Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Best "cheat" for stability

Today I walked a bit in Idaho, about 6 miles. I didn't see 1 damn wolf, couldn't call in a coyote but I saw a buttload of Pronghorns on public land. I didn't have a tag. To amuse myself I would range and dryfire on the 'lopes. I could use prone off my pack once from a hilltop. The rest of the time, from 104 yards to 378 yards I would have had a decent shot off my trigger sticks from sitting or standing. This is not scientific but reflects my 50 years of hunting in the western U.S. It should be noted that I am not a great shooter but I am a wonderful ranger and dryfirer.

mike r

lvmiker: So, you spent the day "Counting Coup"....that's good practice, too!

Shooting sticks for me. Homemade, from long arrows.

I've used homemade sticks for years, made from fiberglas electric fence poles. They really work great, and are tall enough that I can use them in most situations. I do use bipods too, and they are obviously great but I find that in the fall often I can't use them due to high vegetation. Great in winter though.

I made the mistake of leaving my sticks at home this year, and of course ended up in a situation where I had to shoot offhand since no rest was handy. Would have been much easier with the sticks I'm sure.

Being able to shoot offhand is never a bad thing either. I have a friend who prides himself on his shooting ability, as long as he has a rest. Animals are pretty well safe if he doesn't have a rest, even the close ones.

Bob, I counted coup on a Badger I saw 2 days ago. He was easily the largest Badger in the world. He stuck his head up several times while I watched w/ rifle in hand. He was on a tiny strip of public land on the edge of a county dirt road so I couldn't shoot. At least I,m not yet a road hunter.

mike r

if prone is wobbly at all, you need a lot of learning... Prone beats sticks ANY day.

And this isn't a flame either, just a comment.

Over a pack I'm good to 1000 pretty easy if the weather is right. Bipod would be the same if I could trust it for repeatability, I just have not gotten that comfortable with one at longer ranges. But there is still time.

But toss a pack down and set the body and rifle up right, its like a benchrest.

I too like prone and find it the most stable of field positions. Except those damn bushes keep getting in the way.

mike r

prime fur could change all that.......

I was sorely tempted, I want a winter hat w/ a face on it.

mike r

I prefer prone, whenever I can do it, but often there is too much brush in the way. Sometimes, only off-hand will do. But a sitting rest often is doable. I got a Harris S-25C Bipod Sling Swivel Stud Mount 13-1/2" to 27" Black: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/22...ing-swivel-stud-mount-13-1-2-to-27-black

It allows me to shoot almost as tight of groups at the range that I can from a bench rest. The base swivels, so that it doesn't matter if the terrain is uneven right-to-left. And the bottoms of the legs have round knobs that tuck tightly against the barrel, like this:



Despite all of the negative "snagging" comments I hear about bipods, mine never have snagged on anything even in the roughest brushy terrain. I used them all the time in the military. You can pre-adjust the legs to the best length for a sitting rest and then just pull them down when you want to shoot. Mine is set up above so that it is the correct length for sitting, minus one click out. If the animal is within 150 yds or so, I'm likely not going to be using the bipod. If it is much further out, I have time to extend the legs and pull them down. JMO.

That ^

&

PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE

The critique on not having enough practice is definitely right on. Ranges around here are really setup for bench rest shooting; wish we had a better setup for field positions but I can manage and frankly just need to spend more time at it. Better to know a month before the hunt than on the day of ;-)

I've only tried prone once last week and found it rather wobbly. Part of the problem may have been my pack just had zero padding. I'll set one up the next time which is better suited and give it a shot.

If there is one position that I will primarily concentrate on though is sitting from sticks. I'm already better at sitting from sticks than prone so I'm not going to sweat getting the prone right too much and work on sitting as I will be able to take a shot that could be taken prone sitting but not the other way around due to grass.

Actually there are a lot of opportunities during antelope hunts to shoot prone where sitting isn't an option. There have been numerous times where I've belly crawled over a ridge with nothing but a yucca plant or single sagebrush for concealment, then peeked around the cover and fired. Sometimes there wasn't even any intervening brush, just crawl until the rifle barrel clears the ridge, and fire.

The extra movement and increased silhouette to gain a sitting position has caused many an antelope hunter to be busted. Doubly so if they were crawling on hands and knees to begin with. If there's any possible chance those antelope will see you over the intervening concealment during a stalk, drag that belly through the cactus.

Depends on the rifle and conditions, but prone over a backpack, bipod, and sticks are what I use. I use sticks like these in the picture for almost all my hunting regardless of where I am. Can't imagine not having a good set of shooting sticks that can adjust from standing to sitting.





Bipods work too:

Purple power.....very nice!!!

Just trying to combat the head to toe camo, face painted crowd.

Here's a trick. If you're in tall cover using a bipod and have to shoot from a sitting position, take a length of webbing with two "D" rings sewn to one end, make it into a loop, and cinch it around the outside of your knees while sitting cross legged. This allows you to rest your elbows on the inside of your knees for support, and do so without having to hold everything steady with your muscles. You're totally relaxed and the strap mechanically holds your shooting position together. It's like a tight sling for your legs. It only takes a second two get set up, and makes the sitting position rock solid.

Rifle is a Cooper M52 Jackson Game 280AI. Scope is Swaro Z5 3.5--18x.

I'm thinking it might as well spring for a bipod too so I can play around with it.

Would you guys get a 9-13" or 12-25". Id like to be able to do prone with it.

I'd rock either stock. They turned out great. Have you posted the color combinations in the McSwirly/McFlame thread?

Canoe - I'd go with 9-13 unless you have a lot of tall grass.

Cheers,
Eric