Evaluating Your Shot Selection

Once all other factors have been taken into consideration and you have determined your safe zone-of-fire, you must evaluate your shot selection within that zone-of-fire.

• Make sure of your backstop. Never shoot at a “skylined” animal. You should know what you might hit if your shot misses its intended target.
• Make sure of your foreground. Do not shoot through obstacles such as thick vegetation. Remember your shot trajectory and know what may be in your way. Also, make sure no one is between you and your intended target. Even if a person is not in the direct shot path, you should not fire.
• Be sure that it is an ethical shot. Never shoot into a flock.
• Take into consideration the angle of your shot—quartering, downward, broadside, head-on, rear-end, etc.—and ensure that you can make a safe, ethical, and clean kill.