helpful equipment

Howler--I usually try to avoid sitting on top of cactus plants, but that carpet pad sounds like a great idea if you call from a sitting position.

When calling during the snow season in ND, my calling partner has a 4 foot long knit rug done in a light color to match snow. I think you can buy them at the Wal-Mart/K-Mart stores. He lays the rug on the snow and then he lays down on top of it to keep his clothes dry. When he is done calling, he rolls the rug up, has a 4' piece of parachute cord with a slip knot on each end and slips the loops around each end of the rolled up rug and slips the cord over his shoulder opposite the side he carries his rifle on.

I like to take a heavy white plastic trash compactor bag and slit it up the sides, but not the bottom. They are 2.5 mil thick and I think they are the 18 gallon size. This makes a nice wide, long, waterproof sheet to lay on in the snow. The sheet winds up being 25" wide and 68" long after you cut it up the sides. Yes, it does make a little noise if you move around too much, but I don't think it has cost me too many coyotes over the last 15 years I have used them. When you are done calling, you just fold it up neatly and it fits right into the back pocket on my coveralls. Light weight and handy for me. The only drawback to using the plastic is when you are laying on a steep snow covered incline. The plastic sheet acts like a sled and you may start sliding down the hill!!!

Wiley, I know I said a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll post a picture of what I'm talking about as soon as I get my photos developed. LOL
 
Howler, I have a pair of sticks just like you describe. For me, these adjustable ones will beat them hands down. Everyone that has used shooting sticks and has seen these adjustable ones work, wants them. They are tougher than a regular aluminum arrow but they are like a real thick aluminum arrow. You can quickly adjust them to any heigth. With plain sticks, when you have a coyote below you, you end up with your sticks spread so far that the bottoms will kick out even with nails. Been there, done that! Try these and see if you still feel the same way.

I will try to snap a picture and post it sometime. Wiley E

[This message has been edited by Wiley E (edited 03-08-2001).]
 
Wiley this may sound strange but I don't have nails on my shooting sticks and can't remember the last time I had a leg kick out.

I use instead little rubber tips from the hardware store.
I never hold the forearm of the rifle however, instead I squeeze the cross of the sticks and let the rifle steady itself in the vee.

I can feel if a leg is not got a good grip on the ground and simply hold it with my left hand. I really feel I could use them on ice in this manner.
 
Excellent description Wiley !! I got it !! TOTALLY ! They sound GREAT man !

I use the stoney point variety.. and my wife used them to take and Oryx and a cow elk.. not sure what I did before I found them
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course as of late.. I can't hit much anyway
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Also, I use the Pentax 8X32 w/porros .. they are invaluable.. In fact in Dec I sat down to call.. and glassed first.. bingo a pair of coyotes hunting mesquite motts .. couldn't have been much more FUN
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For those that use a bubble squeaker.. where do you put that bad boy? I can't seem to find a good place for it.. since the slightest touch causes it to squeak...?

--Steve
 
I got this walking stick about 18 years ago. I think MTM made them. I haven't seen them for sale for years. The side shelf adjusts, or you can shoot off the top. I hope the picture works. Buckrun
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[This message has been edited by Buckrun (edited 03-09-2001).]
 
Craig, we are dealing with a lot of frozen ground conditions up here. I suppose if you had sharp nails in them and pushed both sides into the ice they wouldn't kick out. About the time you try to move them on a coyote that appoaches from a direction you didn't expect, you don't have time to stick both sides in with a running coyote. Continous use in frozen ground will also dull the nails. I find it far better to have the heigth adjusted right before I even start calling because when I try to move the sticks, support the sticks, swing on the coyote, etc., it's just not as easy when the angle of the sticks has to change also. I end up with my legs / boots spread apart to support the bottom of the sticks. It's kinda hard to describe, It just seems to be a lot easier to control when the sticks are adjusted to the right heigth without changing the angle of the sticks into the frozen ground. Do you have frozen ground in AZ?? LOL! Wiley E
 
For the past 5 years I have been using a camera tripod. I put a y shaped piece of wood that I cut out with a band saw and covered it with felt about 6 layers and it is rock solid. I painted it green to hind the silver legs. I have used it P-doggen and to hunt Elk and mule deer last year it was great. I got it a Wal-Mart for about $19.00
it is 15.5"tall when set up and can go to a total of 64".

I am qworking on a photo of it,to show ya'll

Doc
 
I have a set that is aluminum arrow shaft material, has three legs, rather than the usual two.

I hate Bi-pods, Craig, I agree with your assessment, 100%.

I think Choate (?) makes a stock with long holes drilled parallel to the forearm, for storage. There are two other holes that are perpendicular and at 45º angles, into which you insert the legs, when removed from the storage chambers. I always thought that this was an extremely slick setup for coyote hunting. They aren't adjustable, as are Wiley's, but what ever happened to supporting your elbows on your knees, when confronted with uneven ground?

Good hunting. LB
 
Another helpful piece of equipment that I always have along in my pickup is a good spotting scope. I use mine all year for lots of long range recon work.

In winter predator hunting in open country with snow it will keep me from sneaking 1 1/2 miles up to a sleeping rock. In addition, I can locate other animals that I would have missed without it.
 
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