In need of advice on establishing a stable seated shooting position

[Wprinkle]

Sticks in front pack in back is my absolute favorite position. (other than prone) My fist bull this year was cross canyon almost to the dangerous point of steep at 720 and it was rock solid and fast. I do spend the mass majority of my training practicing going from "hiking" position to this position. Seated unsupported grabbing grass is my second favorite. I can do this without removing pack. I'm NOT flexible anymore and it hurts physically but I think not being flexible helps achieve this position.

At the end of the day none of them are fast or stable until you practice until they are fast and stable. Stay at it, get it down and whatever you choose is best for you make sure to post the pics and story of hunt!!

 

[Nine Banger]

Personally, I hate seated shooting and just flat out avoid it in favor of kneeling which, to me, is always more comfortable, more stable and allows for easier micro adjustments.

I end up kneeling more than sitting too.

Mostly because of my torso length compared to an exo pack with a lid.

I'm pretty reliable out to 475 yards kneeling.

 

[TaperPin]

Call me poor or call me cheap - I'll admit to both - but my kids are holding 2moa off of this setup that required a couple of zip ties and the wife's hair ties and three arrows shafts I had laying around, plus a single small washer as a depth stop on the front shaft, and an old broadhead without blades, and a set of trek poles.

I have killed deer off less, and that is no exaggeration. This is like version 3.1 of what started as a handful of arrows for a ground blind then has sort of evolved since I needed enough height to make a sitting shot using that ground blind and arrows, a couple years ago. Bipod wasn't tall enough so I just shot off two arrows rubber banded together as a crude bipod and thought 'hey, I can make this work'. It's very light to boot.

I'm not saying this is state of the art. But I *am* saying I can get it deployed and kill a volleyball at 400 yards with it without much trouble.

View attachment 957447

View attachment 957448

That’s really cool.

 

[AKBC]

Primos shooting sticks for me. Heavy but worth carrying, especially if I am helping inexperienced people.

 

[Jordan Smith]

Sticks in front pack in back is my absolute favorite position. (other than prone) My fist bull this year was cross canyon almost to the dangerous point of steep at 720 and it was rock solid and fast. I do spend the mass majority of my training practicing going from "hiking" position to this position. Seated unsupported grabbing grass is my second favorite. I can do this without removing pack. I'm NOT flexible anymore and it hurts physically but I think not being flexible helps achieve this position.

At the end of the day none of them are fast or stable until you practice until they are fast and stable. Stay at it, get it down and whatever you choose is best for you make sure to post the pics and story of hunt!!

I'm the same way. Probably half of the animals I've shot have been from the sitting position. I find it's an incredible compromise between stability and height above vegetation. It also provides a lot of flexibility in vertical shot angle compared to prone (and even kneeling), IME.

 

[Solowhunter]

I missed (2) shots last Wednesday in waist high sagebrush 365 yds, I've been searching all season for "that" buck and found him..................... then shit the bed. That's why I'm here. I dropped my pack, stood it up vertical and used it as my platform, well you know how that went and to make matters worse the bucks (yes there were 2 BIG bucks) were alert and aware of my presence.

I'm not new to this and the incident is self inflicted due to cutting weight/ time, I do carry a SIRUI tripod at all times so the remedy moving forward will be a Tricer-GC clamp and backpack or trekking poles in the back. I purchased the Tricer-GC on the long drive home after plenty of time to rethink the occurrence and what it cost me.

I get the weight and time it takes to get set up but what is a better option to get a steady platform? Imo if it happens so fast that you can't get a good rest and range the animal you shouldn't be taking a 300+yd shot...... I know there are a few threads out there speaking of similar topics and am all ears to options and real life experience knowledge.

 

[Poser]

I missed (2) shots last Wednesday in waist high sagebrush 365 yds, I've been searching all season for "that" buck and found him..................... then shit the bed. That's why I'm here. I dropped my pack, stood it up vertical and used it as my platform, well you know how that went and to make matters worse the bucks (yes there were 2 BIG bucks) were alert and aware of my presence.

I'm not new to this and the incident is self inflicted due to cutting weight/ time, I do carry a SIRUI tripod at all times so the remedy moving forward will be a Tricer-GC clamp and backpack or trekking poles in the back. I purchased the Tricer-GC on the long drive home after plenty of time to rethink the occurrence and what it cost me.

I get the weight and time it takes to get set up but what is a better option to get a steady platform? Imo if it happens so fast that you can't get a good rest and range the animal you shouldn't be taking a 300+yd shot...... I know there are a few threads out there speaking of similar topics and am all ears to options and real life experience knowledge.

Obviously, this will vary dramatically depending on what kind of terrain you are hunting, but, IMO, its usually going to be worth some type of weight penalty to be able to shoot either in a versatile manner or in a very specific manner. Example: If you are hunting sagebrush country, there is a good chance you will need to be able to stand up and shoot. Much of my hunting is done in very steep country at steep angles and you aren't going to shoot off your pack on a 40 degree slope. I've never once taken a prone shot hunting, never had an opportunity to take a prone shot, there's usually not even anywhere one could lay down to get in a prone shot and even if you could lay down, the angle would be too severe so bipods are worthless to me. Carrying around dedicated shooting sticks seems clunky and slow to me, but I'm usually in country where I always need my trekking poles in my hands. A dedicated shooting tripod may very well be necessary in some cases. A glassing tripod may be suitable to shoot off of for some people in certain situations.

From experience, relying on the idea that "I'll figure it out when the time comes" isn't very reliable. The best thing once can do for their shooting is spending time hiking and shooting in the actual terrain you'll be hunting in. Practice taking some shots from the worst case scenarios in that specific terrain and figure out what your minimum shooting gear is. You'll develop intuition about the optimal shooting setup fairly quickly, but you have to actually practice the real world conditions in order to do that. I've also found that if one shot in particular is really bugging you, you need to recreate that shot best you can multiple times and rectify that mental hangup about it -that will increase your confidence around such scenarios. Leaving that unsuccessful shot unresolved will instill some amount of doubt about your capabilities and cause you additional problems down the road.