Dry firing off sticks is some of the most effective practice you can do for deer stalking.

This is an excellent summary from Andrew Venables Of WMS Firearms Training. He dispels some myths that many novice stalkers fixate on about scope magnification and head shooting of deer. (We shouldn’t do it in the wild unless a wounded animal presents no other shot, and even then reluctantly. The risk of wounding is too great.)

Breath control and trigger technique are two things Andrew focuses on here and both are vital to good shooting.

Don’t be frightened of damaging your rifle by dry firing it without a dummy round. The firing pin in a rifle is far more robust than in a shotgun where without a snap cap the cumulative effect of the stress fractures on the pin can cause it to break.