Lots of great comments. I will share my opinion:

1. Sight in your gun at a range, on a table, with sand bags in front and back, or better yet, using a gun vice. Know that your gun shoots a certain size pattern at a certain distance with a certain load. Cut out the piece of the box with the ballistics and tape it to your stock to remind you exactly which load you are shooting and the ballistics (if printed).

2. Then remove the sand bags and practice shooting until you can consistently shoot a six inch circle. If you need to brace yourself with your elbows, fine. Practice. Big Breaths. Squeeze. Get to know your trigger. Get to know the kick. Get to feel the stock with your cheek. Holding the gun the same way every time is important.

3. Repeat #2 but shooting free hand, meaning not resting on the table. Do it sitting like in a stand. Do it standing like on a stalk. Do it using a bipod, or other shooting sticks if that is what you are going to have with you in the field. Keep on practicing until you can shoot a 6" circle every time.

4. Go back to resting on the bench with your elbows but this time, go drink two coffees, or two cokes, skip lunch, drink lots of water until you have to pee, and try to shoot now. Yes, I know this sounds crazy but I like to play games with myself like this to challenge if I can control my body under stress. The jitters from caffenine and needing to use the toilet are similar to adreline which is impossible to recreate.

5. Go to an outside range, preferrably not a public range. Set up your target at 100 yards. Run to your target. Run back to your gun. Sit down and try to shoot. Take your gun with you, unloaded, run to the target, run back to your shooting position and try to shoot. Imagine, law enforcement and military snipers have to be able to shoot their target with their heart rate at 150 bpm. Yes their targets are bigger, but not big enough. I would fail this test every time I think.

6. You need to practice at the distance that you are going to shoot in the field. Some people won't shoot more than 100 yards even though the gun can, just as some people won't bowhunt past 20 yards, even though most modern bows are effective out to 40 yards. If you want to shoot at 200 yards, you have to practice outside, with wind, with sun in your face. Make it fun, don't just shoot paper. I like to shoot golf balls, old spray cans, coke cans, water bottles, and any other garbage laying around. Another great target is a box of clay pidgeons that you use to shoot skeet with - hang them on a board and practice shooting. This is also why God made hog hunting and coyote hunting - for you to practice.

Finally, breathing, trigger finger movement, not clenching too tight, not looking up, really listening to your body is critical. Focus on your target, not your gun. Put yourself at the target.

After 2-3 hours of target shooting I feel so relaxed and totally at peace because I have spent so much time telling my mind to be quiet and feeling my heart beat.

One of the big mistakes I make is spending too much time shooting my favorite gun. You need to practice with all the various methods of harvest you use. I don't put enough time into shotguns, pistols, crowbows, compond bows, recurve because I enjoy my .223 and .308 so much. It is like going to the gym and only doing the one exercise for the one muscle group you like. You end up being off balance.

Another mistake I make is because I obsess with accuracy. Hunting does not require the level of accuracy that shooting a clay pidgeon at 400 yards requires. I forget to remember than anything inside 4" is perfect, anything inside 6" is fine, anything inside 9" is deadly, regardless of the distance. I get too focused on 1" per 100 Yards. This is a mental mistake I make which I highly recommend you don't do to yourself.

Break in your gun properly. Clean your gun properly. Check your scope and other attachments. Clean your scope lens. Take care of your bullets and use the same bullets every time.

If your gun isn't shooting accurate enough, try cleaning it, checking all the screws are tight, and shooting different brands and grains of bullets before you buy a new scope or gun.

Always wear hearing protection. Most people are as deaf without hearing protection as I am with it on, so it doesn't matter because we are talking loud anyway. Eye Protection is not something I think about, but then again I have been wearing glasses most of my life. Finally, always wash your hands and get the lead residue off before you eat with your fingers. (Can you tell I am a little OCD?)

I learned everything I know from my Grandmother Opal, my cousin Lynn Lenderman, my father, and watching many, many people in the field.

As Forest Gump would say, "That is all I have to say about that."

You have seen the SCENTite blinds at Cabela’s or BassPro. But have you seen this little do-dad! I am not sure how practical it is, but I already sent an email to santaclause@northpole.com with a photo.

I was taking a quick nap when Larry Land, Sales Associate for SCENTite explained to me they were at a trade show trying to sell them. Larry turned out to be a great guy to talk to and is also a cameraman for “Gone Huntin’ with Keith & Toby” from Outdoor Television. I hope he posts some short video clips that did not make the cut for Outdoor Television to our website!

The person in the photo is not Larry Land. He would like to remain BEHIND the camera.