Which Shooting Sticks?

I own Bog Pod, old Stoney Point, Primos and African Sporting Creations. They all work well, but the African Sporting Creations are my favorites for true fast and light hunting use. The simplicity and versatility are great. The standard height model works for sitting, kneeling and standing. Light and quiet to carry in addition to the aesthetic appeal of wood and leather construction. I also like the way they break-down to easily fit into a travel rifle case or larger piece of luggage. The others are more rigid for tactical/precision type work, but the ASCs have proven to be excellent for hunting type shooting out to 300 yards. All that being said, be sure you learn/practice how to “load” and grasp the sticks to encourage a steady hold. It’s an acquired skill!
 
I also you the wooden shooting sticks from African Sporting Creations... They work great, looks great and lasts a long time (y)

My best,
Jacques
 
I just finished Brian Marsh's brilliant book on Werner von Alvensleben. Nowhere did I find a reference to the 7x57. Apparently Werner hunted mainly with a Mannlicher-Schönauer in 9,3x62. Where did you read about Werner's 7x57?

One of Werner's friends was professional hunter Georg Dedek. Because of his fair skin he carried a little umbrella along! A ph with an umbrella, funny guy. One thing in connection with his umbrella is highly interesting:

" Georg always hunted in a "Kenya-style" safari jacket, a loose-fitting, sleeveless garment with cartridge loops across the breasts and four large pockets down the front. When about to shoot, Georg would thrust the tip of the closed umbrella into the bottom left-hand pocket of his jacket, and shooting from the right shoulder, would rest his rifle on the umbrella's handle, which gave him a steady rest."

Well, I seldom take an umbrella along when hunting in Africa but I have a short shooting stick, purchased in Germany, which I sometime use in exactly the same manner, rest it in a vest pocket or a pouch on the belt. Works as well as a shooting stick with two or three legs but way faster.

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In lieu of a piece of inner tube or some such, I use the drive belt from a Kirby vacuum cleaner for my wood sticks. Not an original idea, I saw it online. My sticks consist of 6 pieces of 5/8" hardwood (oak) dowel with a 12" piece of 1/2" EMT attached to three of them. You simply insert the bottom portion of the legs into the EMT. Having legs that "disassemble" makes it easy to store and or transport. I put rubber feet on the bottom portion of the legs to help keep them from slipping on the concrete floor of our local shooting range. When used in the field, I just take the rubber feet off. The other modification I made to my sticks was to add a piece of automotive water hose to two of the sticks to act assort of a cushion.

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I bought some wooden shooting sticks from African Sporting Creations. I’ve been practicing with them and they are very nice.
 
My ph used a set of sticks that had four legs and split so as to support the gun front and back. It took a little getting used to but once
I had it they were incredibly stable! You leaned back a little to raise the elevation and leaned in a little to lower. His were hand made so no brand name
but I do know they are commercially available. I will research and post again!
 
My ph used a set of sticks that had four legs and split so as to support the gun front and back. It took a little getting used to but once
I had it they were incredibly stable! You leaned back a little to raise the elevation and leaned in a little to lower. His were hand made so no brand name
but I do know they are commercially available. I will research and post again!


There is another thread on here titled ultimate accuracy shooting sticks. or just google four legged shooting sticks
very similar to the viper flex.
 
On my first safari I got a set of "traditional" wood shooting sticks from Africa Sporting Creations. I loved them. They have legs that screw in half for takedown and are almost infinitely adjustable for hight. The only disadvantage is their length for carrying, but this wouldn't be much different than a BogPod.
This safari I'm taking a TriggerStick tripod as that is what my PH uses. However, I think the wood sticks are a little more stable as they have a little wider base.
 
This is Jim from African Sporting Creations and I wanted to thank all of our customers who weighed in on this thread. I make every pair myself and they are the only pair on the market backed by an unconditional, lifetime warranty. Our milled "bullet-proof" connector allows us to offer that and they alone cost more than almost every other complete set of sticks on the market. Very few of our Shooting Stick customers purchase their first set of sticks from us, out average customer has bought a new set every year or every few years before they invest in a set of ours. Let us know if you have any questions.
 
I made some homemade shooting sticks off of the guide on AH that was referenced earlier. We compared the Primos, Bog Pod and a proper tripod with a hog saddle on top of it against the homemade dowel rod African style sticks and we all agreed they were the most stable. The African Sporting Creations takedowns would be a much nicer looking option, but you can make a good practice set from the local hardware store. I wrapped the tops of mine in paracord to prevent dinging the rifle.
 
I bought a cabelas tripod a couple years ago and never could figure out how to unscrew the replaceable head on. It works well but you are kind stuck with what you bought. I don't know if that isn't he the current model they sell
 

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