Aim Straight -Hunter Discipline

In the old muzzle-loading, black-powder days, a hunter knew something that is easy to forget today: Your first shot, was your only shot.

Reloading a muzzleloader was a slow and deliberate process. Powder had to be measured, the ball loaded, and the gun carefully prepared to fire again. If a hunter missed a deer with that first shot, he could hardly expect it to stand around waiting while he reloaded. The hunter either made that first shot count, or he watched his opportunity disappear into the woods.

Because of that, wise hunters developed an approach to hunting that went far beyond simply pulling the trigger. The good hunter’s learned patience and discipline. He waited. He watched. He knew the wind, the movement, the distance, and the behavior of his prey. He chose his moment carefully rather than rushing the shot. And when that moment finally came, he aimed with the steady concentration of someone who understood that first shot his might be his only chance.

The development of modern repeating rifles and semi-automatic firearms changed the way most hunter approached the first shot. With a muzzleloader, a missed shot might mean the opportunity was gone. With a modern firearm, a hunter knows that another shot can follow almost immediately.  That is certainly an advantage, but it can also create a subtle disadvantage. 

The knowledge that a second shot is readily available can lessen the sense of patience and discipline once demanded of the hunter. Instead of waiting for the right moment, carefully judging the distance, and making certain of the shot, there can be a temptation to shoot too quickly, knowing another chance is only a trigger pull away.

The firearm did not make the hunter less disciplined—but it made discipline less necessary. And when necessity disappears, sometimes the habits it once taught begin to disappear with it. 

Perhaps there is a lesson in that old way of hunting that reaches far beyond the woods.

Too often, we live our lives as though we have a repeating rifle in our hands. We assume there will always be another opportunity, another season, another day, another conversation, another chance to say what should have been said or do what should have been done. 

But life does not promise us an unlimited supply of second shots. The wise hunter understands something worth remembering when you do not know how many opportunities you will be given, you learn to take the time to make the first shot count.

That is lesson to be found in the quiet waters of the swamp. How does roiled, muddy water become clear?

Not by stirring it more. It becomes clear by allowing it to become quiet and still. Given time, the mud settles, the water clears, and what was hidden beneath the surface can once again be seen. So it is with us.

Thus, becoming like the wise hunter is worth carrying into everyday life.  Life presents us with moments that may never come our way again—There may not be another shot. So, live your life with the attitude of the wise hunter:

Make that first shot, count... Aim Straight