When the author shot that sika stag, he was still-hunting down an open lane between eucalyptus trees. Under such conditions, any shot, if one presented itself, would be from a standing position.

Regardless of distance, whether you can pull off the shot depends a whole bunch on shot presentation. For instance, at 80 or 90 yards I'm normally pretty comfortable with an offhand broadside shot, but a frontal presentation would be tricky, and I wouldn't even consider trying a neck shot unsupported at that distance. Your own condition also influences the decision--or should.

If you've just raced to the top of a hill to get the shot, there might not be a shot without a steady rest and enough time to take a few deep breaths. Likewise if you're undergoing a serious bout of buck fever. Interestingly, one of the primary symptoms of this strange malady is that it seems to make hunters tend to ignore a host of steadier solutions and stand up and whale away. An offhand shot will almost always be taken quickly, but there are matters of degree; it might be a fast reaction to a close encounter or it might be more deliberate--but it should only be done when it's the best or only option for getting in a good shot.

FAST OR DELIBERATE?
I think there are two types of offhand shots, as mentioned above: the fast reaction to a close encounter and the more deliberate offhand shot at greater distance. Shooting form is (or should be) much the same, but the fast reaction is just that: bringing the rifle up, roughly aligning the sights and pressing the trigger--more like shooting a shotgun, pointing as much as aiming.

This is common on dangerous game at close range, and just the other day this was the situation when I shot a bongo in the dense forest of Cameroon, range no more than 20 yards. Mind you, it is very possible to miss an entire animal at even half that distance, so form is important. Regardless of sights or choice of action, gun fit is critical; you must know that the rifle is pointing where you are looking.

The author likes to keep the elbow of his shooting arm high, pulling the butt into the shoulder. The supporting arm should be kept as directly under the rifle as possible, somewhat reducing muscle wobble.

The big difference between this kind of shot and the more deliberate offhand shot at longer (never "long") range is that you are close enough (and the target is large enough) that you aren't worried about the wobbles. You bring up the rifle, it looks good, and the trigger breaks. At longer range you cannot have this luxury. Now you're out of shotgunning and into the most difficult form of riflery: synchronizing a moving sight with a stationary target. No, it is never perfect. No, your crosshairs will not rest dead steady on the vital zone, and the more magnification, the more magnified the wobbles.

This is the kind of standing shot I dread and try hard to avoid--but I practice for it just in case. Not too long ago I was stalking a nice sika buck down an open lane between two lines of eucalyptus trees. I was on New Zealand's North Island, and this was a free-range sika, one of New Zealand's most difficult trophies, so the pressure was on. I could just see the tips of his antlers over a little rise in the ground, so I had to advance until I could see the whole body--by which time, of course, he could see me. I was fully exposed, with no hope for a steady rest, the distance somewhere near 100 yards.