S2H course - June 2026

[Mtslackcountry]

I have a few reservations based on my understanding of the form-and-shoot-to-hunt method being taught in the course.

First, I currently hunt with a bipod and have spent a significant amount of time practicing with it. I am proficient and fast deploying it from prone, sitting, or kneeling positions and can build a stable shooting position quickly. I practice these positions regularly at the range and through dry-fire at home.

From what I understand, the course places a heavy emphasis on using trekking poles as shooting supports. Personally, I do not like walking around with trekking poles in my hands while hunting. I'm frequently glassing or using OnX with my hands.

When still hunting in thicker timber, tracking animals in the snow, or hunting situations where quick shot opportunities are likely, I want my rifle in my hands and ready to go. I don't want additional equipment to manage, drop, or potentially make noise. Because of that, I have reservations about carrying trekking poles throughout the hunt and relying on them as my primary shooting aid.

Second, I have similar reservations about carrying a dedicated rear bag. Since I always have my pack with me when hunting, I use my backpack as a rear support for prone shots or for sitting or kneeling positions as well. I dont need to shoot off my pack because I run a bipod. I practice with that setup every time I shoot because it reflects how I actually hunt. I don't see much value in carrying an additional rear bag when I already have a piece of equipment with me that serves the same purpose and that I have extensive practice using. I carry my rifle on a Stone Glacier pack using the bottom weapon sling along with a modified slick-sling top strap setup that allows me to deploy the rifle very quickly and put back into the sling without removing my pack. The pack functions as my rifle holder and rear rest. No need for a seperate bag attached to my bag...

Finally, I shoot MOA-based optics and have no plans to switch away from them. My understanding is that much of the wind-calling, corrections, and communication during the course are conducted in mils. While I understand the concepts are transferable, I am curious whether I would feel out of place running MOA scopes because the course is structured in a way that assumes students are using mil-based optics.

Overall, my reservations are less about learning new techniques and more about whether the course is centered around equipment that differs significantly from the way I actually hunt. I could see getting a MIL scope to use during the class. Carrying trekking poles in my hand all day is something I cannot get behind. Was anyone using a bipod throughout the course?

 

[RockAndSage]

Overall, my reservations are less about learning new techniques and more about whether the course is centered around equipment that differs significantly from the way I actually hunt.

Do you think it might be possible that all the things you mention adhering to were methods the instructors may have used in the past, and only discarded after experimentation and finding a more effective approach, over years?

I haven't taken the course, but I have noticed that a lot of people - including myself - get wrapped up at first in the conclusions of where things are now in what is recommended/taught, etc, without understanding that an awful lot of other things were tried extensively. You only notice that over time and digging into a lot of threads going back years, stumbling across bits and pieces of discarded ideas and updated processes, and mentions of past experiences. The best way I can put it, is Form and his S2H colleagues are so far over the horizon from most of us that it's hard at first to realize they're not on another planet - they're just a lot further ahead, on a journey. But without understanding that, a lot of what they say gets experienced as heretical apostasy by those who haven't travelled as far.

 

[Mtslackcountry]

Do you think it might be possible that all the things you mention adhering to were methods the instructors may have used in the past, and only discarded after experimentation and finding a more effective approach, over years?

I haven't taken the course, but I have noticed that a lot of people - including myself - get wrapped up at first in the conclusions of where things are now in what is recommended/taught, etc, without understanding that an awful lot of other things were tried extensively. You only notice that over time and digging into a lot of threads going back years, stumbling across bits and pieces of discarded ideas and updated processes, and mentions of past experiences. The best way I can put it, is Form and his S2H colleagues are so far over the horizon from most of us that it's hard at first to realize they're not on another planet - they're just a lot further ahead, on a journey. But without understanding that, a lot of what they say gets experienced as heretical apostasy by those who haven't travelled as far.

I hear ya and open to new ideas and techniques. But stand firm on not carrying something extra (treking poles) around in my hands all day long. I always have them in my pack for packing meat or if the terrain warrants them. I simply cannot see how when needing to take a quick shot at short range (off hand shots) I have 2 poles and a gun to deal with. To get my gun off my pack I need both hands. To use my binos to glass I need 2 hands. In my opinion its not effecient to be setting down and picking up my trecking poles throughout the day everytime I need 2 hands. If guys are strapping the poles to their bags that adds another issue to the mix as the old school SG 5100 bag I run has no easy way to tightly strap poles to. Not to mention removing them from the bag would be an added step.

Im simply speaking out loud about my reservations and am hoping people will chime in. I have interest in taking the course, live withing 4 hours of the location and the window to sign up for next summer is here.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I hear ya and open to new ideas and techniques. But stand firm on not carrying something extra (treking poles) around in my hands all day long. I always have them in my pack for packing meat or if the terrain warrants them. I simply cannot see how when needing to take a quick shot at short range (off hand shots) I have 2 poles and a gun to deal with. To get my gun off my pack I need both hands. To use my binos to glass I need 2 hands. In my opinion its not effecient to be setting down and picking up my trecking poles throughout the day everytime I need 2 hands. If guys are strapping the poles to their bags that adds another issue to the mix as the old school SG 5100 bag I run has no easy way to tightly strap poles to. Not to mention removing them from the bag would be an added step.

Im simply speaking out loud about my reservations and am hoping people will chime in. I have interest in taking the course, live withing 4 hours of the location and the window to sign up for next summer is here.

There’s more than one right or wrong way to do things, but the course doesn’t teach “gear.” It teaches principles of marksmanship. Those principles assist you in finding and building good supported positions when possible and using good fundamentals of body position when it isn’t. If you apply the principles, then the gear just works better and you shoot better.

I have used a bipod in many situations since I was 15. I never let it become a crutch, but it was always a tool I had at hand. And it is an imperfect tool. It can’t be used all the time. I’ll still probably carry my Spartan javelin lite on my bino harness to have at hand when I don’t wear a backpack. I have a better understanding of its limitations than I did before, but it’s still a useful tool.

If you have sound shooting fundamentals and aren’t gear dependent, then you won’t be that guy trying to set up his tripod on rocky terrain while a perfectly good “rock or something” is right there to form a good front rest. You won’t be the guy who has to use the perfect rear bag for support every time . You might become the guy who only uses his water bottle for a rear support. Or use your bino harness for rear support.

For building a good position, a lightly filled backpack with a Molinator strapped to it provides an alternative front rest that doesn’t torque the rifle and can be used in a lot of terrain. A pair of hiking sticks with hand loops can be strapped to a light pack 90% of the time and, when needed, brought out to build a neutral, front rest to enable a cross-canyon 700-yard seated shot from a steep downhill slope while the backpack provides a rear rest. Or they can be used to create a rear rest while you use a tree branch as a front rest. Or they can be used to support you while you carry that heavy pack up the mountain with your rifle in a carrier. They can be a useful tool to have at hand. That doesn’t mean it’s what I am going to use every time.