Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Best bench top for all day shooting?

Open for suggestions. After a couple days of prairie dog shooting the elbows get pretty raw from the carpet I'm using. I know I could use some gel pads, but I was wondering if anyone has a top that they really like? A yoga mat glued to the top perhaps?

Mouse pads work, but you end up chasing them across the prairie.

I resorted to long sleeve T's.

Montana guys won't have a clue....they don't get out of the truck....

That's because your top is too wide. If your back 'tail', or 'ear' makes you put your elbow on top, instead of 'hooking' it over the edge, your only inviting soreness.......

12 inches is about right for me. Never a 'raw' elbow to be seen. Carpet or not.....

I wear long sleeves or put an elbow pad on.

Yeah, that's easier and less work, than making the bench fit.....

You say that as though it is a bad thing? Sometimes we get out to refill the little cooler from the big cooler.

I forgot about life's necessities......

How am I going to work on my tan with long sleeves Al? I left the door wide open for you to comment on that one.

I think I'll try an elbow pad made out of my wife's old yoga mat with some Velcro on the bottom to stick to the carpet (hopefully). At least I can see if that does the trick before replacing the top.

Stay in the truck.



Travis

And work on your farmer's tan......

Day one, you drive.

Day two, buddy drives.

I have to explain everything to you lazy bastards...



Travis

What if you don't have any buddies?

Shooting left handed has an advantage when you are the driver. For those of those of us with no buddies.

Move out of Wisconsin.



Travis

I'm trying....




Turd Ferguson

You can crash here.



Tihts McGee

Cool.....





Farb Fundinger

If you move to Montana it'll cost you some money as you'll have to buy one of those "Dog-gone Good" bags that rests on your truck window....

Also, I can't shoot from the truck as sitting in there eating coffee and donuts, I'd have to take a leak so often it would disrupt my rifle rest getting in and out...

If you don't have a good truck a swivel bench with a built in pad works easily all day. There's a reason they write about Montana and not Texas, Oregon or Wisconsin...

In my best Crocodile Dundee voice:

"That's not a bench, this 110 pounder is a bench"








Ben Dover

That's not a bench that is ridiculous...

The op asked for a bench for shooting prairie dogs all day, carpet tops wear out your elbows, 4 legs never sit level and you would get a hernia trying to move that monstrosity around. Three legs and a 360 degree swivel will get you on prairie dogs without all the weight and hassle of trying to cart a bridge around. You might want to try shooting a PD field some day and tell Crocodile Dundee to go play somewhere else...

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Adam Bomb

is that a golf course?

What fits one, may not fit another. It easy just to wear a shirt!

Hardly....

That's big ass hill, just big enough to fit a truck on top, with about a 60 degree drop off 100' down, just past the bench.

No place for a guy with inner ear problems.......




Richard Wadd

The difference between a golf course and a prairie dog field is there are actually prairie dogs here. The bridge you have looks fine in a pasture, but we are serious...

Wished I had more pics to post, but I'm always too damn busy shooting PD's....




Bill Ding

We have professional photographers chronicling our days in the field. Then a write up in a well know publication. Everyone wants to be in Montana, but no one can afford it...

Seems that "professional" term gets thrown around quite loosely....




I.P. Freehly

aalf,

Don't let shrapnel cyber-bully you. I would be happy to shoot prairie dogs with you some time.

At your spot.



Travis

shrapnel,

Don't listen to these dumb-asses from Wisconsin.

I'd be happy to shoot prairie dogs with you some time.

At your spot.



Travis

Prairie Dog Invitational, June 5,6 and 7...

Sounds like a hell-of-a-deal.....

Wait....what?




Bufurd T. Pusser

Aalf, as I started this thread, you can't be lining up PD shoots unless I am in the passenger seat. I will lower my standards to ride in a GM if need be.

All my dog towns were poisoned off, and the passenger seat in my truck mysteriesly burnt up in a freak accident.

I'll have to slum in the Faag 150...at least it's black....





Jay Walker

Moving blanket works well.

Does an "Invitational" require an invitation?

We built a couple this weekend, I'll let you know in a couple weeks if it's the best for all day shooting or not. We kept the "ear" narrow enough to let your elbow hang over.

handholds instead of notches, are better in the wind....

Now you tell me! I thought about hand holds and then decided against them at least until we use the benches some. We were kinda crunched for time, we built 2 start to finish in one day. Thanks for the design input and sharing your bench pictures.

If you are looking for quick and easy go get a Black and Decker Workmate. Cut your plywood top to whatever and then use carriage bolts to hold a 2x2 on the bottom which gets clamped by the Workmate. Thank me later.
whelennut

That is what I use but it isn't light and the four frick'en legs aren't ideal. It does work but I would want a rest to pivot if I was shooting a dog town.

Can I get an invite if I bring cold beer AND good whiskey?

Hand hold on one side, notches on the other. Problem solved.

I have a Booger bench made with a set of folding table legs.




My buddy built a tri-pod similar to yours. It's definitely more stable but harder to move. (No free lunches eah?)
He solved the notch vs handle dilemma by not adding either.

Where can you get the mounts for the legs?

For the money, it's hard to beat that Big Game Swivel Bench shrapnel has in one of his photos. I have two that have made 5 trips now and they're real easy to haul and setup. Having 360* of movement is so nice when you're scanning for your next target. They even hold up my fat ass which is amazing.

Now, where do we sign up for these invites?

Prwlr, we made them, my son cut and drilled the plates at school in his agriculture class, he was going to cut and weld the couplings in class to but we ran out of time so we did that at home.

I built a small T shaped one using table legs like yours, and in the fields I shoot a little wiggling settles the 4 legs in well. I was concerned about the 4 vs 3, until I built one.

My T is more of a pie wedge, the front is curved, it is wide and the back portion is skinny so my elbow usually hangs off the benchtop, but when it is on it, after 100+ rounds, I usually spend more time making sure the red elbow is off the bench the rest of the day's shooting. The narrow back and wide front lets me slide my front rest maybe 30 degree's right-left, and if I see a bugger off to the side I can move the chair, move the rest/ rear bag in close ( or ditch the rear bag) and swing wide, and re-adjust the whole setup if I spy more vermin I hadn't seen sneaking around.

Another week and a few days and I'll try mine out again for a week of shooting Skippy, the flying squirrel.

That 4 leg sure is stout!!!!!

Allen

Don't know about perfect, I guess that depends on personal preference but, these worked perfectly well for us...

I like the gun notches. May have to consider adding those to mine!

screw notches.... handhold-style slots rule.....

We cut the notches deep and didn't have any trouble with the wind but with holes you could never have a problem with a rifle falling but they would be harder to switch rifles while sitting. To be honest we didn't lean the rifles in them very often anyway. We were constantly sliding the back of the benches left and right to line up on the next shot!

Don, hate to break it to you... notches rule!

Will, to each his own....But after meeting you and seeing that you're not physically (or mentally) challenged, I don't see how you would have any trouble adapting to the MUCH superior slot method. It's only as hard as ya make it........Besides that, where ya gonna hang yer rangefinder pouch from a frigging notch?(bottom pic)

There. It's been broken to you. Again......grin

And when those purty new benches start getting all scratched up sliding then in and out of the truckbed(and it bothers you), you can slot some PVC pipe for the edges. Keeps some chit from blowing off,and protects the top by raising it off the bed when loaded upside-down.I still think you should do the ammo shelf deal underneath, too.......







you can make a deal to hold the legs for transport, in the cooling shelf underneath.

Rangefinder?... ain't that the same as cheatn!?
We just guess, shoot, see where the dust flys adjust and shoot again. Now.....about that mentally challenged thing, you sure you don't want to reconsider your evaluation!

Good thing you went to kansas instead of here. Your 'dust fly' shot puts them down for good here. Only one chance on smart ones.


You are right on reconsidering the mental part. I now realize that maybe, just maybe, removing the rifle from slots with a 3-things-to-do action, instead of a simple yank, is above your capacity....grin

Repeat after me. lift, tilt and remove, lift, tilt and remove, lift, tilt and remove......all from the comfort of a seated position.

Let me try!..lift tilt remove lift tilt remove tilt lift remove remove lift tilt..? wait..hows that go again?
BTW we had 2 rangefinders they sat nicely on top of the bench.

"you can make a deal to hold the legs for transport, in the cooling shelf underneath."



Got that covered Don, check out the bottom of the pic, you can carry the legs in one hand and the top in the other...nice and balanced....not heavy unbalanced like your's....just admit it....my design is superior

OK, I'll admit it, just to SYTF up.....grin

Im disappointed in you, you gave in to easy. I'm a guy from the east that's only shot prairie dogs once in his life, you had this won hands down!
I'm heading out to the shop now to cut handholds in our benches.

All jokes aside, thanks for sharing!
Will

Remember to put them within reach of your bucket seat. Can't have struggling with the concept, any more than neccasary.....

I'll right the directions on the top with a sharpie!

It would be better to 'write' them...... Go kill some turkeys tomorrow. Have fun, guys.