Tips for getting a steady shot in the backcountry.

[Rich M]

The beauty of the Spartan bipod system is how quick it is to deploy and take off. Or leave it on when stalking in, etc. It takes around 3 seconds or less to deploy or remove. I keep a short bipod in my bino harness or pocket and the long bipod down the back of my shirt or jacket, strapped to pack, left on gun, etc.

Timed seated shots with trekking poles are the only thing that’s almost as quick as a Spartan bipod. Still not as fast and guys fuss more with finding the right “height” instead of already having the bipod height set correctly and moving their body to build the position and get a shot off quickly. I also find it more stable to have my offhand in the same position as my standard prone position, versus trying to pinch the gun in the “V” of trekking poles with my off hand. Try both and shoot for 10-20 shot groups and see what works.

Adding a pack for rear support in this position is nearly as stable as prone for me. With no rear rest but having something to rest my back against, it is also very stable. Back to back with a hunting partner works great, a tree or rock or vehicles tire etc. is even better. I am repeatable seated with no rear rest as below, out to around 600 yards on a 10-12” target.

View attachment 792434


Tripods downfall is they are by far the slowest. Tripods are viable if you have ample time to setup or are ambushing an animal you’ve glassed up. Otherwise they are pretty much useless for shooting quickly.

Fixed bipods suck because they get in the way of off pack and prone shots and make offhand shots more off balanced. I also just hate carrying a gun with some clunky bipod hanging off the fore end.

That picture is me with a few mods. My elbows are on top of knees, using monopod shooting stick. Solid as a rock.

No way id hunt in those shoes!

Bench time is trigger time. Trigger time = better shooting.

Also - You need to exercise and be strong to do a lot of shooting. Coupke weeks of pushups will show a diff too.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

No way id hunt in those shoes!

You know I left my light weight boots in another vehicle one time. Drove out in those leather moccasins, made it to the forest service road, all the back to where I was going to park and was about 4 hours from home.

Got ready to pack into the sierras for 3 days and only had those exact shoes. They did surprisingly well on that hunt and got some blood on them on day 3

 

[Marshfly]

We have been carrying a light carbon full height ball head tripod on every hunt this year. Out of 8 animals my family shot this season, 6 were shot off the tripod. It truly is a game changer for stability in virtually situations, ESPECIALLY when you need to take a sitting shot due to terrain or vegetation.

I have the SunwayFoto T2830CS and have zero regrets not spending the ridiculous money for some of these specialty tripods. This tripod will accept both ARCA and Pic rails natively so it works with anything.

Honestly it's probably faster to get this setup and a shot off than attaching a pic mounted bipod and getting comfortable laying on the ground. It is not much slower than sticks but stable enough for seated 350 yard plus shots easily which are virtually impossible with sticks without taking a ton of time to get stable with additional support from a pack or something the rear.

 

[Rich M]

You know I left my light weight boots in another vehicle one time. Drove out in those leather moccasins, made it to the forest service road, all the back to where I was going to park and was about 4 hours from home.

Got ready to pack into the sierras for 3 days and only had those exact shoes. They did surprisingly well on that hunt and got some blood on them on day 3

That’s a neat story.

We hunt down here in FL in flip flops and shorts often enough. About the same.

 

[displacedtexan]

^^this^^

The more comfortable you are being uncomfortable, the better everything will be.

I’ve always kind of joked that you should do a bunch of burpees or jumping jacks just before practice shooting to get the heart rate up.

Exactly.

I do almost all of my shooting anymore off a pack, in odd field positions. With an elevated heart rate.

It's done more to improve my shooting than anything on a bench ever did.

 

[Jason Snyder]

The beauty of the Spartan bipod system is how quick it is to deploy and take off. Or leave it on when stalking in, etc. It takes around 3 seconds or less to deploy or remove. I keep a short bipod in my bino harness or pocket and the long bipod down the back of my shirt or jacket, strapped to pack, left on gun, etc.

Which model are you using?

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Which model are you using?

Man I don't even know. I've had them so long, it's two full assemblies that snap in and out. One with the Javelin "long legs" that they sell as individual legs. The short one is the original also with extendable short legs.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Truthfully if Spartan made a triple leg tiered style where the shortest was good for prone and longest was good for seated, I'd carry that on every hunt everywhere. I put a bug in Rob's ear a couple years ago about this and he was busy with other stuff for some European military applications.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Man I don't even know. I've had them so long, it's two full assemblies that snap in and out. One with the Javelin "long legs" that they sell as individual legs. The short one is the original also with extendable short legs.

Is the long one extendable as well? Trying to decide between a Spartan and the Quikstix with the pic mount.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Is the long one extendable as well? Trying to decide between a Spartan and the Quikstix with the pic mount.

Yes the long one extends.

 

[mtwarden]

How about their (Spartan) Springbok?

It's pretty light, uses the same attachment point and can be used as a short or long bipod—haven't seen much written about it, but it caught my eye.

 

[Hydra6]

Tripods revolutionize my field positions - front rest, mid rifle, rear support - so many ways to utilize. Watch some of the NRL Hunter match videos and see how they support their rifles in a field environment. I carry a lightweight fill PRS bag too.

 

[dsotm]

Trekking poles up front and my backpack for rear support usually does the trick

 

[Jason Snyder]

How about their (Spartan) Springbok?

It's pretty light, uses the same attachment point and can be used as a short or long bipod—haven't seen much written about it, but it caught my eye.

The price point on this is pretty close to the Quikstix setup with the pic mount and a pic rail for my rifle. Thinking I might go with the Springbok when it comes back in stock.

 

[Steve300xcw]

Always surprises me how many people wont shoot offhand

 

[robtattoo]

Always surprises me how many people wont shoot offhand

It never surprises me how many people shouldn't shoot offhand.....

 

[Steve300xcw]

It never surprises me how many people shouldn't shoot offhand.....

How many folks actually practice shooting that way though?

 

[robtattoo]

How many folks actually practice shooting that way though?

Very, very few, I should imagine!
I actually do, but only with my super short range only guns (basically, hog specific sub 50yd stuff)
Realistically, there's no chance I'll ever take an offhand shot beyond that.

 

[Steve300xcw]

Very, very few, I should imagine!
I actually do, but only with my super short range only guns (basically, hog specific sub 50yd stuff)
Realistically, there's no chance I'll ever take an offhand shot beyond that.

50 yards is your max? That is more off the wall to me than the guys that cant shoot without a tripod

 

[robtattoo]

50 yards is your max? That is more off the wall to me than the guys that cant shoot without a tripod

Offhand, absolutely. It's very rare that I don't have a tree within a couple of steps. All my stands have a rail & I carry my tripod into a blind. When I'm out west I've got my tripod if I'm setting up somewhere, or my pack if it's shorter notice.
The only times I know I'm going to have an almost guaranteed offhand shot is in the palmettos & swamps when I'm hog hunting & you literally can't see more than 50yds & mostly its nearer 20.