Life Lessons From the Rifle Range

gbucknell
6 days ago
4 min read

Updated: 6 days ago

Last weekend I had the privilege of spending two days at the Elmore Events Centre with Scouts from across Victoria, celebrating the 50-year Gilweroo event. For most of the weekend I was on the air rifles team, running a lane on the range, coaching kids on safe firearm handling, and teaching the fundamentals of marksmanship.

For many of the young people stepping up to the firing line, this was their first ever experience holding a rifle. And like any instructor will tell you, the core of teaching kids to shoot isn’t really about marksmanship — it’s about safety, presence, and patience. It’s about teaching them how to carry themselves around something powerful, and how to take responsibility for their own actions.

But across the weekend I noticed something deeper.

The four steps I taught every single Scout are exactly the same four steps required for achieving anything worthwhile in life.

Let me explain.

1. Find the Target – Know What You’re Aiming For

Before a Scout even lifts the rifle, the first instruction is simple: Find your target.

Look downrange. Know exactly what you’re supposed to be aiming at. Don’t guess. Don’t assume.

That alone is a life lesson.

So many people move through life without a clear sense of what they actually want — no focused goal, no destination. When you don’t know your target, every shot is a miss. Whether it’s school, career, relationships or your own personal development, clarity is the first and most essential step.

Focus on the reticle. Identify the point on the Target you want to hit.

Next, they learn to truly identify the target.

Not just “a black circle somewhere down there,” but which circle, which ring, which aim point. Precision matters.

In life it’s the same:

It’s one thing to say, “I want to be successful,” or “I want things to be better.”

It’s another to define what that actually means.

Is your target a specific course? A certain skill? A healthier relationship? A new job? A personal standard you want to reach?

Clarity sharpens everything.

Focus is the ability to block out the noise — the distractions, the pressure, the self-doubt — and stay centred on what matters. It’s the Everyday Bushcraft equivalent of water purification: filtering out the impurities so you’re left with something clean, usable, and true.

3. Breathe, Control Yourself, Not the World

This is where breathing, calmness, and self-regulation come into play.

You can’t force the shot.
You can’t hold your breath until your body shakes.
You can’t let excitement or nerves take over.

I told every Scout the same thing:

“Slow your breathing. Relax your shoulders. Let everything else fall away except the point you want to hit.”

If that isn’t a metaphor for life, I don’t know what is.

4. The Slow Press – Take Action With Purpose

The final step:

Don’t pull the trigger. Press it.
Slow, smooth, steady. Not a jerk. Not a rush.
Just the exact amount of action required.
No more. No less.

In shooting, a rushed trigger press moves the point of aim and sends your shot off target.

In life, rushed decisions do the same.

Every worthwhile achievement requires deliberate action — the kind of action that is calm, thoughtful, and purposeful.

Not frantic. Not forced.

Just consistent, controlled movement towards your target.

One step at a time.

The Surprising Observation: Girls Outshot the Boys across the weekend

Across the entire weekend I noticed something that genuinely surprised — and delighted — me.

Girls consistently shot better groups than the boys.

I had boys step up to the line with full confidence:

One particularly confident young man said “Yeah mate, I shoot on the farm. My dad’s got a shotgun. I’ve been shooting since I was five.” He wasn’t interested in learning how to shoot with precision.

And his shots went everywhere, like he’d fired a shotgun one pellet at a time.

Then I’d have a quiet, softly spoken girl with no prior experience step up, listen carefully, breathe gently, and put her eight rounds into a tidy 5 cent sized group at 10 metres.

Why? Because the girls listened.

They followed the steps.

They weren’t trying to prove anything — they were there to learn.

It was a powerful reminder:

Skill grows in quiet soil — in listening, humility, and willingness to follow the process.

Bluster doesn’t make you accurate.

Patience does.

Reframing the Importance of Shooting

Some people look at shooting and see only the firearm.

But I see something else — a training ground for life.

A place where young people learn:

Discipline
Patience
Focus
Personal responsibility
Calmness under pressure
The ability to act with purpose

These are the same qualities we talk about in Everyday Bushcraft.

The same qualities that build resilience, confidence, and good judgement.

Shooting, when taught well, isn’t about violence, it’s about self-control, clarity, and character.

It’s another bushcraft metaphor for living well.

Final Thoughts

Standing on the line with a troop of Scouts, watching them breathe, focus, learn, and grow — it’s impossible not to see the parallels with everything else we teach in Everyday Bushcraft.

Whether you’re aiming a rifle, building a shelter, solving a knot, or navigating life’s challenges, the principles are the same: