nting, and that you see a big buck on a distant
hill. Suppose that it is exactly 600 yards distant from you, that you
are an expert shot, and that you set your sights at 400 yards and fire.
Will you hit the deer or not? You must know how to guess accurately the
distance to a deer, or a man, or anything else, if you propose to have
any reasonable hope of hitting it.

The art of estimating distances with the eye can be improved by
practice. When you are in ranks, observe continually your surroundings.
Call attention to and make estimates of the distances to all the
prominent objects in view. Others near you will become interested, and
the interest will soon spread to the entire company. It will be
necessary for the objects to be pointed out to those interested. This in
itself is a difficult thing to do. To be able quickly to see distant
objects that are being pointed out is a military accomplishment which
all soldiers should possess and which comes only with practice.

METHODS OF ESTIMATING DISTANCES BY THE EYE

1. Decide that the object cannot be more than a certain distance away,
or less than a certain distance. Keep the estimate within the closest
possible limits and take the mean of the two estimates as the range. For
instance, that deer cannot be over 800 yards away and not less than 400
yards. Your estimated distance is 600 yards.

2. Select a point which you think is the middle point of the distance,
estimate the distance to this middle point, and double your estimate to
get your range. Do the same thing with half the distance, if the object
is very far away.

3. Estimate the distance along a parallel line, such as a telephone line
or a railroad having on it a well-defined length with which you are
familiar.

4. Take the mean of several estimates made by several well-instructed
men. This method is used in battle, but is not applicable to instruction
or during tests.

1. Preliminary Instruction

To estimate distances by the eye with accuracy, it is first necessary
that you become familiar with the appearance of the most convenient unit
of length, namely 100 yards. Stake off a distance of 100 yards.
Subdivide this 100 yards into four 25-yard divisions. Pace off the
entire distance several times, and you will soon become familiar with
the appearance of 100 yards. Next, take a distance more than 100 yards
and compare it mentally with your unit of measure (100 yards) and make
your estimate. Verify this