Champion's VisiColor targets are scaled to distance, with hits color-coded for instant visibility. These are ideal targets for practice from field positions.

The rifle was an old friend, my Geoff Miller-rebarreled .300 H&H, long in the barrel and thus stable, with a light, clean trigger pull. I understood instantly there were no other options; I must get the rifle up and get the shot off before the deer bolted. At first the crosshairs wobbled from in front of his neck to behind his rump. I took a breath and pulled the rifle in tighter; the wobbles stabilized over the chest area, and the rifle went off. The buck ran hard to the right, through the trees and out of sight, giving me a bad moment: Offhand, unsupported, anything can happen, and I well know that. But it had looked good and felt good, and it was good. Hit perfectly, he was down a few dozen steps down the next lane.

PRACTICE MAKES…POSSIBLE
I had three advantages on that shot: a rifle I shoot a lot, plenty of weight up front and a sweet trigger. Even so, offhand shooting is rarely a perfect solution and is only possible through lots of practice. Maybe many years of it. Advantages I have, although it was all many years ago, are several years of smallbore competition and, of course, many years of military qualification shooting, both of which required shooting from a formal standing target position. In smallbore, standing was probably my best position. To some extent the skills are transferable, especially learning how to control the wobbles and hit a stationary target with a moving sight.

However, transference is limited because if you try a formal standing position with a centerfire sporting rifle and without a padded shooting coat, you will get the hell kicked out of you. For good offhand shooting in the field you must practice with your hunting rifle, so you know its feel and heft and its trigger pull. But there's time for that. Learn to shoot offhand with a good .22 and lots and lots and lots of ammo. Shoot that .22 a bit, offhand, every time you go to the range, taking just a few shots with your centerfire. I love Champion's new color-coded, scaled-to-distance VisiColor animal targets--ideal for this practice.

For field offhand shooting you must find what works best for you, but I think stance is essential. Unlike a formal target standing position, I like a slightly open stance. (Remember, I'm left-handed; it's the opposite if you're right-handed.) My right foot is pointed toward the target, my left foot about shoulder width at 45 degrees, foot pointed out almost perpendicular to the gun/target line. This, by the way, would be a very good stance for a shotgunner, and I'm probably a shotgunner at heart.

Use of arms is also very important, and here I do pay attention to what my old shooting coach, Marine Master Sergeant Doug Johnson, taught me. Use the shooting arm (my left, but for most people the right arm) to pull the rifle butt into the shoulder. Keep the elbow no lower than horizontal--higher is better--because this helps set the butt into the shoulder. The supporting arm should be directly under the rifle. ("Rest on bone, not on muscle," said Johnson.) This is the weakest link. Nobody can hold the rifle even reasonably steady for very long, but obviously arm strength is an issue.

I tend to like a "hasty sling" in the standing position. You should try it and see if it helps you. Just don't get married to it, because there are times when you can't use it. The last thing I wanted in the forest, when I shot my bongo, was a sling or any other vine-snagging impediment on the rifle. When I shot that sika deer, well, I didn't think there was time to wrap into the sling, and since I was in full view of the animal, I didn't want the movement. Sometimes you simply have to stand up and shoot, and that's when all those hours on the range really pay off.