These are two separate parts of the equation of making a good shot, but both are essential. The first you can control. You must find a way to get steady enough to get off a properly aimed shot. How steady you must be depends somewhat on the distance and the size of the target.

Whether you choose a natural rest, a backpack, shooting sticks or one of the formal shooting positions, you must achieve steadiness--and if you expect consistent success, you should also do it quickly.

The second part of the equation is the animal's movement and presentation. These you can do nothing about. Sometimes there just isn't an opportunity, but unless you're steady and ready none of this matters.

Of course, steadiness isn't the only ingredient in a successful shot. It's also important for your equipment to be right, to properly visualize the shot, and of course to hold 'em and squeeze 'em.

The responsibility to do these things is all yours because once you take that shot, you can't call it back. I relearned that the hard way last year. In one case, I drew a 300-yard shot at a beautiful nyala bull in Mozambique--the primary goal of the safari--and blew it. Later in the year I flubbed a shot on a fine brown bear in Romania. I took the shots; therefore I must have thought I could make them--but I was wrong.

Like I said, getting steady isn't necessarily the only ingredient in a successful shot, but it's an essential first step. You simply must get steady, and then, most of the time, the rest will fall into place. Sometimes it won't, but if you're not steady to start with, everything is working against you.