Getting on Target Quicker

Psalm 144:1 Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle. Everyone has likely heard this famous verse, especially if you have spent any amount of time in the military. It might even be cliche to use it in a training post, but let’s look at what it says. 

David (the writer of Psalm 144) begins by thanking God for being his rock. Strong’s Concordance says rock is: From H6696; properly a cliff; generally a rock or boulder; figuratively a refuge; also an edge, X (mighty) God ({one}) {rock} X {sharp} {stone} X {strength} X strong. To paraphrase – thank you God for being my refuge, edge, strength in preparing and training my hands and fingers for war. One reading of this could be taken to mean thank you for giving is the ability to gain muscle memory, to be blessed be getting better. It’s just a thought, and everyone should dig into the good book and decided themselves instead of taking the theology of Joe.

Your use of your firearm, optic, or bow should be so instinctual that you need not look at them to use them. This is important because once you have identified a target it is better to remained focused on it. Rather than shifting your focus causing you to either lose its location or miss some relevant movement.

Thought practice you need to develop skill bring the rifle (optic, now, etc.) to shoulder and sights on target in your vision. Keeping your eye fixed upon your target the whole time, you bring the gun or binoculars up to your eye. Many people will shift their gaze to their rifle (or binoculars) and attempt to line the sights up. Once this is completed they will then attempt to reacquire the target. This second approach takes too much time and with all the extra movement it is likely to attract the attention of your quarry.

This may also mean it is better to stick with fewer of types of gun, especially if you are short on training time. As switching back and forth requires muscle memory on each type of platform. Few want to hear this, but it’s easier to master one gun than ten.

By having the “make ready” action done by muscle memory you are now freeing up brain space to focus on other decisions. Such as: is the shot safe?, is the animal meeting legal requirements?, Etc. The more practice you can do, the more likely you will be in making the mechanics instinctual.

This will also make the actions smoother and this faster and safer. 

To develop these skills through thoughtful practice and ironing out the deliberate details at home when dryfiring and at the range. So once you are in the field those actions are second nature. 

-Joe