Shooting stick

[VEARL]

Was thinking about either building myself or buying a shooting stick. Either a single type or cross stick type.
Does anyone here use a shooting stick? I hunt from a ground blind and thought it might help shooting from a sitting position.
Any thoughts pro or negative is welcomed.
:hmm:

 

[ny griz]

:hatsoff: I think a single stick would allow you to move the barrel around a little eaiser.Just my thoughts.Try a forked stick from a piece of dead fall or, make a cross stick to sample before ya buy.Ya might like makin your own.Good luck,Griz

 

[Birdman]

I picked up two pieces of bamboo(cane tomato stakes) in the garden center n lashed them loosely together so they can be set up as cross sticks, they make a great n very stable shooting platform, only real down side is its something else to carry, I'm a wander around real slow type hunting style and there are times they are a pain but when ya can use them n set them up they are nice to have, make a set n play around with them in your blind to get the right height to set your gun, I think you will like the stability they give ya--just some thoughts YMHS Birdman

 

[2172]

mine wasmade from a broom stick bought at Ace Hardware..I use it as a hiking stick, and resting the forearm of the gun on my hand where I grip the stick gives me a nice steady hold..hank

 

[courdebois]

Years ago a buddie come back to camp with a stick he thought looked neat,he gave it to me as i,m the only one that shoots an dresses traditonally an he figured i needed all the help with that flinter,it was diamond willow, i cut it so standing the gun fits perfectly on top, an a branch at 3.5 ft cut amost flush fits sitting on a chair,it has been treated a few times over the yrs with linsed oil.i now use this stick always on all hunting trips(rifle or otherwise)an as a walking stick when snowshoeing.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I hunt from a ground blind...., I also teach hunter safety, and since the vaaast majority of "hunting" injuries come from folks getting in or getting out of tree stands..., Dave has decided that to avoid a tree-stand-accident, Dave don't climb no trees. :haha:

Now I make my blinds at trees with cross branches that allow me to have a shooting rest, either while standing or while seated. Mostly standing, and otherwise when I move through the woods I stop at a tree that I can use with my forward hand/arm to help steady the rifle. I have only made one true "offhand" shot on a deer, at that was close at 30 yards.

So..., it's good you are thinking of increasing your steadiness. I would say make your own single stick. The store bought stuff is made one size fits all..., which means one side Sorta fits all.

The best ones that I have seen are used as walking sticks. The user had a cord/rope arrangement that he could moved up and down the stick with a loop. At the top it helped him keep hold of the stick, and worked when shooting while standing..., when moved down the shaft of the stick it worked when he was sitting.

LD

 

[BrownBear]

Was thinking about either building myself or buying a shooting stick. Either a single type or cross stick type.
Does anyone here use a shooting stick? I hunt from a ground blind and thought it might help shooting from a sitting position.
Any thoughts pro or negative is welcomed.
:hmm:

I use the heck out of one. It's also my walking stick for our steep brushy terrain, so anything that sticks out- whether crosses, forks or factory googahs- is a PITA. The stick is priceless when you spend much of your time in shoulder high grass and berry canes.

To use, just clasp the stick at a comfortable height and pull your thumb out a little to from a rest. If you need to be really stable, stab the thing into the ground first. About the closest thing I know to a benchrest when the grass is thin enough to allow a sitting shot. Get into a normal position with elbows on knees, then add the stick to your forehand grip.

 

[Macon Due]

Sir
I always just used my ramrod/loading rod as a shooting stick if I needed to and had time. This was ofcourse just for sitting, kneeling ect. Nothing extra to carry.
Macon

 

[Leon/Iowa]

I have used a "Walking Stick"/ "Staff" for years to help on longer shots. The one I have now, was made from a treated 2x4 that had straight grain. Cut it down on the table saw, and made it 8 sided about 1&1/4" in diameter, 6' long. That sure helped in getting that big buck last January.
I did have a friend see me for the first time years ago with one ask if I was going to beat the deer to death? Leon

 

[Rifleman1776]

My deer kills, ml and modern, have only been offhand. I have never seen a deer stand still to give me, or any hunter, an opportunity to 'set up' and get ready before shooting. My experience in the Ozarks is that deer hunting and quail hunting are not too different. Now you see 'em, now you don't. Can we say "snap shooting" boys and girls?

 

[jeffdrown]

I have used cross sticks for many years. It has become so natural to use them now. Resting on cross sticks and my knees makes a rock hard rest... I love it !

 

[Idaho Ron]

I made this set out of a couple of dowels. I put a Stainless steel bolt through them. On the ground end I drilled that out big enough to fit a Archery arrow insert into it. And I glued them in. Then I use either metal field points in snow or I use rubber field blunt tips for dirt. I added mole skin to quiet it up a little. Then I added gun sling studs on top. Then I cut the leather for the gun to rest in. I used this set when I shot my antelope. For a ground blind set up I like it a lot. I would not want to carry them all day. Ron

 

[Stumpkiller]

Wow! That's fancy!

I cut up an old work glove and use the first two fingers with the tips cut off to make the "V". Infinately adjustable height that way.

 

[VEARL]

That is one really nice cross stick.
Think I will borrow your photos and make me one.
Most of my hunting is from a ground blind at a food plot.
Think it will help using a seated shooting position.
Thanks again. :thumbsup:

 

[Ft. Jefferson]

I've picked up a couple'o sticks while beaver trapping that they had chewed the bark off of. A few slight modifications and they've both made great shooting/hiking staffs.

 

[sidelock]

I have one made of wild cherry cut from my fatherinlaw's farm some 40 yrs ago within 4 ft of me now. It's like a walking cane/hiking stick about 3 ft long. Very light,very strong. Many,many,shots fired over it. well warn. Lots of memories of long shots fired off it. Good luck with yours. Sidelock

 

[ronrryan]

I seem to recall reading that some old timers out West used a walking/shooting stick called a "Moses stick", for all the purposes mentioned above. True?? Good smoke, Ron

 

[longcruise]

Ron, that is classy!

Mine are similar, but stop at the two dowels with a bolt through and some sof leather glued to the insides of the dowels up top so as not to scratch the stock.

This year am rebuilding and going to longer and much thicker dowels. The thinner ones seem to have some bounce to them and might be causing shots to go high. Hope to try them on some prairie dogs sometime this month.

 

[George]

I seem to recall reading that some old timers out West used a walking/shooting stick called a "Moses stick", for all the purposes mentioned above. True?? Good smoke, Ron

I don't know about the old timers, but Sam Fadala had a whole chapter on the making and use of the Moses stick in his book The Complete Black Powder Handbook. He advocated the use of agave, put a leather wrap around the top end for use as a waling stick with a little padding on the very end for resting binoculars on. I was much impressed with his idea at one time, happened to have a son in college in Arizona, so I had him bring me a piece of agave and made one like Sam's. Worked like a charm. I never got to shoot at a deer with it, I leaned it up agains a tree while on stand one rainy day, forgot all about it and left it in the woods. Never did remember where, never recovered it.

These days I don't use one, but I have made and tried out a pair of cross sticks, very simple. Two sticks 30" long with a nail set into the end so they stay put, with a leather thong tied around for a swivel. You simply make the sticks parallel, then slide the thong up and down to adjust the height of the shooting point above the ground as you need it. It is only for shooting sitting, but it's fast and stable, works very well on targets. I haven't tried it in the field.

Spence

 

[hoochiepapa]

Spence, I know someone that did the same thing with his new ml!! Never did find it.