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Nathan Foster

Hi Paul, as the other posters were saying on that thread, one can overthink this. There are several variables we need to maintain within our awareness when shooting long. The eye focuses on the reticle as you say while the mind should be taking in information on the movement of the animal, wind, breathing and technique. The mind must be quiet in order to allow all of these things to be present and without exclusion. The very first chapter of my LR shooting book and its title were designed to grab your attention, then create an absolutely clean slate. Further on, I gave each of you a check list to help you cycle through key factors with as little distraction as possible. The same goes for analog charts.

With time and experience, I learned that I could anticipate how successful the shot would be by watching the client. Most trainers will stare through a spotting scope during training and have no actual understanding of how or why the client is struggling. This is of no help to the client.

Sometimes (though not intentionally) I can anticipate performance further, before we even get to the range. In some cases I can see problems just from a forum post. In these instances, I am aware that there is nothing I can do to help the person to become a better shot, no book, nothing. Not until the person works on on emptying their frenetically busy mind to make some space for this, a job which may take two years or more. On the other hand, it is also possible for a person to have a very busy mind (stressed etc) yet due to past shooting practice, the brain will reorganize itself when the person goes to shoot and they will simply slip 'into the zone'. You will know if you are one of these people when after such a session, you feel very relaxed and on a buzz, but not an adrenalin buzz. And you will often say to yourself, "I don't know why I don't do this more often". Such shooting sessions and reorganization of the mind are of immediate benefit to other aspects of thought processing, solutions to problems and so forth.

Yesterday, Hornady sent out a mailer. In the inserted video, we see some guy shooting a precision rifle. The cartridge is weak and the rifle is also braked. His technique is the typical piss poor non transferable method, I could care less whether he is watching the reticle or the target because it is a system ready to completely fall apart. I cringed as soon as I saw him shoot, nails down a chalk board. Then we pan to Dave Emary talking about the new DGX bullet, a potentially excellent bullet design for folk like myself who push a bullet to its limits. In the next scene, we see an older man holding a .375 H&H rifle. Suddenly, all the bullshit is cut away. The body and brain could care less about looking tacticool. Even though the shooter was seemingly unwilling to shoot the rifle from a rested position, the brain and body new what to do, how to hold the damned thing properly, things that matter versus those that do not. My point is that the very act of writing about this subject beyond the most fundamental elements (checklists) poses a risk of causing the reader to overthink how he or she shoots. A point is reached where the comment "shut the f%$k up and get on with it" has as much validity as any intellectual teachings.