In need of advice on establishing a stable seated shooting position

[ckaz34]

I’ve been trying to work through positions other than prone and bench shooting. I’ve tried seated with trekking poles alone and I’m a wobbly mess. Then using poles up front with my pack as a back rest and that takes forever to get the trekking poles to the correct height. Still too wobbly using either the pack or poles as a front rest and my knee as a back rest. I guess using my glassing tripod is the next step, but that’ll be a slow set up too. I need speed and stability

 

[Jordan Smith]

As a starting point, have you practiced and developed muscle memory shooting from an unsupported seated position with both elbows resting on both knees? With practice, it is certainly possible to keep the wobble zone within the vitals of BG out to at least 300 m from that position. Once you're proficient at that, it's easier to effectively incorporate a set of trekking poles as a front rest. A pack rear rest is nice, but as you pointed out, the more complex the system the longer it takes to get into position and adjusted correctly. A tripod is the most stable of the mentioned options, but getting it adjusted correctly and quickly takes practice (which is worth practicing, IMO).

 

[Antares]

Some discussion here:

https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/trekking-pole-pack-seated-shooting.413494/#post-4262486

 

[Southern Lights]

How far are you shooting? With loop sling supported sitting and practice it's quite possible to hold 2 MOA and get into position rapidly. That makes it a solid 3-400 yard field position for shooters that practice.

I was out hunting a couple months back at night with a thermal and decided to mess around trying to get into position in the pitch black sitting while using the backpack. It took way too long, made too much noise, and the deer took off. If I had just done loop sling sitting as I should have, I'd have had venison in the freezer.

Sometimes you can outsmart yourself...

 

[EdP]

A system that works for me is to use a shooting stick (unattached bipod) and a pack. Sitting crossed legged the pack sits on my lap tight to my torso and supports the buttstock. The shooting stick supports the forend held in place with my support hand. . It works best if the shooting stick is locked against the forward sling stud and I can lean into it a bit. My heart beat is the majority of the wobble in this position. It also works well with a tripod front support but is much slower to set up. The key is to fill the gap between your legs and the buttstock because that takes a lot of wobble out.

 

[TaperPin]

Sitting is by far the most useful position for a lot of western hunting at short and moderate range, but I think everyone needs two different seated positions. One super quick for distances to 300ish yards - sit unaided and bang bang, and the other with aids of various kinds to bridge those 300 to 400 yard shots.

The years I really focused on maximizing accuracy seated there is of course no substitute for muscle memory, but after a few thousand rounds I couldn’t shoot better than around 3-1/4 MOA unaided, which was good for 300 yards. About the same time I was practicing better trigger control rather than simply wobbling and having the trigger trip somewhere randomly in that wobble, which after a few months of constant practice added another 50 yards (2-7/8 MOA). The strange thing was shooting off a high bipod hardly added any range, 25 yards if anything.

I’ve never been able to break 2-3/4 MOA aided with large amounts of practice and assumed that’s my personal limit, but tripods have been interesting to play with this year and have a lot of potential. A heavy tripod is a game changer right away - it’s very steady, but the body still has its own muscle memory that has to be built up.

I’m super impressed with anyone who can shoot 2-1/2 MOA seated in the field - when those guys come along I look at their technique closely. Some techniques don’t fit my older shooting style and aren’t an option, but tripod shooting has more promise than anything else, at least for me. This year I didn’t break 2-1/2 MOA reliably with a bag on a tripod plate, but next year I’m hoping that happens. Heck, some guys are doing that standing up with tripods.

 

[LongWayAround]

How are you setting up the trekking poles?

It sounds like you might be adjusting each pole. Just pull them to a length, loop them together, and adjust the height by regulating how close the ground tips are.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

Yoga helps a lot.

 

[Nine Banger]

I’ve been trying to work through positions other than prone and bench shooting. I’ve tried seated with trekking poles alone and I’m a wobbly mess. Then using poles up front with my pack as a back rest and that takes forever to get the trekking poles to the correct height. Still too wobbly using either the pack or poles as a front rest and my knee as a back rest. I guess using my glassing tripod is the next step, but that’ll be a slow set up too. I need speed and stability

It's my toughest position. You just have to work thru it.

If I shoot with the sticks out front, I put them in my pack already set high enough for the shot. They stick out a little.

If you put the pack in front the terrain has to accommodate the height of the pack or the pack has to be perfect or a little short where you can smush it up with your feet. If you use the pack as a front rest use one of your hiking sticks or both for the rear rest.

 

[Stickmark]

My contribution to this is to really grip the rifle. Talking without sticks or other support.
I saw how Form, and others, gripped the rifle offhand, and it was more open stance, tactical.
Since I am using scopes now, I can wrap my hand, thumb more around the forearm and barrel.

 

[Bluumoon]

It's my toughest position. You just have to work thru it.

If I shoot with the sticks out front, I put them in my pack already set high enough for the shot. They stick out a little.

If you put the pack in front the terrain has to accommodate the height of the pack or the pack has to be perfect or a little short where you can smush it up with your feet. If you use the pack as a front rest use one of your hiking sticks or both for the rear rest.

I’ve used the sitting shooting off a pack for 2 different animals this season. Both were situations where the animals were aware of my presence and about to disappear from view and I was in spots where prone wouldn’t work. 1st was a river bank w animals crossing the river and about to disappear, second was in deadfall w animals moving up the opposite hillside.

The position isn’t ideal at distance, be prepared for fast follow ups (including moves to improve position).

Edit: Both times I tried to get sticks crossed out front and both times I was going to be too slow and dropped them, that was starting w sticks in hand.

 

[huntnful]

Seated/kneeling height bipod works great and is fast to deploy.

 

[Nine Banger]

Still too wobbly using either the pack or poles as a front rest and my knee as a back rest.

I'm back.

Also if you have the poles up front find some way to use your pack as the rear rest and not your knee.

 

[ckaz34]

I started focusing on this last weekend, so no muscle memory. I’m only shooting 100 yards until I figure this out. Looping the wrist straps to make the rest. The frame on my MR metcalf pushes the rear pretty high, so I need to get the poles pretty high. I wonder if the wiser precision pole adapters will be more stable than looping the steps.

 

[nm.otter]

I wonder if the wiser precision pole adapters will be more stable than looping the steps.

Might be more stable, but far less adjustable, and introduces additional torque.