quad sticks or tripod

[HarryG]

Most of the problems you/I read on here come from people not being ready before they go out,
Left bolt a home
Left ammo at home
Scope loose
Sticks falling apart
Struggle to deploy sticks
There is a great deal of being practical with shooting in general which starts before you leave the house, leave things to the last minute and you pay the price.
How you are in life will/does play a big part in how you will be in the field as the life style is what you do all the time and the shooting is just a fraction of your year.
You need 4 square feet to deploy a set of sticks be it a carpet in the living room or the front lawn but lets wait until the morning stalk when it is dark to find out the above

100% agree with this Tim. Practice practice practice and get everything ready well in advance.

 

[Foxyboy43]

Hmmm.
Like most on here I started with a single stick, progressing to a pair then some years ago homemade B&Q’s finest which I have stuck with ever since. As above, with practice setting up really should be second nature and a matter of seconds to deploy, acquire your target and shoot; I have not tried the tripod idea - call me old-fashioned but I cannot get my head around the notion of carrying what looks like several scaffold poles across either the fields or glen….

PS
As a suggestion - if you do go down the B&Q deluxe route you might wish to try attaching a piece of an old belt to the tops of the front sticks rather than just using the sticks vee - just long enough so that when the sticks are deployed your rifle is held just clear of the front sticks vee - with simple pushing of the thumb or pulling of your forefinger you will get as much fine focus panning as you will ever need. See below…

 

[Utectok]

Quad stick are what I shoot 95% of my deer with. About 60 a year. They are a faff till you get used to them. But they provided a good platform to about 200-250m beyond that you need a bipod in my view. I think these target “American” heavy tripods are good too, providing bipod type support to 500-600m but impractical for normal stalking, fine for fixed point waiting for foxes, deer or competitive shooting. The primos trigger sticks are ok very quick to set up but wobbly and best for shots to 150m or so.

 

[Koenig]

Here’s my 2p’s worth having owned and used both.

Tripod (I had the Primos Gen2). Easier to carry and shorter than Quads. The legs stick when they get older whatever you do to keep them working - oiling etc. the head unit gets loose over time and cannot be tightened, I e lost at least one decent Roe to this. They offer no support at the shoulder. However, they are good for tracking animals line Foxes or Muntjac that don’t keep still. Good for short range work, say 100m

Quads: much more expensive in the main. Longer and more fragile. Far more stable for longer shots (I’ve done 250m on mine). Limited left - right movement on most models.

Verdict: for me it’s got to be Quads. I use Stable4sticks which are light yet strong with a 2 year guarantee.

 

[25 Sharps]

My first deer was off of a quad and understand what you are saying about a fat as the guy who took me out was about 6'3" and im 5'9" so i was on tip toe, I still nailed it but thinking if you are shooting on uneven ground it might be an issue

If you’d opened the sticks wider they would have been lower.

 

[Nickb]

Most of the problems you/I read on here come from people not being ready before they go out,
Left bolt a home
Left ammo at home
Scope loose
Sticks falling apart
Struggle to deploy sticks
There is a great deal of being practical with shooting in general which starts before you leave the house, leave things to the last minute and you pay the price.
How you are in life will/does play a big part in how you will be in the field as the life style is what you do all the time and the shooting is just a fraction of your year.
You need 4 square feet to deploy a set of sticks be it a carpet in the living room or the front lawn but lets wait until the morning stalk when it is dark to find out the above

Hey Timmy , totally agree for once.
Preparation is crucial in anything I do , don't leave anything to chance because if it can go wrong it will.
A lot of problems arise as some people just don't get out enough , the guys who are out every week are better prepared and experienced which certainly helps.

 

[Foxyboy43]

If you’d opened the sticks wider they would have been lower.

Didn’t like to say……

Oddly enough and conversely I watched a Tube video this very a.m. where a new young couple were being introduced to deerstalking. The chap was using quads for his first attempt at roe - it was almost comical to see him arched over down to the sticks when clearly a simple word of advice from his very experienced mentor to pull the quad feet closer together would have been both beneficial and sensible.

 

[HonestJohn]

here are my twin sticks. Good to around 100 for me.

Next are my limulus quads with an alteration to the tips, so the stock sits on straps instead of in the wedge, this allows me to track game using the quads and doesn’t scratch the stock, the front is flat/tight, and the rear is a bit loose to allow the edge of the butt to sit down into the strap a bit - good to 250

 

[GIMLET61]

Didn’t like to say……

Oddly enough and conversely I watched a Tube video this very a.m. where a new young couple were being introduced to deerstalking. The chap was using quads for his first attempt at roe - it was almost comical to see him arched over down to the sticks when clearly a simple word of advice from his very experienced mentor to pull the quad feet closer together would have been both beneficial and sensible.

Having also watched it, my thoughts were the same.
Watching the barrel mod, moving around, I am glad the deer moved off as it could have been a mistake that could have put the learner right off.
I use quads for majority of my outings, but tripods with a clamp are handy for closer range stuff, especially if waiting for a pesky fox.
The trigger sticks are only used for my air rifles, as they are light and flexible.

 

[25 Sharps]

Neither.

Tripod is great from a static position, but too heavy and cumbersome to stalk with. Quads are a faff to set up in anything like a hurry.

My preference is for simple pair of sticks - hazel rods tied together with paracord. Under 50p, and with a little bit of practice, good to shoot to any distance you’d be happy shooting quads to.

I think tripods have a place - they’re really hard to beat if you’re shooting on a steep slope, or in vegetation too deep for a bipod. But they’re very much an ambush tool.

I don’t see the point of quads.

I’d respectfully disagree, quads when used properly and with plenty of practice are as steady as a bipod and quick to deploy.

I’ve shot thousands of animals off of quads. I’m happy to shoot out to 350 yards off of quads, I would never get anywhere near that off of twin sticks.

It does depend on the ground, if it’s thick with undergrowth/tussocky grass then fine adjustment to quad position can be difficult. My ground is all arable or pasture so quads work really well.

 

[Foxyboy43]

Having also watched it, my thoughts were the same.
Watching the barrel mod, moving around, I am glad the deer moved off as it could have been a mistake that could have put the learner right off.
I use quads for majority of my outings, but tripods with a clamp are handy for closer range stuff, especially if waiting for a pesky fox.
The trigger sticks are only used for my air rifles, as they are light and flexible.

Indeed so - could have been a very bad intro for the new guy - badly shot deer running off and getting lost etc.
Just shows that even the best of us can get it wrong - especially when passing knowledge on…

 

[Foxyboy43]

I’d respectfully disagree, quads when used properly and with plenty of practice are as steady as a bipod and quick to deploy.

I’ve shot thousands of animals off of quads. I’m happy to shoot out to 350 yards off of quads, I would never get anywhere near that off of twin sticks.

It does depend on the ground, if it’s thick with undergrowth/tussocky grass then fine adjustment to quad position can be difficult. My ground is all arable or pasture so quads work really well.

Couldn’t agree more 25 - though some SD types do get the collywobbles at the very thought of long shots off quads, perhaps more practice with said quads would ease their concerns?

 

[jthyttin]

quads when used properly and with plenty of practice are as steady as a bipod and quick to deploy

If you're talking about prone and bipod height to match, no they're not.

And there's no point in arguing that slightly leaning one of the rear uprights to your standing body would result in rear support that matches prone.

 

[25 Sharps]

If you're talking about prone and bipod height to match, no they're not.

And there's no point in arguing that slightly leaning one of the rear uprights to your standing body would result in rear support that matches prone.

Obviously for long range prone has the edge but out to 3-400 yards there’s not a lot in it.

To put it another way I will happily zero a rifle off of quad sticks at 100 yards as they are more than stable enough. That translates to more than stable enough for deer stalking at sensible ranges.

 

[25 Sharps]

Couldn’t agree more 25 - though some SD types do get the collywobbles at the very thought of long shots off quads, perhaps more practice with said quads would ease their concerns?

The trick with quads is practice.

 

[palo]

The trick with quads is practice.

I'm lucky in that I have a field beside my home where I can practice regularly with my 22lr. I have the same stock on my 22. My 204 foxing rifle and my 308 stalking rifle which is also a bonus.
A bipod with some rear support will be steadier than sticks but for some reason I can shoot groups just as good with my viperflex sticks with 5th leg as I can from my bench with a bipod and rear bag.

 

[25 Sharps]

I’ve seen them fall apart on clients several times! That’s what’s really put me off. That and problems with tracking moving animals.

That’s why home made B&Q one’s are the best .

Tracking moving animals is easy enough, lift one leg and pivot on the other then drop the lifted leg for the shot. As above though, this won’t work with lots of undergrowth or particularly uneven ground.

 

[geoshot]

Well, as you can see, you asked a question on SD and got the usual mix of strong & differing opinions
The thread covered everything from double through triple to quad sticks - strange that no one mentioned a single hazel rod with a thumb grip or fork on top, maybe Klenchblaize is snoozing?
Anyway
What it all suggests is the truth
You have to try some versions out somehow, whether at a shop or with some friends who own different sets of sticks
I love quads, and mine even have the "fifth leg" - which does add to the potential for "faff" right enough
BUT
With practice, something mentioned by several posters, even the five legged variety can become easy to deploy/use and there are few things steadier to shoot off when you get them set up - other than a bench of course
I practice with mine at home, every day, I just get an unloaded rifle set up on them out in the garden if the weather allows, or in the house if the missus allows - and they go with me every time I'm out shooting too of course

Mates of mine swear by the tripods, the good old Primus trigger sticks, and one fella uses nothing but twin gardening canes lashed together, a few others use various types of quads - one flash git has a set, actually two now that he bought the new version, of Blaser sticks with the Sparton stock mount
But we thing we have in common is that we all practice using them
And
We all tried/owned various options before settling on the one we prefer
You probably will too

 

[Tazz]

Quads all day, I have Vipers Travel

Best stability for long range
Can be used as 1 stick or two for close and fast
Act as safety stick when up/down steep ground or streams
Take the full weight of the rifle so when you are waiting for just one of the Fallow to sand right ( As opposed to every other stance) you don’t get muscle shake

 

[Foxyboy43]

That’s why home made B&Q one’s are the best .

Tracking moving animals is easy enough, lift one leg and pivot on the other then drop the lifted leg for the shot. As above though, this won’t work with lots of undergrowth or particularly uneven ground.

Just for clarity - “lift one leg” refers to that of the quad sticks and certainly not either of the two attached to one’s hips; that said lifting one leg would be fairly easy but conversely pivoting on the other might be an issue, certainly for older members - unless of course accompanied by an assistant who could, in the spirit of friendship so common with us stalking johnnies, lightly grasp the by now airborne limb at the ankle and simply rotate the shooter as instructed….
Why oh why do I now see the Hokeycokey…..