had actually been near perfect shot placement. But I'd rather have too little confidence than too much.