Shooting sticks~ who uses them

[recurve]

Age is catching up with me, eyes  and now arm strength , who uses shooting sticks ?  Any suggestions?  mostly for ground hunting

[MuskratMike]

They are not nearly as stable as a bench or even leaning up next to a tree in the woods. However if you are getting up in years (like me) don't get short sticks like the cartridge black powder shooters do. I have a set I made similar to the shooting sticks used in Africa. You can make a set for $20.00 or so. I got three 3/4 -inch wood dowels 6 feet in length (they need to be approx. the same length as your height). Cut one 2 -inches shorter. Then stain any color you like or leave natural. I then used sinew to attach leather (fingers out of an old leather work glove) to the 2 longer sticks and finally used leather thong to tie them all together. Open quickly, are adjustable the more you open them the lower they get. Could be problematic for hunting with a muzzleloader unless you are still hunting but work fine for trail walks and such. First picture is a set made for a young shooter out of local branches, the 2nd photo is of the set I described.

[T*O*F]

Anyone who was a Boy Scout and took Pioneering merit badge should know how to quickly whip up a tripod using shear lashings.

[Herb]

I don't have the muscles to shoot well off-hand anymore.  In our local matches I have to shoot with my elbow support on my ribs.  But for hunting antelope and mule deer, I use sticks I made, to shoot standing.  Just two sticks with a piece of leather to swing over the hinge joint to support the rifle. A third leg hinges out to make a tripod.  It will stand by itself, and is far better than without that third leg.

I used it to shoot this target at 100 yards with my mule deer load, 100 grains of Olde Eynsford 1 1/2F, I think it was.  This target was left on my range, and my only shot hit the bull.  Just dumb chance, but it is where I was aiming.

[hanshi]

First, I shoot better from a sitting or kneeling position than I do with shooting sticks.  Second, using a tree trunk or solid pole works best for my accuracy, especially at the 100 yard targets.  Third, shooting from a bench usually makes me more accurate than either kneeling or sitting but not as accurate as using a tree trunk.  So I do not use shooting sticks and have yet to find them necessary.

[thelongrifle]

I use them all the time if possible when hunting. They help me be steadier an make better shots on game. I like them about four foot long . They work well when setting on a folding chair in a blind. I can't carry a bench rest hunting but I can carry these sticks. They also help walking too.

[Darkhorse]

I mostly carry a shooting "stick", not PC though. I use it as a staff when walking in or out of the woods and as a rest for shooting. I can shoot pretty accurate with it too, the key is to brace it against the foot and leg, and practice with it a lot.
I feel I'm more accurate with "sticks" and occasionally still use them. But a single stick is just easier to pack and carry for me.

[Daryl]

I know some guys carry and use the new commercial trigger sticks. The make a good walking stick when collapsed 1/2 way, then pulling the trigger on the handle drops and locks the single or double legs at the level desired, for the shooting rest usage. They are not inexpensive. Friend of mine (big game guide) packs the double leg version for his clients. He says they ALL shoot better with the rest. 

[MuskratMike]

To Daryl: It's just my humble opinion but if I am going out in the woods either hunting or a trail walk with a nice BP flintlock probably dressed in period attire I would never carry one of those new plastic shooting pods or sticks. If I need sticks I would make them as period correct as possible. Just a thought.

[Huntschool]

For those of us with some age I think sticks are a pretty good thing. I cant say I use them all the time but I do have some to go to when I feel the need.

In the woods, I am generally sitting about 2/3 of the time so I can rest on my knee or something.  When upright and "sneaking" (that's getting harder these days) I like to go tree to tree just incase I spot something while standing still.  Works for me......

Just some thoughts......

[Daryl]

To Daryl: It's just my humble opinion but if I am going out in the woods either hunting or a trail walk with a nice BP flintlock probably dressed in period attire I would never carry one of those new plastic shooting pods or sticks. If I need sticks I would make them as period correct as possible. Just a thought.

Each to his own.  I don't carry sticks as I do not feel the need. If I need a rest, there are trees, rocks, bushes, tree branches, prone, sitting, kneeling.  There are rests all around.

If you hunt in wide open spaces without nature's gun rests, as Herb or Dphar, then perhaps sticks of some sort would help.  Carrying a 9 to 11 pound rifle plus a couple tree branches

does not excite me very much.

If that was necessary, I'd likely not go hunting.

If needed, a 1/2 pound of aluminum 'sticks' might work just fine. They are camo'd so no one would see them. Just a thought.

[Darkhorse]

I don't hunt in period attire. So trigger sticks suit me just fine. I think everybody should do things as they see fit even if it's different from somebody else's way.

[Pukka Bundook]

Daryl,

For light shooting sticks, bamboo comes all sizes and about 6 feet long in most dollar stores.  V light in weight and also comes dark in colour!

[Daryl]

Daryl,

For light shooting sticks, bamboo comes all sizes and about 6 feet long in most dollar stores.  V light in weight and also comes dark in colour!

True- I have a few of those in the corner bin in the shop. Wifey was eyeing them up for stakes in the raspberries.

We have a "Chinese Store" (that's what it's called) which has bamboo from 1/4" up to about 8" in diameter, for sale.

The 3/4" would make a good rest, light too, if someone needed them

[alacran]

I shoot PRB when hunting , I limit my shots to no more than 125 yards. That being a theoretical limit since I've never shot past 80 yards with a muzzle loader.
Carrying shooting sticks to me is just more $#@* to carry. There are plenty of improvised positions that can be attained, if you don't believe an offhand shot is appropiate.
If you are in thick woods, still hunting 50 yards would be a long shot, plenty of trees to lean against. In open country , sitting is a good shooting position. If the grass  isn't too high you can shoot prone with your pack as a rest.

[Pukka Bundook]

Alacran,

Quite agree.
what you said about tall grass made me think of the way it is done in parts of Africa, where  a handful of tall grass was grabbed, and pulled Up on with the forward hand.
Pulling Up steadies a rifle nearly as good as bearing down on a rest.

[Bob Roller]

I think I may have a pair of tall shooting sticks here similar to those Herb was using but
minus the 3rd leg. I used them at Ralph Marcum's shoots for breech loading single shots
Also used to loading rod as a support when kneeling using my left hand with thumb extended
as a fast rest for a quick shot.

Bob Roller

[thelongrifle]

Killed a nice doe this morning using sticks.

[thecapgunkid]

Wish I could poll all the guys in the 18th century who had to shoot for food or beat off the French and Indians who ever shot offhand when they didn't have to.

[alacran]

Wish I could poll all the guys in the 18th century who had to shoot for food or beat off the French and Indians who ever shot offhand when they didn't have to.

Don't know about those 18th century guys. They would probably laugh at us when you told them you couldn't hunt during  a full moon, when the moon is at is apex. Or when you told them you couldn't use buck and ball. That you couldn't bait. Maybe the biggest guffaw would be when you told them you couldn't shoot game from your moving canoe, and had to dress up as a  pumpkin.
As for me the closest I have come to shooting game with a ML off a rest, was a shot I took while sitting up agaisnt a tree.

[Pukka Bundook]

Capgun,

Yes, I think when one shot counts, take a lean on anything there is  would be their way, and mine too.  :-)

[oldtravler61]

  Well I don't use sticks at all. I'm with Daryl on this. Where I hunt if I have a shot over 75 yards it would be along one at that. If the times I hunted out west( modern firearm) it was off hand or over the top of my back pack.
   Just don't like carring anymore than I have to. But then that's just me.
   Oldtravler

[Stoner creek]

I used a shooting stick yesterday. Worked out great!

[Mike Brooks]

I used a shooting stick yesterday. Worked out great!

I'd be embarrassed to bring that home here in Iowa...... Not bad for a KY deer shot by a cripple though.


BTW, I let my neighbor shoot most of my deer these days, he still has the killer fever going on real bad, me, it's just not that important any more. I do still like killing squirrels though! And, most always I have a rest on my knees or against the side of  a handy tree. I'm thinking if I get a new set of knees I'd like to shoot some pheasants too...of course I probably won't need a rest for that. Maybe if I could blast them from a 4 wheeler? Combines are my favorite mode of transportation for bird hunting with out a dog these days. Come to think of it combines were a favorite in my youth too. That was before they had cabs!
 BTW again, I stashed a charcoal gilled deer loin in the neighbor's fridge last week. He called today and wondered where I got the best roast beef he ever ate.  He hasn't got into the  smoked carp I left him yet!

[Stoner creek]

I used a shooting stick yesterday. Worked out great!

I'd be embarrassed to bring that home here in Iowa...... Not bad for a KY deer shot by a cripple though.


BTW, I let my neighbor shoot most of my deer these days, he still has the killer fever going on real bad, me, it's just not that important any more. I do still like killing squirrels though! And, most always I have a rest on my knees or against the side of  a handy tree. I'm thinking if I get a new set of knees I'd like to shoot some pheasants too...of course I probably won't need a rest for that. Maybe if I could blast them from a 4 wheeler? Combines are my favorite mode of transportation for bird hunting with out a dog these days. Come to think of it combines were a favorite in my youth too. That was before they had cabs!
 BTW again, I stashed a charcoal gilled deer loin in the neighbor's fridge last week. He called today and wondered where I got the best roast beef he ever ate.  He hasn't got into the  smoked carp I left him yet!

Well I recon you might want to show what a good buck looks like huh? I’ll bring the ham and biscuits