Field-realistic hunting & training: bipod vs. tripod?

[RockAndSage]

Cliff Gray's video on bipods yesterday brought up more questions for me than answers - it was a good video, but it seemed like almost every criticism or benefit he mentioned on using bipods, and different kinds of bipods, is just...better solved with a lightweight hunting tripod.

For you guys who actually have extensive hunting experience with tripods or bipods - especially both - is there really any hunt you're going on where you'd give up the tripod before giving up the bipod? I can shoot prone off my tripod (little sirui), and find myself using it almost exclusively at this point for all my supported shooting. So I'm wondering if I'm just missing something?

Looking for education here, and informed insights.

 

[dirtytough]

I wouldn’t give up my tripod because of glassing with binos and using my spotter.

I would give up a shooting tripod on a high country backpack hunt. I can shoot prone with a bipod pretty easily in the high country. The vegetation isn’t usually that tall. I’ll still pack a tripod it just wont be the same as one I pack on day hunts or hunts where I might be shooting over taller vegetation.

I actually pack a heavier bipod also in the lower country or on day hunts. Being able to have solid front and rear support is a game changer for me.

 

[Huntindog45]

I'm getting older and maybe not as steady as i had been in the past, I started packing my tripod everywhere with a good shooting head. I cannot believe how much it improved my shooting even on the close shots that are generally gimme's (which i had missed a couple of in the last few years) I was hunting in large open tall grass area this fall and dumped a really good buck at 380 yards using that set up and there is no way I could have gone to prone or sitting because of the height of the grass. Now that tripod is just part of what i carry. Its great for glassing and is the best rest I can use. I cant believe it took me this long in life to utilize this tool both for shooting and glassing.

 

[WeiserBucks]

Zero tripod shooting experience here, but a bipod works great for my style of hunting and the terrain I typically hunt.

 

[HuntHarder]

Why would you give up your tripod ever? I guess if i am hunting in very thick vegetation where there are no glassing opportunities, I would not take a tripod. Buy a lightweight bipod and a lightweight tripod. Pretty simple imo. If you are worried about the extra weight of a bipod, by all means, don't bring one. I have shot almost every long range animal I have shot, off of a bipod. There has been couple that I shot off a pack with jackets bunched up, but the vast majority of my long range shooting is prone off a tripod. I do not feel confident enough to shoot from "field positions" at long range. If I am not confident, I will simply pass on the shot opportunity. FWIW, I really do not like shooting off a tripod either. I can, and have done so, but it does not feel anywhere near as solid as prone.

 

[TaperPin]

I’m just getting into tripod shooting, mainly varmints and plinking with a big steady 10 lb setup. I keep thinking that kids who grow up plinking off tripods would find it more natural to use than bipods. For those of us who grew up around hay fields, it reminds me of always having a wood fence post to shoot off of. Lol

 

[wapitibob]

I watched it and he brings up some decent info but for me, I rifle hunt in semi flat sage type country and don't shoot from anything but a prone position. Your hunt terrain and vegetation may require something different, both a bipod and tripod if you hunt mountain timber and flat sage.

 

[Shortschaf]

yeah a bipod always works for my terrain as well. Especially a prone-to-tall bipod like the Hatch

I don't doubt that a lightweight tripod also works, but it's definitely is more of a jack of all trades and master of none type of approach IMO

 

[justinspicher]

I shoot quite a bit off a lightweight tripod (Spartan Sentinel) and I wouldn’t not take it for any reason. I also use it for glassing both as a tripod and as a monopod. I can make it a tall bipod as well. Big bonus is that the legs work well as a set of trekking poles.

I have been using it for a couple of years now, I thoroughly enjoy it.

 

[Justin Crossley]

Cliff Gray's video on bipods yesterday brought up more questions for me than answers - it was a good video, but it seemed like almost every criticism or benefit he mentioned on using bipods, and different kinds of bipods, is just...better solved with a lightweight hunting tripod.

For you guys who actually have extensive hunting experience with tripods or bipods - especially both - is there really any hunt you're going on where you'd give up the tripod before giving up the bipod? I can shoot prone off my tripod (little sirui), and find myself using it almost exclusively at this point for all my supported shooting. So I'm wondering if I'm just missing something?

Looking for education here, and informed insights.

No, I would not give up a tripod.

 

[coiloil37]

I’ve never felt the urge to mount my rifle on a tripod although I may if I wanted to engage mobs of pigs at night while standing up. So far I haven’t bothered to get into that game so I’ve never wanted one.

For 25+ years I’ve had a 13-27” Harris bipod on any rifle I’m carrying. I do everything from load development to target practice to hunting with the bipod and it’s provided an instant, stable rest everywhere I’ve had to engage an animal with it. It’s about the last thing I would remove from my equipment list. When I moved over here from Alberta it came with me and when my boys started shooting their rifles got the same bipods.

 

[eoperator]

The 400yrd shot with 3' grass/brush/obstruction seems to pop up often for us. Bipod is to short and the tripod/glassing head is not stable enough for 400. Adding a 2nd tripod for rear support makes it stable enough but takes an hour and a half to get everything set up.

 

[justinspicher]

We have 3-4’ scrub oak everywhere I like to hunt. The odds of shooting i the prone are pretty low, but a high kneeling or stable crouch is quite the norm.

 

[Tbonespop]

Damn near impossible to shoot from a prone position down the side of a mountain. Trigger Stick Tri-pod modified with a claw clamp for the win for me. Wouldn't trade it for any other set up I've tried.