Improving shooting from shooting sticks

[370bc]

I was in a shooting house this am and after practicing putting my crosshairs on critters, I noticed my horizontal movement was 5-10 inches at 300 yards. I was sitting in a chair, using trip[pod sticks from bog-pod.
I have been prancing at my house while sitting on the floor using sticks and the movement didn't seem half that bad (aiming at 150 yards). I will be coyote shooting. I want to try to keep my groups as tight as possible.
Any tips? Whats the longest shot you have made using sticks?
Happy Holidays A.S. Members!

 

[Toby Bradshaw]

I've never shot from sticks in the sitting position, but I've done a lot of shooting from the standing position. Set the sticks at a comfortable height (this is critical), lean into the sticks, put plenty of downward pressure on the sticks to stabilize them, and use your non-trigger hand to pull down on the forend (or hold the forend and the sticks tightly together). I've used sticks out to 300 yards, but it wasn't a small target.

 

[5spd]

I shoot sitting on a 3 leg stool, made my own shooting sticks and have zero issues dropping coyotes at 30 yards to 589 so far. I also hold my sticks under the forearm and lean into them a tad, they are usually pressed up next to my short bipods I have on my rigs in case I have a need to go prone as over a rise/hill top etc.
My shooting goes from sitting on the ground to the stool depending on the grasses height out here.

 

[LawrenceHanson]

I’ve seen the bog-pod tripod and am sure they provide a stable field rest. But they are a bit more than I would want to carry for coyote hunting. I use an old Stoney Point bi-pod with segmented sticks that can be folded up and carried in a pocket. Shooting from a sitting position with back support, I brace the sticks against my calves and steady the top of the sticks with my off hand while supporting my elbow on my knee. I have done enough shooting this way to know that, depending on the field conditions, my chances of cleanly hitting a coyote between 300 and 400 yards are pretty good. Beyond that distance my chances diminish rapidly. My longest shot has been 478 yards. The coyote was broadside standing still, it was calm, I felt steady, and luck was on my side. Most shots are closer to 200 yards so this shooting technique works well considering the way I hunt coyotes.

I would suggest practicing shooting at paper but do it under field conditions, cold, snow, wind, etc. until you establish your outer limit. The best advice I can give is to try to find back support whenever you set up in the field. Tree, rock, brush, anything will help. This goes a long way toward making the upper body steady.

 

[Warren Dean]

Get a leather service rifle sling and learn how to operate it. It's very stable in the sitting position. Surprisingly stable actually.

 

[370bc]

Beautiful pics. Great advise.

 

[MrMajestic]

I use an aluminum extendable tripod(forget the name) for Chucking. I have made several shots at 425-450 yards from the standing position with it with my back against a tree. When seated in a chair I try to either use a tree as support or if the seat has a back I setup with my back supported by the backrest. Just another point of contact. Depending on the terrain and length of grass prone just don't work.

 

[TikkaSporter]

This is what has worked best for me of all of the things I've tried so far:

Bog Pod tripod with a Stoney Point tag-along-arm, a little bit of Teflon tape around the Bog Pod arm to increase the diameter to fit the tag-along-arm.

I use this system for pretty much everything long-range in the field where a bipod won't work. Great for coyote hunting as it free's up both hands to call with, etc. There is some side-to-side wobble that I've learned to minimize through technique and practice. This works great on rifle stocks with a butt-hook as the tag along arm 'locks' into the butt-hook perfectly.

What I do is hold and tension the rifle sling in the left hand that is also gripping the left tripod leg, pulling enough to move the crosshairs to the left of the POA (works best with a sling on the left side of the forearm). Then I brace my right elbow on my knee using something like this:

... and push gently, applying enough 'counter-tension' to bring the crosshairs back on target.

I've taken coyotes out to 749 yards and elk to 889 yards with this setup, including taking an elk at 750 yards last weekend. Also, my POI matches my bench POI with this setup.

 

[Roe]

I have a lightweight one. Practice with it every now and then, don't use it that much for the actual hunting but it adds versatility I don't want to be without.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4MKLxR_v9s

 

[Changeling]

I have a lightweight one. Practice with it every now and then, don't use it that much for the actual hunting but it adds versatility I don't want to be without.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4MKLxR_v9s

Once again Roe, I love your photography. The pictures are extremely clear and your composition is excellent.

 

[drags]

TikkkaSporter has some very good advice, I would add if using shooting sticks without the rear support you can use your pack or coat to rest your right elbow on (for right handed shooters) and the shooting sticks supporting the forearm of the rifle.
L Hansen another aid when using just shooting sticks and traveling light is to use a strap to go around both knees to rest your elbows on, this is also a good support when using binoculars. This work best when sitting on the ground.
Drags

 

[daniel brothers]

Here is the ONLY way that I sit with sticks... unless I use the prone bipod... but this system has worked very well for me for steady long range shots..... ONLY... because I can support both elbows on the back of the chair rail that I made... as I sit in the chair backwards. By sitting backwards, it allows me to rest your elbows on the chair's back rail....plus... if you need to pivot left or right for a different shot, then you only need to lean back and pivot the whole chair system on the one back leg.... and it carries super easy.

I use a stony point shooting sticks... but any sticks will do fine, as long as you can move them with the rifle as you pivot around, and are quick and easy to adjust.

 

[drags]

Hi daniel brothers that is a great idea! Could you explain how you made the back bar and installed it.
Thanks
Drags

 

[daniel brothers]

Sure... I took the cloth back rest off the chair, and made a bar out of 1/2" pvc with 90 degree elbows that simply pop on over the chair's post when I sit down... and they pop right off and fold up into the chair as I fold it up and strap it together with Velcro.

 

[Mr. Ten-X]

Being an older fossil, have carried sticks for more years than I can remember. The past 10+ years have been with the lightweight Stoney Point, segmented, shock-cord sticks. Would not even consider going afield without them. My fav position is sitting with my back against something solid and resting my elbows as best as possible for good bone support. Always try to do some practice from field positions using the sticks prior to season to verify any zero shift.

 

[Barlow]

I use the Johnny Stewart Quik Shot wood sticks. I try to set up so the left stick is against my lower leg so I can pull it back against it with my left hand. I sit on a turkey hunting seat that I put some foam cushions on to raise me up some and be comfortable. These sticks capture the rifle with a rubber hose over the ends, and that lets you pick them up with the rifle when you have to change position. I put a o ring on each leg so they don't make noise when carrying them. I carry them on my pack hanging on a loop of the top of the pack, out of the way and quiet. Works for me. Barlow

 

[ohearchai]

OP, Tikka posted some great info. For practical/tactical matches I use a Manfrotto tripod with a hog saddle. But for hunting, I have found myself carrying a simple tripod made from 3 wood dowels and some 550 cord. I use my Eberlestock bag as my rear support and it provides a very stable support for shooting at distance especially if was sitting on something.

 

[fourpower]

I use the stoney point with shock cord. my gun is very heavy so I pull the sticks toward me and it is very stable that way. any coyote out to 500yds that isn't moving and now to much wind is in big trouble!

 

[LenBackus]

This is a topic of particular interest to me these days. When I hunt big game out in the WY mountains I am finding many more shooting opportunities from a seated position than from a classic prone position.

So I've been working hard to develop my own sticks technique.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f17/tightest-group-longest-distance-shooting-stciks-145485/

Here are my newest, best groups shot at distance using shooting sticks yesterday.

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This winter and spring we'll be working on fresh new material to present at the LRH-NTO Shooting Classes http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f125/2015-lrh-shooting-class-non-typical-outfitters-145634/ to be held in the mountains of western Wyoming next August. In the classes we teach plenty of prone style shooting but one of the ways our classes are unique is that we also spend a lot of time on real life positions other than prone.

Too often prone just isn't available, whether you're sitting in a bed of sagebrush in Oregon or a field of CRP in the midwest or up at 8,000 feet on the steep slopes of the mountain west. And if the range is much over 300 yards most hunters are simply not up to the task of taking a clean shot on big game from a seated position.

Yesterday before my Green Bay Packers trounced the Detroit Lions I was at my friend's hunting land, refining my own long range seated shooting sticks technique in order to be better able to teach the subject. My shooting spot is high up on a snow-covered hill but just below its crown. My bullets from there fly first over many rows of pine seedlings and then over a harvested corn field where I shot four tasty whitetails just last month. I set out 2 steel targets at 916 yards on the far hillside beyond the cornfield and beneath a huge oak tree.

My first 2 three shot groups were fired while using the new Rudolph Optics Quad Sticks http://www.longrangehunting.com/store/quad-sticks.html plus my optics tripod plàced under my right armpit for shooting arm support. The feeling of absolutely no left-right jiggle builds great confidence in a shooter using the quad sticks. I have found that the armpit support makes the "vertical" part of the shot feel rock-solid, too.

There was a bit of a variable wind coming from the back side of the hill that was difficult to call due to my shooting location on the down slope of the hill and to the lack of any telling leaves remaining on the winter trees. The 9 inch horizontal spread of each of the groups satisfied me given the wind and the distance. The vertical size of the groups were 3 inches and 1.5 inches respectively. If the 2 groups were superimposed the combined vertical spread would be 3 inches. That's about 1/3 MOA at 916 yards.

The wind became a little more readable at this point.

Next I added one click to the scope's elevation setting to better center my group on the piece of steel and switched sticks. I grabbed my Primos Magnum Shooting Sticks (formerly Stoney Point). Under my right armpit I used my Stoney Point Polecat tripod. This group had a 1.5 inch vertical spread and it measured 3.5 inches overall including width. If superimposed, all three groups using two different sets of sticks would measure a 3 inch vertical spread - 1/3 MOA.

 

[Berger.Fan222]

Lots of great ideas here. Thanks for the ideas and the pics. I've been using a Caldwell Fieldpod lately and I am happy with it.