Hunting Tripod/spotter & Rifle rest recommendations?

[Salmon River Solutions]

Are you still shooting off the promaster 525? I have one that I've used for the last few years but have been wanting a tripod I could use prone and seated with heavier duty legs like the leofoto 324 or 283 series.

Do you feel like it’s quite slow to get the tripod level for the shot? That’s the one thing I dislike about the va 5 head is the fact that there isn’t a way to tilt left or right to make for a quicker shot.

I just hunt with ball heads now. I usually hunt with 1 other guy, and we run a lightweight panning tripod and a medium weight ball head. I shoot a lot off of tripods now and yesterday was making shots from 650 to 940 kneeling with the rifle tripod that all would have been in vitals on deer or elk.

This was with a leofoto 324C

 

[lak2004]

I just hunt with ball heads now. I usually hunt with 1 other guy, and we run a lightweight panning tripod and a medium weight ball head. I shoot a lot off of tripods now and yesterday was making shots from 650 to 940 kneeling with the rifle tripod that all would have been in vitals on deer or elk.

This was with a leofoto 324C

Good to know, I've got a leofoto 324 showing up today. Thanks!

 

[Marshfly]

I have a Sunwayfoto T2830CS on the way for just this purpose. 3 pounds, inverted ball head, lever lock for both area and the ball. $250. Cutting the bipod weight makes this make sense for me. Pretty excited to get to try it out.

 

[Brucebarker024]

I just hunt with ball heads now. I usually hunt with 1 other guy, and we run a lightweight panning tripod and a medium weight ball head. I shoot a lot off of tripods now and yesterday was making shots from 650 to 940 kneeling with the rifle tripod that all would have been in vitals on deer or elk.

This was with a leofoto 324C

Copy. I usually hunt solo so I don’t really want to pack a ball and pan head for glassing. Does that leofoto work well enough for a spotter? Or does anyone have a rec for a good shooting/glassing ball head?

 

[ELKdeerMT]

Sirui ST-124 VA-5X CF Tripod Kit

Sirui ST-124 VA-5X CF Tripod Kit Description Good glass is important, but just as important is the tripod and head system that glass sits upon. The Sirui ST-124 Carbon w/ VA-5X Head Kit is ideal for any hunt during any season. With a weight of 3.9 lbs, there's no reason to leave it behind. You...

shop.gohunt.com

Anybody experienced with this setup to shoot off? Seems like it has a pretty high load capacity at 26.5lbs. I'm sure your introducing moments when you front mount a 8-10lb rifle. I'd think it would work pretty good as an all-around set up for rifle hunting. The 4lbs of weight seem worth it if you could glass and shoot off it comfortably. Thoughts?

 

[lak2004]

Sirui ST-124 VA-5X CF Tripod Kit

Sirui ST-124 VA-5X CF Tripod Kit Description Good glass is important, but just as important is the tripod and head system that glass sits upon. The Sirui ST-124 Carbon w/ VA-5X Head Kit is ideal for any hunt during any season. With a weight of 3.9 lbs, there's no reason to leave it behind. You...

shop.gohunt.com

View attachment 706737

Anybody experienced with this setup to shoot off? Seems like it has a pretty high load capacity at 26.5lbs. I'm sure your introducing moments when you front mount a 8-10lb rifle. I'd think it would work pretty good as an all-around set up for rifle hunting. The 4lbs of weight seem worth it if you could glass and shoot off it comfortably. Thoughts?

Shooting off the pan head isn't the best option. The tripod seems alright but you can get a leofoto 324 cheaper with sinilar/better stats.

 

[seand]

I have a Sunwayfoto T2830CS on the way for just this purpose. 3 pounds, inverted ball head, lever lock for both area and the ball. $250. Cutting the bipod weight makes this make sense for me. Pretty excited to get to try it out.

If you dont mind post your thoughts after you try it out.

I can’t figure out how in the hell this ballhead is “inverted” based on the Amazon listing. So maybe they have the photo wrong, or maybe “inverted “ didn’t translate properly from Chinese.

 

[Salmon River Solutions]

Copy. I usually hunt solo so I don’t really want to pack a ball and pan head for glassing. Does that leofoto work well enough for a spotter? Or does anyone have a rec for a good shooting/glassing ball head?

Its OK. You get used to glassing with a ball head pretty quick.

Ken

 

[lak2004]

Just got my leofoto ls324 with a mbh35 ball head. Beefy compared to my promaster 525. I like the ball head more also. I'll try to take some shots off it this weekend and report back. It's definitely heavier and longer to carry but I think it will prove worth it for shooting off of.

 

[Marshfly]

If you dont mind post your thoughts after you try it out.
View attachment 706745
I can’t figure out how in the hell this ballhead is “inverted” based on the Amazon listing. So maybe they have the photo wrong, or maybe “inverted “ didn’t translate properly from Chinese.

I'll post some thoughts for sure. It got pretty great reviews from what I found online and on Youtube and the price and weight was where I wanted to be. Not remotely interested in a $1000 5# plus tripod to carry into the woods, haha. This will be about the same weight as my Vortex Summit 2 plus current bipod and replace both.

I'll probably mount my Sirui VA-5 to an arca plate so I can use that quick mounted when I want that option. Will still be right at 4# with that setup.

 

[ELKdeerMT]

Shooting off the pan head isn't the best option. The tripod seems alright but you can get a leofoto 324 cheaper with sinilar/better stats.

Does not having the height adjustment of the center post not bother you? Seems like I use that feature all the time for glassing.

 

[lak2004]

Does not having the height adjustment of the center post not bother you? Seems like I use that feature all the time for glassing.

We'll see. It might not be ideal for binos, it did come with a detachable center pole I think.