Hunting Tripod Setup

[rootacres]

Hello all, I have a NM rifle hunt booked with my dad and a brother. We are looking at some shooting tripod setups. In this terrain the chances of shooting prone aren't great so shooting off of a bipod/tripod/pack are pretty high. Im a pretty experienced shooter but my brother is not and my dad is somewhere in between.

What tripod setup would be best for setting a less experienced shooter up for success on this type of hunt?

Ive looked at the BOG deathgrip system, seems to be a decent setup. What else?

 

[Rummy]

I have a BOG death grip and it works great. We primarily hunt whitetail in south Louisiana in large soy bean fields where shots can range from 50-400 yards. I bought the tripod for my 9 year old to use and he loves it. I have a .308 with a varmint barrel so he has difficulty stabilizing the rifle even with a rest. With the BOG tripod, once you lock it in, it is golden. Tough to beat at that price point.

 

[AlexW]

Really Right Stuff TFCT with integrated Anvil-30 is the way to go. I'd skip the Series 1 legs though.

TFCT Tripod

Experience the TFCT Tripod by RRS, engineered for remarkable stability and endurance, ensuring optimal performance in all outdoor settings.

rrssoar.com

That is a drastically different price point than the Bog he's comparing. Is there anything else in that price range?

 

[Luvbowhuntn]

A Pig saddle and pig tripod is another great option. Better quality than the Bog stuff. Its not as nice as the RRS setup however you won't have $1800 tied up in in neither

 

[ThatredneckguyJamie]

Nothing along the lines of what TK posted...but we started out my daughters using a caldwell deadshot and I will still use it for the right setup...it works great

 

[Macintosh]

if you dont want to spring for rrs, a two-vets tripod and a mid-range ball head with an arca clamp can be purchased at full retail price for $750 or so for both, add a shortie arca rail on your rifle just in front of the mag-well, and you have 98+% of the RRS setup at half the price. I have a twovets kit tripod with a cheap (but relatively heavy) sunwayphoto ballhead that I traded a 6-pack for, clip in to that and you can easily shoot groups almost as well as prone or at a bench. I've shot off buddies rrs equivalent tripods and frankly I have a hard time telling the difference. At some point I'll replace the ball head to save some weight, but not because it's not stable enough. I can't speak to some of th other carbon tripods, but if you havent shot off a good tripod attached via a rail it truly blew my mind how much of a difference it makes.

 

[bojangles808]

i have the latest edition of the primos trigger stick and its pretty heavy if you're doing a lot of hiking i'd advise against it. i had a cheap amazon one before that i liked a lot more but the legs broke. i also hunt terrain not conducive to prone shots

 

[Tullis94]

Look up innorel on amazon. I have a GT324C that for me feels really steady. Especially for the money! I like to shoot from a tripod sitting down while using a trek pole or stick for a rear rest. It is close to as steady as prone. I feel that the tripod is a decent compromise between still being able to glass and also shoot from. There is a youtube video on the tripod you might want to check out.

Whatever you decide I would highly recommend going the arca rail route over the saddle style mounts.

 

[Fjellvei]

This is not congruent with suggestions above but wiser precision quick sticks are handy and adaptable if you plan to have trekking poles

 

[seand]

My 12yo shot her pronghorn off the TFCT33/anvil-30 this year. After about five range trips this summer she was running it like a pro transitioning between targets and consistently shooting sub MOA from kneeling, slightly more standing. She killed her buck at 303 dropping him instantly. She watched him drop in the scope . For a first timer I’m glad I had the tripod setup to shoot off of.

 

[AlexW]

He asked "what tripod setup would be the best". The Anvil 30 on a set of RRS legs would be the best to shoot from IMO.

The cheaper stuff I've used/owned just isn't as good. The clamps/saddles have a ton of wobble comparatively, are bulky, heavy, and take forever to set-up. The cheaper ballheads that I've used/owned are noticeably less stable. The cheaper legs that I've used/owned are noticeably less stable. Panheads are a no-go. Outside of an Anvil 30, I'd rather throw a bag on top of a tripod, but an inexperienced shooter would more than likely struggle with that unless they took the time to practice.

I've read a lot of guys that like their Two Vet legs, and you could save some money going with those instead of RRS. I have a set of the slimmer Two Vets for glassing, and I've shot off those. Mine have noticeably more wobble than my RRS, but it's a little bit of apples to oranges since I'm comparing different leg diameters. A buddy recently picked up a set of Leofoto 364 legs, and those were so wobbly he immediately returned them - I was pretty surprised with how wobbly they were. I have a set of the Pig 0311-GS legs, and those are okay for the cheap price, but they are too heavy & bulky to pack around. I've used more 'traditional' camera/spotter tripods, and they just aren't worth it if you intend to shoot from them. There's no free lunch here, but I'm sure this market will fill out in the near(ish) future.

Clipping-in to a good system is almost cheating. Here's the difference between shooting prone with bipod & rear bag vs sitting from a tripod (clipped-in) without a rear rest. That's 5-shots for each group & each group was in the 0.4's MOA using factory ammo.

View attachment 459694


Here's a 12-shot build-and-break Kraft Drill (1-shot prone, 1-shot sitting, 1-shot kneeling, 1-shot standing, shot in three rounds for a total of 12 shots) using a light(ish) weight 7mm Rem Mag.
View attachment 459695

Short answer: the Anvil 30 is currently THE head that you should use to shoot from. RRS legs have been the best that I've used.

Thanks for the reply and sharing a lot of valuable info. I'm learning a lot from this site, and lightening my wallet, too!

 

[thewileyone]

There are some good bipods that you could attach or carry and attach to rifle when you’ve got time for long shots. That’d be faster and not as heavy or bulky as the rifle rest setup. We used one with an acra attachment that worked well just can’t remember the name. It wasn’t cheap seems like $300 range


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[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Bit delayed but...

For me there is zero need for a dedicated shooting tripod. Not much sense for lugging it around for something that will be used for a moment.

I do use an assortment of shooting attachments for the tripod that I use for glassing. That tripod gets used all of the time on my hunts. Attachments include an Outdoorsmans Shooting V as well as their TriClawps.

You can have an awesome setup for a fraction of the cost of some of the suggested products.

 

[justin davis]

I got a leofroto for a shooting tripod. Seems to be nice for the price

 

[AZGUY]

I got a leofroto for a shooting tripod. Seems to be nice for the price

Hey Justin, great photo! what model Leofoto is that?

 

[kyle_esquer]

Look up innorel on amazon. I have a GT324C that for me feels really steady. Especially for the money! I like to shoot from a tripod sitting down while using a trek pole or stick for a rear rest. It is close to as steady as prone. I feel that the tripod is a decent compromise between still being able to glass and also shoot from. There is a youtube video on the tripod you might want to check out.

Whatever you decide I would highly recommend going the arca rail route over the saddle style mounts.

Very similar idea, but instead of innorel I have an Artcise. One of my rifles has an arca Swiss the other needs a saddle but seems to be steady for both glassing and shooting. Especially for the price

 

[hunt1up]

I have the Bog Death Grip and it's fantastic for the price, but for stationary sitting. It's absolutely perfect for our whitetail needs. BUT, I can't imagine carrying it around on a western hunt. It weighs like 9 pounds and it's big.

I recently bought a Pig Saddle and put it on my carbon glassing tripod. It's a good compact setup, quite solid, and I can pack it easily. My daughter will be using that on her upcoming elk hunt.

I can't speak to the "best" but for the price the above options are great, but for different applications.

 

[QuickTrigger7]

I bought a gunwerks carbon tripod its super light weight. Have a bear hunt coming up and wondering if i should should buy a pig saddle for it or invest in a bipod. Not sure how shooting off of that heavy pig saddle would be with the light weight bipod.