Bipods and tripods when hunting?

MCMXI said:

As deer/elk season is about to get under way up here I've been thinking about the usefulness of bipods like those from Harris on hunting rifles. I'm planning on venturing out with a tripod this year. I was given a lightweight carbon fiber tripod a few years ago which can be broken down into a pair of trekking poles and a monopod if desired. It can be used like shooting sticks too from standing or sitting. I realized that I've only shot a deer one time while using a bipod. In my experience there's typically grass or other obstacles in the way that make a bipod next to useless up here. Some might suggest moving to a different spot to shoot from, but where I hunt it's pretty much the same with plenty of tall grass and obstacles that make prone shooting tough.

So my question is how often have you actually shot and killed an animal while using a bipod (not shooting sticks). I would be interested as to whether you were prone, seated or standing if you used a bipod.

Thanks.

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Since I got started with pods a year or two ago, I've actually used mine quite a bit.
I have a haris 9-13, which isn't tall enough to shoot over alot of stuff, and my 6-9 cheepeez are basically non starters in grass.
Where I've found an advantage is when shooting off rocks, trees, trucks etc. I can usually find some way my pods helpful.
Even if I don't open it I can put the legs down on a round/uneven rock and wiggle them till the guns fairly level and stable.
If I'm shooting with a cross brace I open them put them behind my cross brace allowing me to lean into the rifle for stability. Works well for floppy cattle gates, because you can then grab the gate and pull it back stabilizing the whole shebang. Same idea works really well when shooting off the back of a truck using the bedrail as a brace.

I have shot more than a few animals using a bipod normally, but so far that's actually been my least common application of mine.

I do want to get a tripod for a few areas I hunt, but I'm cheap and that doesn't seem to be a good when looking for tripods.

MCMXI said:

Here's the tripod I'm thinking of using this year.

View attachment 947297

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That looks pretty much like what I want to try.

Just put together an LR-308 Panther with a Sightmark Wraith IR scope and I have been weating for my BOG Deathgrip tripod which just came today. Gotta love those names ... I just took the tripod out of the box and it seems very sturdy and well built,



https://www.adorama.com/rsbgdgcta.h...-4867-a3ae-97d5dff50c90&utm_source=adl-umbase

I use a Harris series S 25C 13-37” Swivel bipod. It’s awesome. We shot two antelope with it last week at 467 yards and 508 yards. Both shots were prone. I’ve used it fully extended to 27” while seated on coues deer. In AZ the grass grows tall in a lot of areas so I personally would not consider a model that didn’t extend 25-27”



This was the very first time 13” was a tad high, had to crawl forward about 6” to get to a low spot and used a sage brush to rest the butt on. A very handy tool for ranges past 250-300 yards



I’d add last year in my elk hunt I was missing my bipod dearly (different rifle). Still killed the elk at 300 yards kneeling on shooting sticks but would have been easier sitting or prone with a bipod

I use a Trigger Stick Tripp’s from Primos a LOT. Mostly use it while pig hunting at night when the added weight of thermal scope and suppressor make my rifles a bit unwieldy. I also use a tripod when I’m hunting from a ground blind. I have been looking pretty hard at the Deathgrip from Bogpod. I have had a Bogpod break once before, but I got a lot of hard use out of it before it broke.

MCMXI said:

So my question is how often have you actually shot and killed an animal while using a bipod (not shooting sticks).

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Never but I have killed them with monopods, and tripods. The attached bipods usually aren't long enough to get above thick brush and are overly expensive in my book. If they are long enough, they are cumbersome and awkward to use IMO.

In the military, we frequently made use of bipods, tripods, shooting sticks, bog-pods, polecats, and a whole bunch of other contraptions for different applications in the long range game. A friend who is a hunting guide in Montana says that they are in common use out there for hunting. Where I hunt now, shots are close and usually from a ladder stand, so I won't use one up there. No room, for one thing. From one of my ground blinds, I have a tripod that was mostly put there for Mrs. Fl-NC to support "her" Ruger American ranch, but I have been known to rest a crossbow on it when I am hunting with that from "her" blind. She only gun hunts anyway.

I have killed more critter using trees and even branches as impromptu monopods and similar rest than I have manage using a real bipod or tripod. I have never shot a deer with a bipod or tripod and only one with shooting sticks. I have a Harris, a Larue/Harris and an Atlas bipod and they get used frequently at the range and various shooting competition but on my hunting rifle I would rather not have that weight hanging on the rifle. Shooting sticks can hang on my pack while stalking and can come out when I stop. But where I hunt 120 yards is a long shot as the terrain is so wooded and hilly you can't see much further.

Have used bipods out west for Antelope and Mulies, both prone and sitting. Find they offer stability at the longer distances. Most of what we hunt here in the midwest is 300 yards or less, where the rifle can be supported off a tree, fence post, elbow, etc.......eliminating the bulk from hanging off the gun.

I've been carrying shooting sticks for several years. Only used them in the field once and it made a difference. I don't want the extra weight attached to my rifle. Shooting sticks have been used for at least 150 years and the newer versions that telescope or are shock corded to fit in a pack are even better. It does require some practice to use them. They are not as steady as a mounted bipod or a tripod shooting rest. But are a lot easier to lug around in mountains.

For hunting, my preference is shooting sticks though I occasionally use a bipod.

I use a Primos trigger stick tripod. Works well for me either on the ground or in a box blind

Nature Boy said:

I use a Primos trigger stick tripod. Works well for me either on the ground or in a box blind

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I have been super tempted to get a set of those after trying a friend's set, the tall ones.

jmr40 said:

I've been carrying shooting sticks for several years. Only used them in the field once and it made a difference. I don't want the extra weight attached to my rifle. Shooting sticks have been used for at least 150 years and the newer versions that telescope or are shock corded to fit in a pack are even better. It does require some practice to use them. They are not as steady as a mounted bipod or a tripod shooting rest. But are a lot easier to lug around in mountains.

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I agree. I have tried several bipods. But the added weight was a no go for actual hunting. I just recently started using a bog pod shooting stick. They are almost as nice as a good tree.

I'm just as happy shooting over a full backpack.

Another Harris 25c here. I’ve killed with it prone but it’s a bit tall for me. From a seated or kneeling position it’s phenomenal. My two oldest boys killed their first animals off of it as well. They are spensive though.

I use a tall Harris swivel bipod attached to my rifle quite a bit for elk, pronghorn, and mule deer. I do not remember ever using one for whitetail deer.

On my trips to various countries in Africa I shoot almost exclusively from tripods. I have used most of the common commercial tripods and a few that were wooden poles lashed together. I liked the trigger sticks for a while but the spot where I grip the tripod is too different for my comfort and I do not like the noise that they make as they slide open.

There is usually a set of shooting sticks in my day pack. They have come in handy many times over the years.

I use a photography tripod in a ground blind with one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Primos-Trigg...&keywords=shooting+yoke&qid=1602801163&sr=8-2

It wouldn’t work the best if you have much walking to do, but is great for my purposes.

I use and practice with a standard "tall" Bog-Pod and my back-pack. The Bog Pod, doesn't weight much and I carry it in one of my backpack side pockets.

About 95% of the time the vegetation is too tall, being CRP or pasture grass, to go prone. I like the non-clamping head, because no matter how well I plan (imagine, really) where there deer will come from and what the shot is going to be like, they always get a vote. A good number of times I've had to re-orient, pull the gun off the tripod, and shoot sitting off my knee's, rather than risk spooking by moving the tripod.

A practice session:




Like anything I find practice is key, I've got an 8" swinger that replicates a kill zone so I can get an appreciation for the practical accuracy under field conditions/rests. Every year about this time I "sponsor" shoots for the guys I hunt with where we'll engage multiple tgts from field positions and deferent distances. We'll leave the TGT guns, Kestrels and ballistic apps home and "rough" it. It's actually more fun to me then messing with the precision stuff.