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THE PERFECT SHOT
PRACTICAL SHOOTING PREPARATION FOR AFRICA
By Tim Danklef
After
five long hours of tedious tracking, the tracker
turns to the professional hunter and raises his hand.
The expression on his sweat-drenched face indicates
you have finally caught up to the trophy that you
have traveled half way around the world to collect.
The tracker has done his part, now it is up to you
and the P-H to finish the job. As the tracker sinks
to one knee, you and the P-H slide past him in a
half crawl, half crouch position. You suddenly hear
a bellow and realize you are within 20 feet of a
herd of Cape buffalo. The jesse bush is thick as
hell and visibility is limited to 10 feet at best.
Dammit, you had always heard that buffalo like the
thick stuff but this is ridiculous! You continue
to move forward but still see nothing. Suddenly,
out of the corner of your left eye, a bush moves
and you spot a black mass move ever so slightly.
Both you and the P-H freeze in half step. You strain
your eyes and suddenly you begin to make out the
shape of a buffalo in the thick bush. Your eyes move
back to the P-H and he indicates that it is a cow
and to be damn quiet! Quiet hell! This thing is only
10 feet away! You continue forward in the footsteps
of the P-H. The wind is right as you maneuver at
right angles to the herd. At what seems an eternity
but in reality is about 10 minutes, you make contact
with two more shadows in the bush. You look for a
signal from the P-H but he once again slowly shakes
his head and mouths the word cows. Another 10 minutes
goes by when suddenly and silently, your P-H grabs
your arm and moves you in position. He points to
a black mass that is in between two bushes no more
than 25 feet in front of you and whispers firmly
in your ear to take him! Take him now! This is the
moment you have been waiting for, the moment that
you have practiced in your mind for months. You raise
your rifle and attempt to steady your nerves. You
don't want to blow this one. You know where to put
the bullet. You aim, and aim, and aim. Your P-H sternly
whispers in your ear "shoot now"! You continue
to hesitate as the cross hairs wobble. Damn but you
just cannot get comfortable. How can this happen
after all those hours spent on the bench back home
at the rifle range? Suddenly and without warning,
the 44" bull with the most beautiful boss on
any buffalo takes one step and disappears as quickly
as he had appeared. Gone forever. Sure you and the
P-H stay on the spoor of the herd for another two
hours. But now the wind is up and changes direction
willy-nilly. Kiss that buffalo good bye!
This
is a real life situation that happens on safari to
many first time clients to Africa, and not just with
buffalo. Unlike North American hunting, most African
shooting is in extremely thick cover. Shots outside
of 100 yards are uncommon. Less than 50 yards is
about average on most plains game species with under
25 yards common on buffalo and elephant. Due to the
fact that most species are being preyed upon by lion
and leopard since birth, African game animals are
extremely wary and tend to stick to heavy cover for
survival. To collect real trophy animals, the shooter
must be able to shoot quickly. While accuracy is
important, the ability to shoot within a second or
two of spotting an animal is often times the difference
between success and failure. At fifty yards, the
shooter that can achieve a hit within a 4 inch bulls
eye in a second or two is much more successful than
a shooter who shoots "under 1 inch" but
takes five or six seconds to make the shot. When
the P-H tells you to shoot, you must be able to do
so quickly and with confidence.
So
the question is, how do you prepare yourself for
this type of shooting? Quite simply, get off the
bench. Once you are confident that your loads are
accurate and the scope is on zero, move away from
the bench. This often times will require doing your
practice at some place other than the public range
with restrictions on off- hand shooting. You should
set your targets at 25, 50 and 100 yards. Start initially
with your rifle at the down position and begin by
attempting to place one bullet into an 8" circle
(paper plates work well). With continued practice,
gradually you should work to move this group inside
of 4". Once you have mastered this, load 3 rounds
into the rifle and work on placing all three shots
into the 4" bull. Remember, you are working
on speed as well as accuracy. Once this is mastered,
try walking up to the targets at varying distances
and shooting off hand while still trying to stay
within the 4" bull. In addition, shoot from
varying positions such as prone, one knee, seated,
etc. Now you are simulating the real hunting situation.
Next,
you should work on practicing with shooting sticks.
The best ones available on the market today are from
Long Grass Outfitters (www.longgrassoutfitters.com).
Or you can make a set by binding 3-6 foot tomato
sticks together with a 1" strip of bike tire
tube about 4 inches from the top. Either way, they
will form a tripod when spread out at the base. Most
plains game animals and many buffalo are shot with
the aid of shooting sticks. You should practice by
setting them up, moving a few steps back and then
quickly stepping into them, aim then fire.
One
final bit of practice to become a better off hand
shot is dry firing. This can be done in the back
yard or out the window of your living room and is
a tremendous aid in building confidence. Set aside
15 minutes each day for this exercise, and this is
guaranteed to improve your shooting.
Being
a good shot does not happen by accident, it takes
work. Often times the difference between taking good
trophies and just marginal ones is not luck. It is
the ability to shoot accurately as well as quickly.
Good trophies do not stand around waiting to get
shot! Please practice before you go.
