JTPinTX
Custom Call Maker
this topic comes up now and again, and it is always interesting to me seeing what works for different folks, using different styles and what not. I think everyone has to basically come to a point of what works best for them. I have tried quite a few different ways and systems over the years, and these are my thoughts.
Bipods- Generally more stable and accurate, though a well thought out stick system can come pretty close in the accuracy department. The main drawback to me is quick adaptability, especially in the brush or on slopes. Open flat ground they work really well, and a bipod is what I have my 10 year old daughter use. I pick our sets (when she is with me) with a bipod setup in mind. Being attached to the rifle it can't fall, is easy for her to move, and gives her confidence. Since I am sitting right with her, she takes the easy shots and me the hard ones or fast movers, and it works out.
Where a bipod isn't so good is slopes, especially steep side hill ones. Changing from a downhill to side hill shot totally throws your height adjustment off, and there isn't a fast easy way to compensate. I do lots of solo calling where I have to cover a pretty wide swath, so I need quick adaptability. Thick weeds, sagebrush, things like that are tough on a bipod as well. You get hung up it it and can't move quick. With sticks you can always just drop them if needed.
Most of my thoughts so far have been directed at shooting from a sitting height. I know some of the very successful guys here do lots of calling from prone. I call a pretty fair amount of flat ground with tall grass, and that usually doesn't work to well for me, even though there are some places it would. There is the occasional set where I can do that, and sometimes one will hang up way out there. In those cases sometimes I do like the ability to go prone.
Sticks- Fast and easy on adjustments, if set up properly. Dad used home built cross sticks a lot, but those things always frustrated me. The legs would always try and jump out under recoil, or at the wrong times. Some commercial sticks would do the same thing. I really like the fast, easy, versatile concept of sticks, but there needed to be a better in the field application of it.
Finally I found a set of cheap sticks I liked, modified them a bit, and have a system I really, really like. For me it is the best thing I have come up with in 30 years of calling and hunting out in the field.
This is my current setup. Sometimes I leave the short 6-9" notched leg Harris on the front, sometimes I just roll with sticks. Just depends. If I am in open rolling country where I might get a long shot I will leave them on. If shots are going to be 250 and in, I just leave the bipod in the truck to save weight on walks.
So, El Cheapo Bass Pro Shops house brand Redhead shooting sticks. I think they are a knock-off from one of the Bog Pod models. They will adjust from sitting, all the way out to standing position, and do it quickly. So far, in 3 years of using them the friction adjustments on the legs have never slipped on me. Sprayed them with some tan spray paint to knock the glare off.
Now here is the trick that makes them work for me, and makes them really stable. That black strap that comes with them, throw it away. I added a piece of paracord and a snap off a dog leash or from the hardware store. Put some loops in it, where you can just snap it from one loop to the other real quick to limit the leg spread. When I sit down on a stand, I adjust this loop setting and leg height for the lowest height I think I might need. Then I will just swing the legs in until I have the height I want for the shot that I think I will have to make. Basically the cord is acting as an emergency stop in case I have a leg slip out (very rare) or if I need to made a fast adjustment to a lower position.
The bipod or the sling attachment keep the rifle from moving on the sticks doing shooting. I can grab the rifle and sticks together to move it real quick. Basically pick the whole thing up, swing it, set down. If I need a quick height adjustment, swing a leg in or out. The V rest on top swivels, so as to not bind the rifle, much smoother than a bipod or traditional sticks.
I also have a 511 bag I carry sometimes, and if you swing it over onto your thigh so you have a place to rest your shooting elbow, it allows for a very stable setup off these sticks. I shoot steel out 300-600 yards that way pretty often, just practicing.
http://www.511tactical.com/push-pack.html
IMG_3692 by [/url], on Flickr
[url=https://flic.kr/p/CTwoXr t=_blank]IMG_3695 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/156517515@N04/, on Flickr
Bipods- Generally more stable and accurate, though a well thought out stick system can come pretty close in the accuracy department. The main drawback to me is quick adaptability, especially in the brush or on slopes. Open flat ground they work really well, and a bipod is what I have my 10 year old daughter use. I pick our sets (when she is with me) with a bipod setup in mind. Being attached to the rifle it can't fall, is easy for her to move, and gives her confidence. Since I am sitting right with her, she takes the easy shots and me the hard ones or fast movers, and it works out.
Where a bipod isn't so good is slopes, especially steep side hill ones. Changing from a downhill to side hill shot totally throws your height adjustment off, and there isn't a fast easy way to compensate. I do lots of solo calling where I have to cover a pretty wide swath, so I need quick adaptability. Thick weeds, sagebrush, things like that are tough on a bipod as well. You get hung up it it and can't move quick. With sticks you can always just drop them if needed.
Most of my thoughts so far have been directed at shooting from a sitting height. I know some of the very successful guys here do lots of calling from prone. I call a pretty fair amount of flat ground with tall grass, and that usually doesn't work to well for me, even though there are some places it would. There is the occasional set where I can do that, and sometimes one will hang up way out there. In those cases sometimes I do like the ability to go prone.
Sticks- Fast and easy on adjustments, if set up properly. Dad used home built cross sticks a lot, but those things always frustrated me. The legs would always try and jump out under recoil, or at the wrong times. Some commercial sticks would do the same thing. I really like the fast, easy, versatile concept of sticks, but there needed to be a better in the field application of it.
Finally I found a set of cheap sticks I liked, modified them a bit, and have a system I really, really like. For me it is the best thing I have come up with in 30 years of calling and hunting out in the field.
This is my current setup. Sometimes I leave the short 6-9" notched leg Harris on the front, sometimes I just roll with sticks. Just depends. If I am in open rolling country where I might get a long shot I will leave them on. If shots are going to be 250 and in, I just leave the bipod in the truck to save weight on walks.
So, El Cheapo Bass Pro Shops house brand Redhead shooting sticks. I think they are a knock-off from one of the Bog Pod models. They will adjust from sitting, all the way out to standing position, and do it quickly. So far, in 3 years of using them the friction adjustments on the legs have never slipped on me. Sprayed them with some tan spray paint to knock the glare off.
Now here is the trick that makes them work for me, and makes them really stable. That black strap that comes with them, throw it away. I added a piece of paracord and a snap off a dog leash or from the hardware store. Put some loops in it, where you can just snap it from one loop to the other real quick to limit the leg spread. When I sit down on a stand, I adjust this loop setting and leg height for the lowest height I think I might need. Then I will just swing the legs in until I have the height I want for the shot that I think I will have to make. Basically the cord is acting as an emergency stop in case I have a leg slip out (very rare) or if I need to made a fast adjustment to a lower position.
The bipod or the sling attachment keep the rifle from moving on the sticks doing shooting. I can grab the rifle and sticks together to move it real quick. Basically pick the whole thing up, swing it, set down. If I need a quick height adjustment, swing a leg in or out. The V rest on top swivels, so as to not bind the rifle, much smoother than a bipod or traditional sticks.
I also have a 511 bag I carry sometimes, and if you swing it over onto your thigh so you have a place to rest your shooting elbow, it allows for a very stable setup off these sticks. I shoot steel out 300-600 yards that way pretty often, just practicing.
http://www.511tactical.com/push-pack.html
IMG_3692 by [/url], on Flickr[url=https://flic.kr/p/CTwoXr t=_blank]IMG_3695 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/156517515@N04/, on Flickr
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