Via WRSA, kinda leverages on some small squad tactics...in a forest setting...
A Cliff's Note version really...
Firing Port Training is excellent Training considering 90% of people live in a major city surround by potential Firing Ports.
But what if you end up in the woods?
How to Properly Use a Tree or the entire Forest for cover.
1) You can flag your barrel around a tree and tuck in very tightly, but you sacrifice visibly and, you will give away your position with constant movement to scan for targets; If you stack up on a tree, make sure you have a buddy(Or Buddies) watching your other angles. Communicate and Identify these sectors of fire.
When Setting your sectors of fire in a woodline there are a few things you want.
A) You want maximum overlap of sectors of fire on THE FARTHEST trees you can from what you believe to be the enemies most likely point of attack. This will prevent your enemy from using these trees against you. Giving you MAX visibility on their Cover(A Round Tree).
B) A solid Healthy Hardwood Living Tree. Not a dead piece punky lumber or a wimpy pine tree(Although some pines are quite dense). Avoid the trees that are laying down. They are most often old and rotting so they make for poor cover, infested with annoying insects and spiders, vermin, and potentially Fleas from the vermin, and you’ll be breathing in moist toxic air full of spores from God knows what. I have had a sinus infection from sleeping next to pile of dead lumber. It’s best to just avoid dead wood. There is much better cover nearby. Also, Some trees have some nasty sap. Avoid Sap Trees, It will be all over everything; In your hair, your gear, and your skin. Its hard to clean and is irritating to most people after it sits on your skin for a while.
2) You can be offset from the tree. It really doesn’t matter how far away from the tree you are as long as you are not under direct fire when you chose your tree, or are going to initiate an ambush from this position. In fact, hugging a tree too closely makes for poor visibility, and requires you to move your head around A LOT to properly scan your area. I avoided getting to close to trees because of this rounded nature. If someone misses you and hits the tree next to your head, The bullet has a good chance of bouncing into your face, which effectively doubles the size of your enemies target(Your Head). Stay off the tree please.
Use your eyes to scan rapidly, and your head to pan SLOWLY.
This will prevent you from giving away your position. This also requires practice to exercise your eye muscles. If you haven’t done woodline treeing for a while, you will exhaust the muscles in your eyes and have trouble keeping your eyes open past 24 hours. Maybe Less. Practice stretching and exercising your eyeball muscles. This can be done throughout the day, and helps for long periods when you stare through a scope all day.
3) What ever you choose as cover, avoid scuffing up the trees, algae, and moss too much. It takes very long for this stuff to grow, and will give away activity very readily for up to a year in most areas outside of the south.
4) Big Bullets go through living trees at close range. Small Bullets sometimes go through living trees(Hard Or Soft Wood?) at short range.
5) Pick a tree that is about the width of your shoulders with a rifle up when in the prone. Practice this move on a column in your home or around that tree outback. If you are behind a tree, in the prone, using it as cover, peering around the “Right” side of you tree(Rifle Up). You can slightly roll to your left side(Staying behind your tree) WHILE pulling your weapon back and swinging down so the rifle looks likes its in a tight “Low Ready”, Switch hands for a “Goofey” Or “Left Hand” grip on the weapon, then, complete the roll out, and post up quickly on the other side of your tree. This is the best way to change sides of a tree without giving away what you are doing to your enemy. Or getting ripped up by gunfire exposing yourself. It’s fast, uncomplicated, and will feel natural if executed properly.
6) Your enemy will not, and can not, maneuver or flank you quietly through the more dense parts of the forest. FYI, every wooded environment has areas that come in different densities. You cannot move through the dense areas quietly. These make excellent back drops if you are short on Eyes and Ears. And You can dive into them real quick to escape being completely overwhelmed. At that point some brave enemy has to flush you out. Which will be near suicide. You should have a few minutes to gather yourself and plan something while they try to burn you out, bomb you out, or flush you out.
Regardless, You are the Shark. I recommend Swimming away as fast as possible, but you do get a second chance to initiate an ambush. I recommend running, You ARE being flanked. If you blow through the thicket or draw, you can probably catch their flanking element. 50/50 odds they go left or right.
Also, Dense thickets of fleshy and woody plants can slow down and deflect bullets a lot more than you would think.
7) Stay at least ten feet into the thick woods, and ten meters into the open woods, if you border an open plain or a field.
8) If you are in Sage Brush, In a fresh set of Army ACUS, you are very scary.
9) Rock a 100 meter Zero in the Woodline on a bolt gun. Inches matter when someone is tucked into a tree or behind a tree.
10) Wildlife will investigate you eventually. Birds will fly away from you.
11) If you plan to fell some trees and make some cover or level 3 fighting positions, two small trees with dirt in between is better than a large tree. Large trees are hard to move, make for a sore back when you need to shoot over them or pull security, and open the canopy more when you cut them down(Increasing the potential for being spotted by aerial recon)
12) If you take a pile of slightly moist(Not Damp or Wet) organic material(Leaves/Needles) and pour some gas mixed with oil on it. You can light this up and create a blueish white smoke out that is worth ten smoke Grenades. Very cheap and effective. Checking your wind can help, bad smoke is better than no smoke. Helps you run away when some dude at 200-300 meters is trying to kill you. It could block or obscure his LOS. He probably wont be able to IDFF. Could second guess himself. Doesn’t hurt to smoke. Makes a good Plan B escape.