[marinesniper]

I have seen many snipers who see a target that is way out of range, and think, "Well, they wont hear me so I'll try and see if I can hit them from here." They take aim, and fire...and miss. They repeat this several times...but they still miss. On the fourth shot, the sniper's bb hits a tree a few feet away from his target. The enemy hears it, ducks, and moves away.

Not only did you lose your chance to take the enemy down, but you just lost that element of fear or respect that they had for you as a sniper. They now think of a sniper as 'the guy that cant hit anything.' That is dangerous for you the sniper.

A large part of a snipers effectiveness is 'all in your enemie's heads.' Rightly so. But you must give them a reason to fear you. I saw it posted somewhere that the scary thing about going up against a well seasoned sniper is that you cant see him. You only find out that one is in the area after you have been hit, it's already over.

If the enemy knows that you will do something really stupid and give yourself away, then why the heck? They will just wait for that dumb mistake.

The point is, always make sure that you can hit them with the first shot when you fire. It is better to let them come 10 yards closer if you are uncertain that you can make the kill, than to miss (and possibly give away your position) because you wanted to be able to bragg on the best shot of the day.

Correct tactics keeps the sniper effective and in the game.

 

[marinesniper]

Right. I agree with the other posts. What I mean, however, is a sniper who is trying to take out the other guy, but foolishly takes shoots way early...not letting the target get close enough...is blowing his cover. If the other guy was paying attention, the hit to the tree might tell where the shot came from, and you had better scram, he will be right back with his buddies. If he was not paying attention, you got lucky, but move anyway. And the story of the guy that was shooting at a bush that looked like a sniper is a good example of what I'm talking about. If you prove yourself to be an idiot, always showing yourself, then you lose that respect that they have for you. They will say, "Just wait a few minutes, he will do something stupid and we will know where he is." A good way to get that reputation is to shoot too early and only hit 25% of the time.

I agree that there are times when it is good to show yourself, the enemy will get down really low...for some odd reason. Haha.

My point was also, that in the situation of TRYING TO TAKE OUT THE BAD GUY you must never fire too early, you will blow your cover. I dont know about you, but I can usually tell when someone is trying to pin me down, or if they are just taking pot shots.

I guess I covered a broad topic, I hope this clears it up a little.