For S&G’s I shot our last match in Hunter class but without sticks, bag or a dope chart. I figured thats about as close to hunting with that rifle as I can get and close to the original FT ruleset. I was loosely testing two things, my memory ( laughable) and how much the sticks offset the other rules. Getting older doesn't help the first bit and numbers are hard anyway. The second part is where it got interesting. Using only a sling and off knee ranging was flat out brutal. If the kz’s were larger ranging would have been less of an issue or if I rabged using sticks and then removed them for the shot. 14x also proved to be a better mag level than 16x, at least for me and the artificial rules i self imposed. But the shooting part was not that bad, certainly a challenge but not impossible with a modified hasty sling. I actually really enjoyed it and plan on practicing that way because it reinforced and exaggerated every fundamentals flaw i have and reminds me about what we take for granted and how some fundamentals flaws can be overshadowed, not noticed or compensated for. It also reinforces what an old instructor taught me as a kid, don’t try to hold the rifle still. Be still and the rifle will follow. Scores be dammed, if i was hunting it would have been a nice cull but this is FT and kz’s matter. I consider a 25% hit rate acceptable given the parameters I modified. I think I have a much better understanding and appreciation for the rulesets and why they are the way they are. 3/8” is small enough to begin with, add the pulse bounce with a hold over and its really small. But with sticks its very shootable with the Hunter ruleset and no doubt a knee riser and a proper scope etc would make it shootable in other classes. Not really easier on either count, just more shootable. Hope that makes sense. Overall i really liked the challenge. Despite having a low hit rate, removing some assistance like sticks showed many of my weaknesses and strengths too. Most importantly though, it exemplified the rulesets and illustrated the different classes’ needs to keep things competitive but also enjoyable. FT is humbling and hard enough as is. I can now better imagine not only how it started and where it went over the years but where the current discussions are rooted. So a major thank you to all who were instrumental in making the FT rules. While some may gripe and whine, ( guilty!) at the end of the day theres a now ton more appreciation from my perspective for what’s been done to make FT what it is today.
and think, "Looks like about seven pumps to me." 
; including a(nother) well-known airgun author who wrote about it.
