The '' delope '' could be attempted for practical reasons , such as if one duelist thought his opponent was superior in skill , so as not to provoke a fatal return shot . '' Deloping '' could also be done for moral reasons if the duelist had objections to attempting to kill his opponent or if he were so skilled a marksman as to make the exchange unfair . '' Deloping '' in a duel , for whatever reason , could be a risky strategy whether or not the '' delope '' was obvious to all present . Deloping with a near miss , in order to save one 's honor without killing , could backfire if the opponent believed the effort to be genuine and responded with a fatal shot , like the situation that may have occurred with the Burr – Hamilton duel in 1804 . Also , regardless of whether the delope was near or wide , the opponent might infer that he was being insulted as " not worth shooting " ( an unworthy opponent ) and either take care to aim his own shot to kill or insist on a second exchange
Burr – Hamilton duel
Burr–Hamilton duel
Deloping