But what about an animal that is just walking slowly along? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen hunters let animals walk slowly out of their lives forever. At shorter distances, a walking animal may well offer not only an acceptable shot but also the only shot you’re going to get.

LEARN AND MOVE ON. Everybody makes mistakes, and everybody misses. Missing is very tough mentally, and if you do it in front of witnesses it’s downright embarrassing. But it’s part of the game. If it happens a lot, you need to figure out if you’re doing something fundamentally wrong, like flinching. Or maybe you just need to spend more time on the range.

If your shooting is sound, when misses happen there are three important considerations. First, try to figure out what you did wrong so you can learn from it. Second, don’t beat yourself up too much. You can’t let a miss, or even a string of misses, shake your confidence so much that you are afraid to try again.

Finally, as you go through the agony of having messed up terribly--perhaps on a simple shot, perhaps on the trophy of a lifetime--slap a smile on your face and keep the rest to yourself. Nothing puts a damper on a hunting party or camp more quickly than somebody moping around with his lower lip dragging in the gravel, and you shouldn’t rob others of their great day afield.

Most of us have a favored shooting position, but no given position will be possible under all circumstances. Learn and practice as wide a range of steady positions as possible.