Sticks, Calls and Scopes

[Deermanagement]

Rather than writing three posts I thought I’d make comment on the one about the following….. sticks, single, bi-pod, tri-pod, quad and even ones with a 5th leg, useful woodland/field scopes and calls, specifically Sika.

With a bit of evening time to myself and being able to get out for a few days, I’ve been looking at some Youtube hunting and stalking videos and what comes to mind ref the above.

Sticks….

Single - quite happy to use it in woodland, all I used for many years, uncomplicated and simple to use.

Bi-pods - best all round, woodland, field, standing, kneeling.

Tripod – pointless, no advantage over a bipod unless you just like carrying an extra leg.

Quad – very useful in the open and flat, excellent for the longer shots, a pain and sometimes useless for woodland stalking and taking shots from anything that involves slopes and uneven ground . I have seen them used as a crutch for someone who just broke his foot and, in this instance, very useful…… ohh, and ok for those that can’t shoot very straight

An extra 5th leg…….

Scopes – for everyday woodland and field, either a fixed power of if not, an illuminated scope variable with a sensible range and without the pain of parallax correction…. Just look straight down the tube , point and shoot, decent reticule. And why ballistic turrets etc., if you cant guess 2”, 5” etc, maybe you should not be shooting at any range at all, because you have to guess the windage on occasion

Calls – specifically Sika. After watching a good number of videos, I think most if not all guys should record themselves and play it back They’d probably throw their calls away or book some music lessons

 

[Brave Echo Niner]

Rather than writing three posts I thought I’d make comment on the one about the following….. sticks, single, bi-pod, tri-pod, quad and even ones with a 5th leg, useful woodland/field scopes and calls, specifically Sika.

With a bit of evening time to myself and being able to get out for a few days, I’ve been looking at some Youtube hunting and stalking videos and what comes to mind ref the above.

Sticks….

Single - quite happy to use it in woodland, all I used for many years, uncomplicated and simple to use.

Bi-pods - best all round, woodland, field, standing, kneeling.

Tripod – pointless, no advantage over a bipod unless you just like carrying an extra leg.

Quad – very useful in the open and flat, excellent for the longer shots, a pain and sometimes useless for woodland stalking and taking shots from anything that involves slopes and uneven ground . I have seen them used as a crutch for someone who just broke his foot and, in this instance, very useful…… ohh, and ok for those that can’t shoot very straight

An extra 5th leg…….

Scopes – for everyday woodland and field, either a fixed power of if not, an illuminated scope variable with a sensible range and without the pain of parallax correction…. Just look straight down the tube , point and shoot, decent reticule. And why ballistic turrets etc., if you cant guess 2”, 5” etc, maybe you should not be shooting at any range at all, because you have to guess the windage on occasion

Calls – specifically Sika. After watching a good number of videos, I think most if not all guys should record themselves and play it back They’d probably throw their calls away or book some music lessons

Re. the sticks:

Quad sticks can function as single, bipod or quad sticks, it's more about how people learn to use them that tends to hinder them in woodland or on uneven surfaces. I would argue the stability they provide when taking either CNS shots or longer shots is worth the time taken to learn to use them properly.

Re. the scopes:

Parallax correction gives you flexibility - you can always just set it to 150M as per how fixed scopes are configured. It's v. useful for when you have brush or other obstructions you need to focus the other side of as well as where shots may be longer and you want the scope to be properly clear.

Ballistic turrets simply give you an ability to dial corrections with certainty - if you ever take a shot past 250M then the hold overs/hold offs can become tricky to be repeatable with a non ballistic turret/graduated reticule scope. The turrets just make this easier to be accurate and repeatable based on your data that should have been gathered at distance on the range.

Quite simply it seems to me the key is not just to make things simpler where there is an advantage to having the additional functions. The key is to practice regularly with your kit and understand how to use it effectively.

Ben

 

[User00040]

Opinion presented as fact, pointless thread

 

[Heym SR20]

Deer stalking is a very varied occupation, and plenty of room for both gearheads, and those who like to keep things simple.

Personally I am not interested in taking shots anywhere much over 200m, most are at the 100m or less. I like simple scopes with a good robust 4a type reticle. I have a stigmatism so I find illuminated reticles a waste of time and money. I don’t need 56mm scopes with multiple twiddly things etc etc.

But equally I know plenty who have scopes with reticles with huge amounts of data on their reticles - their main use is ling range shooting.

As for sticks. I like a simple bipod. If I want steadier for a long shot I find a better position where I can take a seated or kneeling shot. On some grounds I just make use of plenty of naturally occurring sticks - trees, fence posts, walls etc.

Calls - I carry a Buttalo, I can roar and I can whistle. Not as well as others, but have got deer to move.

I can’t speak Sika, but in my limited experience I can get them to think WTF and so far they come looking.

 

[Mungo]

Opinion presented as fact, pointless thread

Isn’t that 95% of SD posts?

 

[Roebuck9]

It all depends where you are shooting, horses for courses. In forest you may only have a very narrow view across a ride etc so if you can set up the rifle on sticks plus 5th leg or tripod and wait for the deer then you are ready, much like an "absent" high seat.
An 8x56 scope is useless at such a senario, you only require say 2-3 to see the entire width of ride and see the animal breaking from between the trees.

Yes a buttolo is a good bet but also a high pitched squeak from a fox call may assist for the odd fox if a palm of hand squeal does not work. With fox it depends if they are shy from having heard it and been shot at before.

 

[Dorset Deer]

as a wise man once said, opinions are like bums, everyone has one, but they usually stink..........

 

[DJLevine]

Buy one of everything - whoever dies with the most s**t wins!