Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Thoughts on shooting off a tripod in Namibia

A BIG +1 on Joe's Beer House!

Looking at today’s exchange rates and the current Stellenbosch menu, an 8 ounce Fillet Mignon dinner is $13 US and a 12 ounce complete Fillet dinner is $17 US. The quality is comparable to Ruth Chris or Capital Grill at 1/4 the price.

After three trips to Africa for plains game and DG,and winning some matches at Camp Perry in my youth, Here is my advice.

Forget your tripod. Use the PH's sticks as a bipod, not a tripod. Why a bipod? Because it's quicker and, more importantly, you can control your "natural" elevation by moving slightly backward and forward.

Forget monopods. I can shoot just as well offhand as with a monopod.

Practice: Shooting off the bench is a waste of time after you get a zero. Only shoot offhand or with sticks. Make your own sticks with two pieces of bamboo and an old bicycle inner tube.

Also don't shoot hundreds of rounds through your safari rifle. Shoot enough to make sure you don't get hit in the eyebrow with the scope, injure your shoulder, etc.

Then do what the NRA Highpower champions do. Dry fire at a spot you paste on the wall in your basement. The "muscle memory" you develop is transferrable. Or shoot a .22 that has similar dimensions and weight as your safari rifle.

I agree with Mccray. Take the .308 and not the "eargeschplittenloudenboomer."

I got into a little bit of trouble after a 2002, 3-week cull/trophy hunt in South Africa, which ranged from the Karoo to the Eastern Cape. It worked out so well I offered to take the PH, my now retired friend Kevin Thomas and his wife Brenda, to the restaurant of their choice. They lived in Bathurst, and chose a fine seafood place off a pier in nearby Port Alfred.

We had pre-dinner drinks, a couple of bottles of very fine South African wine during the appetizers and dinner, and an after-dinner drink with dessert. The total bill came to around $30 American, due to a very favorable exchange rate, and the young waitress was outstanding, so I gave her a 20% tip.

After that she paid a LOT of attention to me, and one the drive home Kevin and Brenda asked how much I'd tipped. When I said 20%, after they finished laughing they explained that good tip in was 5%, and the waitress had obviously fallen in love with the "rich" American.

At the end of a Zimbabwe Safari in 200 I bought my PH lunch in Bulawayo. Put it on my credit card..the bill came to something like $1436 .........hoping like hell Visa got the exchange rate right...they did...it was $26 USD

BC or AD?

No experience shooting over sticks is the biggest issue I see with African hunters. The shots are generally not long, so you don't need to produce 1" groups. I prefer 2 sticks (bipod)...easier to adjust for elevation by moving forward or backwards. I like to move back, then push into the sticks for a firmer support.

Must've been AD, can't be BC "Before Credit cards"

This is a very interesting thread for me, as I have booked a trip with Kowa's for next June. I have started practicing shooting off hand and off stick with the airgun. Will work up to 22LR and centerfire when I get the chance to go to the range. Not sure if I will bring my gun or not, as depending on things, we may stop in Spain and Switzerland to visit family and friends

You'll love Kowa's. Dani and Ansie have a great ranch, and you'll see LOTS of game. The private chalets are very nice as well.

As part of the practice work on deploying the tripod or what ever you choose as quickly, quietly and with the least amount of motion possible. Don't just leave it set up and shoot over it like a bench rest, re-deploy each shot.

If the 30 Nosler has to have the brake then yes to the 308 like the others have mentioned. In Namibia the 243 and the 308 were the two most popular cartridges with the professional game cullers, now it might be the 6.5 Creedmoor. In the thornbush country a 200 yard shot is a fairly long one, rarely will a 300 yard shot be required. Most shots are in the 75-150 yard range. More open country like in the Kalihari or Karoo the shots will be longer but usually not extreme.

Practice-- a lot!

Middle’n:

Congratulations on you and your wife’s first trip, you will both have a great time. If you’ve seen some of my past posts, I and my wife have accumulated several years of time in the country and have traveled over and around most of it. If you can, be sure to work in at the end at least a few days of sightseeing. Windhoek itself is good for maybe three days. Lot of modern and a few high-end shops/stores and some great restaurants. The country is still safe to self tour alone with just common sense precautions and very very inexpensive compared to Europe.

Just a couple of things to think about from your original post.

Think about taking rifles that are of more “common” calibers just in case your ammo for some unexplainable reason doesn’t make it all the way. Depending on the caliber, it could be difficult to find in Namibia to not available at all.

Muzzle brakes not “that bad” and you won’t be tossed out for bringing a rifle equipped with one. Just mostly means the PH’s and trackers have to pay more attention to staying back more behind the shooter. Lots of times when the PH or tracker set the shooting sticks, they just tend to stand beside the shooter and maybe a bit in front. They just need to remember to stay back a bit and closer to the shooter then they are used to. They, not you, just have to adjust.

Yes, you’ll really need to be familiar with shooting sticks. Not a lot of PH’s are comfortable with clients of “unknown” shooting capability taking freehand shots beyond 50-75m. Then too, it’s your MONEY. As mentioned, the general “rule” is, if you “draw blood”, means if you put a bullet anywhere in an animal, and it’s not recovered, the fee is still due and payable – period. While some clients might have pockets deep enough to afford potentially thousands of dollars in wounded/lost game, 99.9% of PH’s will simply not allow it. Second is, generally in Namibia, while there can be lots of trees and bushes, most have thorns of some sort or to spindly to be useful as rests. I/we’ve only occasionally shot freehand, prone, 3-point sitting and kneeling, but those are the exception. The vast majority has been from standing off sticks.

I’m not familiar with the particular brand/kind of tripod and “head” you mentioned so I looked it up. Seems it is designed more for photographic use where you have some time to set them and then set the equipment (rifle/camera etc) into the mount that locks it in. With out first hand knowledge of using them, my only though/question is how quickly you can “deploy” them. Meaning, even with the legs pre-extended and locked, how quickly can you fit the rifle into the mount? I see the mount/head is on a swivel that also can be loose or locked. My point being, if you intend to take and use these, try practicing this drill. You or wife carry the tripod as your PH would. Say “go” and see how long it takes for the tripod to be “set” and the shooter to get the rifle into the mount and a shot off and on target. Here’s why.

There are three generalized scenarios with millions of variations to these three. First is the traditional “spot and stalk”. Second, the pre-positioned and/or permanent blind, either ground or elevated. Third, the “hasty” ambush from cover of opportunity.

Next, things to take into consideration are the game’s natural behavior. GENERALLY, if the game has absolutely no idea you are there, you have all day as long as you are quite and make no sudden moves. IF, the game IS aware of your presence or that something is “not right” and are alert and looking in your direction, but haven’t decided to stay or run yet, you generally have maybe 20 seconds or less before they bolt. So, now tying the last two paragraphs above together.

If you’re in a pre-positioned/permanent blind, you have all day to set a tripod or most likely you’ll just use the blind ledge itself as your rest. The game comes in, cautiously but as long as they don’t smell you or hear you, you’ve got lots of time (sometimes too much time) to make the shot. Similar situation with a hasty/ambush of opportunity cover scenario. Time to set up and wait for the game to come to you.

When you’re doing the traditional “spot and stalk”, you may have situations where the game has no clue you see them and some situations where they are aware you’re at least in the area or maybe alerted by a “go away bird” or a baboon bark etc that something “isn’t right”. Generally too, if you’ve been riding in the bakkie and spot game, guess what, they pretty much have either seen or heard you well before you saw them. Sometimes, driving past and then dismounting and circling back works, sometimes it doesn’t depending on how much hunting pressure they’ve been recently exposed to. The spot and stalk scenario is where that little shooting drill comes into play.

If the game is relaxed and totally unaware of your presence, you’ve got time. If they are aware, but haven’t decided to bolt yet, you’ve probably got less than 20sec to get on the sticks (tripod) and get a lethal shot off. This is NOT the time to be fumbling around and having to take your eyes off the game and fiddling around with various kit. Add to that your heart beating from the walk and excitement and the recipe can be set for either a totally missed opportunity or wounded/lost game ($$$).

Again, I have no working knowledge of the tripod you have. The reason the plain old “African shooting sticks” are used is, they are simple to make, simple to use and with the big “V” they make at the top, very quick to bring into use.

As always, just my opine. Everyone is free to use, discuss or toss in the trash bin, but you WILL have a great trip and congratulation for taking your wife and her being a hunter too!!

M3Taco made a good point on the tripod. Looks like a really good one for photography but slow for shooting. This is one that I have been using recently and it works well for shooting and is ok for optics. https://www.primos.com/shooting-sti...tall-tripod-shooting-stick/PO-65815.html

It can almost be set up one handed but pretty fast two handed. The tall model can be used sitting or at least kneeling and is very steady. In a pop up blind I use it with a bi-pod for the butt stock and it is very stable. The tr-pod you have would have to be carried fully extended to be very fast to set up. This would be possible but a nuisance in heavy brush. I would try the Primos and then take whichever one you can set up the quickest. In Namibia we hunted in brush blinds at water holes several times and this would allow you to set up the more solid tri-pod or even two tri-pods to hold the rifle in the ready position.

M3taco,
That post was excellent as far as describing the scenarios, and to my followup question... which would have been, how much time available to line up the shot once the sticks are deployed.
20 seconds is a good reference range for me to work on, trying to get setup and squeeze the shot off. I'll be working with my kids as stick deployers and shoot the airgun onto spinner. See how long it takes. (realizing game animals and vitals are different)

Thanks Sponxx. It's difficult to be descriptive for those who haven't been there before. Just a couple additional thoughts.

My referenced "20sec clock" starts when the game or first animal in a herd SEES movement (you, PH or tracker) but doesn't yet feel threatened. They KNOW something is there, but just not WHAT it is. There are a few things that will immediately trigger most all game to bolt: human scent, human voices, human sounds like metal on metal clinking or the click of a safety moving to "fire", the human body form/shape (our arms and heads are absolute giveaways) and of course ANY rapid movements. If ANY of those things occur before the shot goes off, you're BUSTED.

Generally, either the tracker or PH will be in the lead of a single file stalk so, you as the hunter/shooter will likely be the second or even third thing game might see/alert on. The movement(s) between the PH and the shooter must be SLOW, fluid and deliberate. Since you're likely to be in a single file, our human shapes are less distinctive and a bit "blob" like to them for a few seconds. If the movements between the PH placing the sticks down and the shooter are slow and deliberate with the shooter moving up over the PH's shoulder onto the sticks while the sticks are simultaneously being set and then the shooter and PH stay standing closely together, it can buy you a few extra seconds. To that point....

I strongly encourage a client before going out with the PH the first time to spend just a few minutes in camp practicing with each other on some dry runs. It will help the PH learn how high to set the sticks for you so that first time they are "planted" there's no screwing around trying to get them adjusted. If they are a little low, bend your knees and a little high stand a little straighter but don't mess with the sticks unless you REALLY have to. Next is, does coming up over the PH's right or left shoulder work best for you. For example, in my case, I'm a right handed shooter, but carry my rifle(s) slung on my left shoulder the vast majority of the time. So, for me, it works best if I come up over my PH's left shoulder, while he leaning down and forward slowing planting the sticks with mostly his left hand and then he stands close to my right side. With a little practice, my rifle stock in sitting in the "V" on the sticks within a moment of the sticks being set. On very, very windy days that can occur in Namibia, since my right elbow is out, if I'm being wiggled left and right from the wind, I can brace my right elbow/forearm against his shoulder/back while he's watching for where the shot hits.

This coordination does take a little practice and a few dry runs to make it slow and smooth and can pay you HUGE dividends by possibly getting you a few extra seconds on the "shot clock".

I tried a couple different shooting sticks but finally settled on Bog Pods as I found them to be more stabile.

I shot at least three hundred rounds of .357 xtp bullets out of my 35 Whelen and worked on getting accurate shots in short order. Then another hundred or so of my hunting load at MPBR for a final sighting in.

So glad I spent the time on that, as shots in the Kalahari were sometimes fairly long.

...What indyCA35 said.
You have a PM

Lots of talk about sticks. But no discussion on the part about "she is not normally a hunter". Then why would she want to kill game?

I could write a novel on this but I'll stop with that.