Bystanders said they would pay McDaniel to teach them to shoot like that - in Georgia, bird hunting is a source of food, a social skill, and a competitive sport. In 1954, McDaniel began teaching instinctive shooting full-time. His training courses for bird hunters and police officers lasted about four hours each. Initially, McDaniel taught the basics of instinct shooting to both of those groups using the cheapest 400-shot Daisy lever-action air rifle available, with the sights removed. Its relatively weak spring would propel the BB through the air slowly, so the student would have an easier time tracking the flight of the BB. (Later, Daisy built a BB rifle to McDaniel's specifications).