Sticks

[The Singing Stalker]

To summarise what most before me have said.
1 Quad sticks are great. Whether you make your own or buy a set.
2 You need to learn to deploy them properly and quietly, I shoot lots of rabbits so have had plenty of practice
3 You need to use them correctly. you stand up straight, bum shouldn’t be sticking out. Rear cross leg should be resting on your body for extra stability.
4 you can use them as twin sticks or even as a monopod, but, if you are like me you will forget and always, out of habit, use them as quad sticks.
5 you should still try to practice freehand and using posts etc. use an air rifle to practice, it’s cheaper.
6 They are not so good in close quarters, ie woodland
7 However, they are good if you are in woodland and they are already set up and you are waiting for something to come in.
8 it is a lot easier to keep them on the sticks for long periods.
9 I drove over mine and they still work, albeit slightly bent and not inclined to close. Hey ho. But I have had them about 7 years now.
10 I would not be without out mine, I even removed the bipod as I never used it. Quads all the way.

11. just get yourself a pair. You won’t be sorry.

 

[YoungGun]

Sticks................ some of the prices being spent on these things is ridiculous. £400 for some real fancy ones, but the general ball park is £250 to £300.
When I started there were none for sale. You made your own, and learnt to shoot with one or two sticks, or neither in some cases.

I now carry the latest generation trigger sticks for clients, if they dont have their own. I would guess about 80% of the people I take out have sticks, although some turn up having forgotten to bring them.
Out of that number many have quad sticks. I would anticipate that 70% dont know how to deploy them quickly and silently. I hate to think how many opportunities were lost by people waving the sticks about and rifle in the air, whilst trying to set themselves up with a group of Fallow in late winter staring at you for a second.
NOT a chance.
People need to practice shooting free hand at 40 to 60 yds. Most cant, or wont, and prefer to try and set sticks up. In deep woodland with deer at close range, its a waste of time. Their gone.

If your going to use quad sticks learn to use them, and set them up. Practice, but more than that practice without sticks for close range work. I find they are fine for shooting over a distance of over 60 yds and out to over 100yds, or standing and waiting for a deer to move through. But stalking in woodland, especially for Fallow or Sika, and trying to deploy them without all the palaver of setting them up...................................No for the vast majority.

If close up in the woods, I like to just hold the quads together as a single stick (point 4 above) and this gives me enough support to accurately shoot out to 80 ish yards.

Argee it is maddening when you get people into deer ad then there is an orchestra of faff whilst they set up.

 

[25 Sharps]

Quad are undoubtedly the most stable from standing , you can even add another bit and actually sit your rifle alone in them !
that said they aint as fast as off hand or kneeling and you cannot follow a moving target very easily and neither can you drop them down as you can some tripod sticks . I like the drop down facility as i can sit down and wait a while instead of walk, walk, walk all the time .
I know folks who use single sticks , quad sticks, twin sticks and have used them all myself . One must just settle on what suits them best and that can be venue and plan depending

As @Tim.243 says, if you want to sit with quads just split them wider.

 

[25 Sharps]

Impressive. Not sure about my ability to follow instructions mind

Definitely don’t take up reloading then

 

[Pellet Pinger]

To summarise what most before me have said.
1 Quad sticks are great. Whether you make your own or buy a set.
2 You need to learn to deploy them properly and quietly, I shoot lots of rabbits so have had plenty of practice
3 You need to use them correctly. you stand up straight, bum shouldn’t be sticking out. Rear cross leg should be resting on your body for extra stability.
4 you can use them as twin sticks or even as a monopod, but, if you are like me you will forget and always, out of habit, use them as quad sticks.
5 you should still try to practice freehand and using posts etc. use an air rifle to practice, it’s cheaper.
6 They are not so good in close quarters, ie woodland
7 However, they are good if you are in woodland and they are already set up and you are waiting for something to come in.
8 it is a lot easier to keep them on the sticks for long periods.
9 I drove over mine and they still work, albeit slightly bent and not inclined to close. Hey ho. But I have had them about 7 years now.
10 I would not be without out mine, I even removed the bipod as I never used it. Quads all the way.

11. just get yourself a pair. You won’t be sorry.

Well put sir.

 

[Utectok]

I done it all single hazel stick, b and q ones all the way to fancy carbon quads…. They all work. But for longer range shots a good set of quads is the best. Honestly you will shoot more deer with them and further away ones too. Hitting a 4” clay pigeon at 260m is pretty easy with a good setup and in the summer here bipods are useless…
If you want to kill deer good equipment helps. I shot for years without any stick or a hazel wand and that works but it’s definitely a restriction.

 

[Tregullon]

Definitely don’t take up reloading then

It's a worry

 

[DevonRifle]

I use home made metal quads. I screw at the top and use lamb docking bands at the bottom (2 each side). As others have said when you learn to pan with them with one leg lifted they have no downside. Mine are light and are also used unfolded to rest my binos when scanning, I put them through the legs of a roe when two of us carry one and use them to prop up the boot of my car when using an s hook to hang a gambrel from the rear lock. Wouldn’t be without mine.

 

[Koenig]

4stable sticks are steady/robust but also light and not too expensive. One of the Scottish gun shops (Grahams or Mclouds) sells them on here.

 

[baguio]

Mine are light and are also used unfolded to rest my binos when scanning,

That's what keeps me using these when I have been given upgraded versions. That extra 4" makes all the difference when resting binos on them!

 

[Big Bang Theory]

I have a set of Mjoelner quads. Can be used standing, kneeling or sitting. Taken Sika in woods using them, foxes out to 280 yards no bother. Very stable if used correctly. There’s a very good video knocking around I’ll see if I can find it.

 

[Big Bang Theory]

Here it is

 

[Tregullon]

4stable sticks are steady/robust but also light and not too expensive. One of the Scottish gun shops (Grahams or Mclouds) sells them on here.

Saw them at The Game Fair, hence my OP. Frankly it all looked a bit pfaffy and you know what fairs are for faddish toot
That said, some enlightening responses on here. Likely give them a go. I can already think how they might be improved, eg if they a) clipped together to make a walking stick (or even a shepherd's crook) b) could also be used as a tripod, bipod or monopod c) were robust enough to hang a carcase for gralloching d) could be adjusted for height easily e) had spikes with a flip-down disc (like a shooting seat) for boggy ground. But getting ahead of myself!

 

[Foxyboy43]

Saw them at The Game Fair, hence my OP. Frankly it all looked a bit pfaffy and you know what fairs are for faddish toot
That said, some enlightening responses on here. Likely give them a go. I can already think how they might be improved, eg if they a) clipped together to make a walking stick (or even a shepherd's crook) b) could also be used as a tripod, bipod or monopod c) were robust enough to hang a carcase for gralloching d) could be adjusted for height easily e) had spikes with a flip-down disc (like a shooting seat) for boggy ground. But getting ahead of myself!

Indeed - hours of endless fun lie ahead……

 

[Heym SR20]

Sticks................ some of the prices being spent on these things is ridiculous. £400 for some real fancy ones, but the general ball park is £250 to £300.
When I started there were none for sale. You made your own, and learnt to shoot with one or two sticks, or neither in some cases.

I now carry the latest generation trigger sticks for clients, if they dont have their own. I would guess about 80% of the people I take out have sticks, although some turn up having forgotten to bring them.
Out of that number many have quad sticks. I would anticipate that 70% dont know how to deploy them quickly and silently. I hate to think how many opportunities were lost by people waving the sticks about and rifle in the air, whilst trying to set themselves up with a group of Fallow in late winter staring at you for a second.
NOT a chance.
People need to practice shooting free hand at 40 to 60 yds. Most cant, or wont, and prefer to try and set sticks up. In deep woodland with deer at close range, its a waste of time. Their gone.

If your going to use quad sticks learn to use them, and set them up. Practice, but more than that practice without sticks for close range work. I find they are fine for shooting over a distance of over 60 yds and out to over 100yds, or standing and waiting for a deer to move through. But stalking in woodland, especially for Fallow or Sika, and trying to deploy them without all the palaver of setting them up...................................No for the vast majority.

I fully agree with what Malcolm has to say. I have used a pair of sticks for a long time, but increasingly I leave them behind. If it’s close then I shoot offhand and if it’s further out I use either my day pack on some other improvised rest or shoot sitting.

I am of the old school where I learnt to shoot by breathing and letting the shot go as sights become aligned. I don’t try and stop the wobble nor do I need to.

But I can see how the playstation generation with large powerful scopes wound right up want absolute stillness of the reticle.

I tend to use a 6x42 and shoot with both eyes open.

 

[baguio]

I fully agree with what Malcolm has to say. I have used a pair of sticks for a long time, but increasingly I leave them behind. If it’s close then I shoot offhand and if it’s further out I use either my day pack on some other improvised rest or shoot sitting.

I am of the old school where I learnt to shoot by breathing and letting the shot go as sights become aligned. I don’t try and stop the wobble nor do I need to.

But I can see how the playstation generation with large powerful scopes wound right up want absolute stillness of the reticle.

I tend to use a 6x42 and shoot with both eyes open.

That's all good on the hilly/mountainous ground of Scotland with someone who has been stalking and practising in that terrain their whole life. Unfortunately, the terrain where this Southern Fairy lives is too flat to make my empty roe sack any use as a rest. Bi-pods are almost always useless too hence why I no longer have one fitted. Getting down there and setting up the shot takes more time than it takes to set up on quad sticks too and I would lose sight of a roe if it ran off too. The elevated shooting platform of quad sticks is far more useful down South for sure. I would rather have a novice lose an opportunity through taking too long to get in position than lose a deer through wounding it from poor shooting off a poor rest.

 

[Heym SR20]

That's all good on the hilly/mountainous ground of Scotland with someone who has been stalking and practising in that terrain their whole life. Unfortunately, the terrain where this Southern Fairy lives is too flat to make my empty roe sack any use as a rest. Bi-pods are almost always useless too hence why I no longer have one fitted. Getting down there and setting up the shot takes more time than it takes to set up on quad sticks too and I would lose sight of a roe if it ran off too. The elevated shooting platform of quad sticks is far more useful down South for sure. I would rather have a novice lose an opportunity through taking too long to get in position than lose a deer through wounding it from poor shooting off a poor rest.

Wouldn’t disagree with you either. You need to adapt to ground. I have used quad sticks - they are amazingly steady. Indeed tried a five stick set up once in Namibia - could have taken an oryx at 250 yards, but the cull ine kept standing behind a v expensive trophy one.

 

[jimo]

Impressive. Not sure about my ability to follow instructions mind

There are a couple of videos on u tube on making them that are worth watching before you start.

 

[paulbshooting]

Whatever route you go it's really down to practice and technique. Once confident you can shoot close range off quads using two sticks only of the four and further out on all four. I had a set of viperflex Mk1 and recently upgraded to the blaser. Much lighter and love the pan function. Almost all of my deer are taken off sticks.

 

[tozzybum]

If u don't like drilling and bolts I used Martingale rings from a hoss shop at the top .
Very tight but flexible.