Well whoopie doo, you made the record book, golly gee ain't you sump'en....

And as to me and I suppose Saeed shooting off the PH shoulder thats really something you don't have to do yourself, but it sure as hell is none of your business what we do..Saeed btw is one of the best off hand shots I have ever known and I have known a few..He also won the US champion trap shooting title several times..

I thought we settled that shooting off shoulders business like gentlemen, but apparantly its been knawing on your ass, why? I have no idea...but I will bet dollars to donuts you don't have near the experience as some of us on this board that your flaming on...

Maybe you need to take a couple of aspirin and a nap and join the fun around here, or hey come on up to Idaho, if you can catch me at home, and we can shoot off hand all day long and have a good time, maybe bet a little money, or shoot for lunch, shoot some rockchucks with a double, whatever, it ain't that far up here, and bring Bruce Cunningham with you, he lives up that way....

Arts: Like you, I have been practicing off the sticks (mine are the Stoney Point 2-legged, which have mucho flex) for my trip next month in Namibia. Everyone tells me how much further the shooting will be there, and to practice out to 300 or even 400 yards. They say the tall grass will prevent sitting and using a Harris bipod, or shrinking the sticks down to a stable stiffness. I'm afraid that marking up animals does not sit well with either my ego or wallet, so I'm only going to be shooting my 375 H&H/Leupold 1 3/4 to 6X scope with 260 grain Nosler Accubonds. They work wonderfully for me and my gun. A big hole, slightly off, is better than a small one. My biggest problem with practice off the sticks seems to stem from target panic on those paper targets, that I might shoot unacceptable groups from what I'm used to from the bench. Was really getting frustrated. I solved that by cutting out a plywood Springbok and painting it appropriately, then using that for my practice. Shot another 300 rounds out of all the 22/22WMR/270/7MM/375 today, and when I went to shoot the silhouette, I placed 12 of 12 shots in the vitals from 100 out to 300 yards. About a 6-7" group overall. Not too worried about the big ones now, and now I think even the little guys might be in trouble. 4 more weeks to practice and dream!

Keep in mind that the bamboo sticks in Africa have little if any flex and most have a 3 stick stick!

I have used a monopod and it is a LOT faster, but not as steady. I figure if you have the time to set it up, might as well kneel/sit, and if there is high grass it'll probably be a plain where a bipod is best. The monopod was most useful when mountain hunting as it is a great walking stick + improvised rest.

Ray,

Assume you were replying to the other poster and not to me. I'm the monopod guy. But let me ask you a question.

When the PH lets the client use the PH's shoulder as a rest, does the PH use any ear protection? Even his finger? It would seem that if there's time to get into such a position there would be time to put on earmuffs. Otherwise, if I were the PH, I would probably flinch and ruin the guy's shot. I'm deaf enough from rifle shooting already.

I'll have to try it. One problem with any such rest is I like to grasp the forend hard with my left hand while shooting offhand. While contrary to best target shooting accuracy, this helps take up the recoil of a powerful cartridge/rifle. I tend to hold my right elbow level with my shoulder and sometimes the recoil raps the bolt knob against my trigger finger knuckle hard enough to draw blood.

Indy, I have a padded Uncle Mike's sling on my rifle.

When I used the sticks in Africa, I laid the rifle on the sling, in the fork of the sticks, and held the forearm on the far side of the sticks.

It worked great for me, giving me a two-hand grip, and also improving second-round capability.

If you want to be able to shoot the second round quickly, you don't want your left hand holding the sticks instead of the rifle...


Rick.

rick,

That makes sense. Except with me, I'm sure that the recoil plus opeerating the bolt would raise the rifle out of the sticks for the second shot.

It does, just a little... (with a .375 H&H), and I was a little concerned at first about what would happen to the sticks.

But the rifle comes back down so fast that the sticks never seemed to move.

Actually, judging from the video, the rifle came almost straight back.

Rick.