Tools for field positions

[Bravo 4]

I hadn't thought about making my own. That'd be cheap and easy. And congrats to your wife. I had read your post on her first deer. Cool story and good shooting on her part. Long shot for a first deer.

I make my own and do as CaptnC does & use for a rear rest. This works even for my 21 pound .375 Snipetac when used with a good tripod in the front, plus I carry a small folding seat to sit behind it.
I made it with fiberglass electric fence poles, 3/8" tubing and castration bands. It's all cheap and found at Tractor Supply.

 

[WildRose]

Don't know about that Rose, the water collects in the bottom of the leg and cannot drain out. A little oil will not fix this. The legs work a lot like regular tripod legs, except they are upside-down. This is what let's the water in. If Primos had designed it with the legs with the thickest part on the top, like tripods, it wouldn't even be an issue. I hunt in RAIN, as in NW Pacific coast range.

Well constant exposure is going to cause problems that most of us will never see. As I said, I've never had a problem with either of them. I like the suggestions below though as a solution for people in situations similar to yours.

 

[Canhunter35]

Sometimes the easiest field position is standing. Ive taken long bipods and used my pack for stability, works good, but it's slow to set up. More often than not I just take my short bipods, rear bag, and use a sling to assist my shots. If I need to make a shot I have sling to help me either standing or sitting and if the game is farther away, I keep looking for a vantage point, but that really depends on where ur hunting

 

[memtb]

Though we will use what is available in the field or prone, shooting sticks are used for almost all of our shooting. Feel very confident to 500 yards and maybe a little beyond... if conditions dictate. I don't particularly like "attached" bi-pods. Adds too much weight to rifle forend, hindering my ability for a "quick, snap-shot" in the timber. As we hunt in mixed terrain....it is impractical to put on/off bi-pods! And you are limited to the height often required in the field.

We use homemade,fairly tall (48"), stiff, lightweight shooting sticks. Not only do they offer a solid shooting platform... they serve as walking sticks, help stabilize us when maneuvering through rough terrain/downfall, etc., and have been used to help with foot placement when traversing a snow covered rock field. It would suck to "bust" a leg or ankle by stepping into an unseen hole between rocks. I used 1/2" fiberglass rods, with a rubber chair leg boot (with a brass rivet inserted inserted through the boot, for traction on a slick surface), bound together with leather lashing. Inexpensive and easy to build. memtb

 

[Wedgy]

From another thread;
https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/tripods.190716/#post-1335332

I take a UTG quick release and thread it 1/4"-20 it to fit on a tripod fluid head base upside down then any pic rail/bipod rail will clamp into it. The possibilities and endless...and cheap ! The monfrotto 128 head ($40 Ebay) is rated to 9lb but I've had over 15lbs on it, just tighten the adjustment knobs. You could put the mounting rail on anything including you gun or a hog saddle. The tripod is a Monfrotto 055 with the extendable center column, it can get lower to the ground than some and has 3 leg segments that go to 60+ inches

. Again, cheap on Ebay. If you want CF just google "carbon fiber tripod" on Ebay and you can get a really great deal. Don't get me wrong I really like RRS but it's out of my price range. Also if you are mounting a RF on your setup like mine it's much easier when you have s straight spotter as you can move your head back and forth from spotter to RF. My Meopta S2 is angled and takes a lot more positioning when going back and forth.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_so...dcat=30093&rt=nc&_mPrRngCbx=1&_udlo&_udhi=100
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bogen-Manfr...474162?hash=item4409940eb2:g:RFEAAOSwEBxZbmPt
https://www.leapers.com/index.php?act=listproduct&midx=980&allids=918_980&svroot=
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2XTactical-...354855?hash=item3d437e4967:g:YuQAAOSwax5YoqYE
The QR camera plates all have the standard 3/8" thread that fits the tripod and the shoe has the 1/4" that fit cameras, tripods, RF(except the Sig2400 has no hole), etc.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pro-New-Cam...592820?hash=item3ad6b9a134:g:gMIAAOSwA3dYbbnN
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The tripod in the video at the beginning of this thread is a
monfrotto 055xprob which also comes in a short version so it can get lower to the ground
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Manfrotto-...078217?hash=item4410f21b09:g:iO0AAOSwRbtaFlSL

 

[Hand Skills]

Loving the photos, great thread!

 

[SCdeerhunter]

I make my own and do as CaptnC does & use for a rear rest. This works even for my 21 pound .375 Snipetac when used with a good tripod in the front, plus I carry a small folding seat to sit behind it.
I made it with fiberglass electric fence poles, 3/8" tubing and castration bands. It's all cheap and found at Tractor Supply.

Though we will use what is available in the field or prone, shooting sticks are used for almost all of our shooting. Feel very confident to 500 yards and maybe a little beyond... if conditions dictate. I don't particularly like "attached" bi-pods. Adds too much weight to rifle forend, hindering my ability for a "quick, snap-shot" in the timber. As we hunt in mixed terrain....it is impractical to put on/off bi-pods! And you are limited to the height often required in the field.

We use homemade,fairly tall (48"), stiff, lightweight shooting sticks. Not only do they offer a solid shooting platform... they serve as walking sticks, help stabilize us when maneuvering through rough terrain/downfall, etc., and have been used to help with foot placement when traversing a snow covered rock field. It would suck to "bust" a leg or ankle by stepping into an unseen hole between rocks. I used 1/2" fiberglass rods, with a rubber chair leg boot (with a brass rivet inserted inserted through the boot, for traction on a slick surface), bound together with leather lashing. Inexpensive and easy to build. memtb

I like these ideas. Im definitely going to use y'all's ideas. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Wedgy]

The monfrotto 055xprob has an rotating extendable column that is pretty handy for a spotting scope when prone. The Vortex summit SS weighs 1 lb and is pretty handy as well.

 

[SCdeerhunter]

The monfrotto 055xprob has an rotating extendable column that is pretty handy for a spotting scope when prone. The Vortex summit SS weighs 1 lb and is pretty handy as well.View attachment 84442 View attachment 84443

That's pretty nifty! I'm glad I asked this question now. Alot of good info. Thatd be really useful shooting prone

 

[Irish Neil]

I hunt almost entirely in forestry plantation interspaced with heavy brush. I made my own shooting sticks from two hazle sticks and a bridle rubber ring. I bought a trigger stick a couple of years ago but when it gave trouble recently I purchased a Quad stick. In oeration the quad stick is steadier than a bench rest. Its one disadvantage is it is slow to set up and due to its design it is tricky to track moving animals. I am off to Africa next spring and i will be bringing the quad sticks with me.

 

[Crockett12]

When I was young and living in the NE and hunting groundhogs, I cut a pair of shooting sticks about 3 feet long and forked at one end from the branches of a tree. I found that they worked very well from a sitting position and I could shoot over brush that was anything shorter than 3 feet tall. I wish I had a picture but will try and describe what I use now.


Some years ago I bought a pair of shooting sticks from Stoney Point that I feel are still better than anything I've seen on the market since. The sticks are carried in a Cordova holster like affair which came with the sticks that I've got attached to my backpack.


I've looked around on the internet and what I have is similar to what they call the "Bog-Pod Dead Silent Kneeling Shooting Sticks".


My sticks assembled are 2 sticks that are adjustable for height by spreading them out or by making them narrower. Each stick consists of 2 pieces of what I think are fiberglass rods about 18 inches long and they join together by a female joint on the end of one of the sticks. Near the top of the sticks they are joined by a plastic screw adjustable wing nut for tightness and the top ends have foam pieces surrounding them so as to not mar the rifle stock. When sitting in tall brush, such as sagebrush in the desert, the sticks can be spread out to make them lower. I position them in front of the rifle so that the sticks contact the rifle stock in front of the sling swivels and push into the swivels using the swivels as a stop. I sit with both elbows on my knees and if I position the sticks so that I can push the rifle into the sticks the rifle is very steady. Positioning them this way is almost as steady as shooting from a bench rest!


By positioning the sticks so that you can push the rifle into them, you're putting pressure on the rifle from 4 points – you've got pressure from the sticks, from your shoulder and from both elbows. It's very steady and I've made very easy shots out to 300 yards -- and feel it would be good to much longer distances than that!


My sticks are far lighter than attaching a bi-pod to a rifle and are quickly employed.

 

[George Dean]

How do you like the trigger sticks? Your set up is the closest to what I had in mind. For situations that I can't go prone I would like to use a tripod with a rear support of some sort and the primos seems to be the most reasonable price wise. Also wondering if anyone has any experience with the Caldwell field pod. Looks like that would be pretty stable but not sure how annoying it'd be to carry around.

I own a field pod, bought it for the range. For a light weight rifle, it may be just fine, but my experience with it and my Ruger Precision Rifle is that the pod is wobbly. If it were me, I'd suggest a tri-pod style shooting stick, light weight, uncomplicated and quick to deploy.

 

[George Dean]

Yea, probably. I've been thinking about doing it to allow a place to oil the cam too. Just drill hole at a spot where a wd-40 tube would be close to the cam/locking mechanism.
The water actually kinda condenses inside the leg. So, there is moisture in there everywhere that cannot get out. Below is a pic of what it looked like when I got it apart.

I just really don't use it in the rain anymore..
View attachment 84361

Why not coat it with axle grease inside the legs, along with drilling a weep hole?

 

[Barrelnut]

Why not coat it with axle grease inside the legs, along with drilling a weep hole?

That's an idea too. Seems, at the factory, they do put a small dab of white grease on the egg shaped cam inside the leg. It is just not enough to really shed water though. Problem is the cam pushes out things that are like mini brake pads. If you get grease on them, and the inside wall of the leg that they press against, then they won't grab.
Plus the whole thing is a real pain to take apart. it is not designed for disassembly.

Trigger sticks do work well, fast to deploy, and work for me standing at 6 ft 2 in. You just have to keep them from getting too wet. I don't use mine in rainy weather anymore. Drop one in a creek and your screwed.