Gentleman,

Thank you for all your comments. I did not post much before so did not know what to expect. Thanks for all the insights provided. I commend all of you who have made your own set of sticks. I started out the same way. Came back from Zim and could not find a wooden set so I made my own. I already had a day job but after folks saw them they wanted a set and the business took off from there.

I talk to almost every customer who orders and it all comes down to confidence...a straight shooting rifle, good optics, a favorite handload and other gear that you know is up to the task. I agree with Dave, practice with what you have as it makes for a much more enjoyable experience. Our sticks break down and weigh approx 3 pounds so you can put them right in your gun case.

As with any product the devil is always in the details. What seems simple from afar typically gets a bit more complex the closer you get to it. We go through approximately 150 labor intensive steps before a set is completed. In most cases you would probably not notice if I did not do 50 of them.....unless you need that particular benefit some time down the road. For example, most commercially available kiln dried wood carries about 12% moisture, we take ours down to half that to increase rigidity and lessen weight before sealing it.

A few years back I went to a big box hunting store and over the course of 30 days "marked their inventory" to come up with the number of shooting sticks they sell. By doing some simple math it appeared that the average hunter replaced their $30-$50 shooting sticks every 2-3 years. Thus over a short 20 year career they typically spend more than our best grade costs and have very little to show for it at the end of the day. Our average customer has 3-4 sets on hand when they invest in a set of ours.

Due to the current economic conditions and based on folks who called and said they wanted a good set of sticks that were more affordable we have just launched an entry level version that is in our humble opinion a better mousetrap than other similarly priced models out there.

Most of our products are not for everyone but then neither are $500 hand made knives, $300 Courtney boots or $2000 Swarovski binoculars but we offer all of the above for folks who have the desire and means to own them. The best part of this "night job" is getting to hear about how our shooting sticks allowed for a more successful sarfari or how a piece of Campaign Furniture transformed a favorite room. From the practical side, by carrying only the best, our claims are virtually zero.

Best Regards,

Jim

www.africansc.com

I have a pair of Jim's sticks, and they are of the highest quality. I use them all the time, for plinking with .17 HMRs to .375 practice, shooting hogs, targets, etc. It's always nice to know whether your rifle/load shoots to different POI with sticks vs. sling, offhand, or using other rests.

I have never taken my own sticks to Africa, I feel plenty comfortable shooting off of whatever the PH supplies, whether good, crap, or nothing. That is one reason I practice, the other is simply because I enjoy it.

As for the cost, Jim is correct in that, if you use any of the commercial, shock-corded types, you will buy a pair every couple of years. They wear out, cords lose elasticity,etc. As I age, I find that I gravitate to products made by someone who cares about quality, and unless abused, these types of products are usually the last ones I ever have to purchase. I then spend time enjoying them instead of cussing them. As for the money spent on these sticks, I have pissed away many times that amount on who knows what, so I don't resent that at all. I probably have that much tied up in sandbags for my long-range prairie dog shooting.

Jim's sticks, being take-down, can be used sitting, kneeling, or standing. However, I still don't take sticks hunting unless I'm going to set up somewhere, and can already have them deployed. Otherwise, I just prefer to use whatever rest presents itself. I find their real use is to give me confidence when shooting from improvised field positions, after practicing from all positions off sticks.

buffybr:

Until I saw your post I was beginning to wonder if hunting nowadays also consisted of carrying along the equivalent of an engineer's tripod. (I'm the son and grandson of civil engineers) I am very glad to see you chime in on this thread. As you noted, it's one thing to lean against a tree to steady for a shot (or sit and hold) -and quite another to be carrying so called "aiming sticks". Oh, well, what's the use of argument? It's what they want to use -and, apparently it's almost down to a science (one poster recommends not bearing down too much on the sticks.Is sitting a position no longer used by shooters? - to say nothing of offhand) I grew up shooting woodchucks at ranges from 200-600 yards (220 Swift, 48 gr) -and never again had to shoot at very long ranges -so I guess I can't speak with authority (although the impala I saw in Chirisa were a lot bigger than the head of a chuck {my aiming spot on a chuck - My father taught me the old hunter's prayer -"Lord, Let me shoot clean and kill clean -and if I can't kill clean, let me miss clean)} - but when I shot those chucks it was by sitting and shooting. The idea of carrying something beyond my rifle and the ammo in my pockets would have been beyond me. (Yes, I cheated sometimes and had a small pillow to rest on the stone walls (New England Revolutionary War area) -and had a painful crouch, half sitting, when I took a 600 yard shot -and usually missed.) Times change, I guess. I still think sport hunting should be giving the animal half a chance at least. I suspect that you feel the same way.

Gerry, I use the sitting position a lot in North America, but I hunt mostly open Mountain country of the Western USA, where sitting isn't hendered by four foot grass, and the rifles required for deer, Moose Caribou, and elk are no draw back in recoil or weight to hender shooting from a sitting position. However, the rifle used for shooting dangerous game in Africa seem a little brutal when sitting on your butt, and the absolute last thing I want to be doing when shooting a Cape Buffalo, or a lion is sitting down. Like you I don't shoot well off sticks, but with a 12 pound rifle, with 60 fPE of recoil I want to be standing on my hind legs, so I can re-load as fast as I can if the first two don't get the job done. Hell it takes me 30 seconds to get my 73 yr old butt off the ground once I get into a sitting position, and I might have to change postions very quickly while re-loading for the rest of the fight. Besides you don't have to carry the sticks anyway, a tracker does that little chore, and sets them up for you when a shot is presented. You are not required to use the sticks simply because they are available.

In the American south west mountain country I often carry a Yucca bloom spike about six feet long, as a walking stick to steady my ballance in rocky terrain and sometimes use it to steady my rifle or handgun while shooting deer, because the sitting position is not always available, and the average shot in this country is too far for offhand shooting.

Sticks are not ment to be a bench rest and that is one reason to practice... to learn ...to use the shooting AID and train one's self. Self training means practice. Remember once the sticks are set up they are yours... only,it is your job to adjust and use as you have trained yourself. Practice moving,reseting, adjusting and do not forget to practice on irregular terrain. Shooting is a wasting skill so begin training when you get home from the last hunt. On long shots practice using a second set of sticks for support on the elbow. A second set of sticks is far better than somone's shoulder that adds more variables... breathing and another heart beat.This second stick will take a bit of practice. If your PHs sticks are too flimsy ask him to have some made a little more stout. Nothing wrong with that request. As to squeeking leather... use olive oil. It will not turn rancid,will not oxidise (in our lifetime) and turn green around brass nor will it attract vermin wanting to eat it during the night like neetsfoot or mink oils.

Steve Robinsons two links are excellent.

As Dave Fulson said ... Practice.

Elton Rambin

Here's another set I made out of plastic coated thin wall garden stakes. I then covered them with camo duct tape.

These are my deluxe version about $15 in materials.

The camo duct tape makes them easier to lose when I lay them down in the field.

Dear Gerrypeters375, "sport hunting should give the animal half a chance at least." Any hunter who makes the decision to kill an animal, should , if he is an ethical hunter, use any manner of means to kill that animal as quickly and cleanly as possible. The animals chances were used up once the hunter got into the killing zone unobserved.

If shooting sticks give you more confidence then by all means use them. The most important thing is a clean and quick kill. I haven't found them to be necessary or even desirable. In 20 safaris I have taken over 250 animals there and never used shooting sticks. I have only shot at one animal that I didn't recover and that was a Vaal rhebuck at over 260 yards when I cleanly missed it by failing to account for a 30 MPH cross wind. I found them to be in the way for fast follow up shots.

465H&H

I practiced with sticks before my hunt in SA and still had some issues.

1). Shoot within 5 seconds of set up.
2). Practice on a windy day.
3). Do some push ups before you shoot.

The second and third items will completely change the way you shoot from the stick. In order to dampen the movement caused by either wind or my beating heart, I had to exert significant downward pressure on the sticks, with the majority applied to the portion of the stock ahead of the rest.

In practice, I leaned backwards and used the sticks as a rest and applied no significant pressure; this technique is great at the range and useless in the field under non-ideal conditions.

MacD37:

One time, I was under the impression that aiming sticks in Africa were used strictly on plains game. I was dumbfounded (this was in '93) when my PH asked if I had practiced with aiming sticks - and we were going for buff. I told him I had practiced for nearly nine months in shooting offhand at 50 yards. (He put me to the test) I had his gracious apology afterwards. I can understand shooting at long ranges at plains game and encouraging the "client" to use aiming sticks. The client doesn't want to go home disappointed and the PH wants to make him happy. I just simply came from a school of hunter who arrived in Africa determined not to shame myself in front of the PH or the trackers with my shooting. Mac, it really all comes back to self discipline as shooters and pride as hunters. Yeah, I am enough of a fanatic about hunting to say that if you can't put 3 shots in a 6" pie plate at 50 yards - stay home.

Would you really lug these things across the pond and pay handsomely to do so? For NA use, I wholeheartedly endorse the "home depot bamboo and wal-mart bicycle inner tube" method. Total cost....about $10. Spending big money on shooting sticks makes you look like a complete amateur who thinks he can buy success.

quote:

Originally posted by analog_peninsula:
I practiced with sticks before my hunt in SA and still had some issues.

1). Shoot within 5 seconds of set up.
2). Practice on a windy day.
3). Do some push ups before you shoot.

The second and third items will completely change the way you shoot from the stick. In order to dampen the movement caused by either wind or my beating heart, I had to exert significant downward pressure on the sticks, with the majority applied to the portion of the stock ahead of the rest.

In practice, I leaned backwards and used the sticks as a rest and applied no significant pressure; this technique is great at the range and useless in the field under non-ideal conditions.

If you find it difficult, you might like to read these:

http://www.shakariconnection.c...-for-the-unwary.html

http://www.shakariconnection.com/shooting-sticks.html

This a common mistake, they are an aid to offhand shooting - not a dead rest - and if used as such are great. If you bear down on them they will appear unsteady/flimsy.

You obviously dont want to wound any animal and want the most steady rest available.Shooting sticks are a mobile free hand shooting aid - not a bench.
I have too often seen clients leening on the sticks with their weight and well..problems.
practice at the range first.
Shoot as you normally would free hand and then slide in the sticks at the same height
keep your legs at shoulder width apart and lock your knees.
The sticks should support your rifle only.
Try holding the rifle with both hands on the pistol grip, legs straight and knees locked
youll kill up to 300yds guaranteed.
I got the clients photos to prove it
dave davenport

Most UK stalkers use them as a matter of course. I did use thin walled stakes like Mikes but have reverted to bamboo finding the stakes to prone to bending.

I prefer the home grown variety as they are more adaptable to position changes as they splay more or less in an instant. Even hunting and shooting prone where you will never use them to rest they are invaluable for clearing a path from the muzzle, resting binos/spotting scope and chastising the dog.

I find the steadiest position to be able to rest my pistol grip elbow on a tree with the fore end in the sticks with that hand holding the sling where the vacuum band is. Add in a good trigger and a bit of muzzle heaviness and you're good to go.

Merry Xmas