In the course of getting ready for another PG hunt this July, my friend and I have had an opportunity to look over several commercial products. The Primos Triggerstick, the BogPod, and Stony Point tripods as well as a set of more traditional African sticks I picked up on a previous trip.
What are your favorites?

Forget the trigger stick. it isn't very wide. Therefore not that stable.

I have the stoney points and another brand I just forget the name


I am headed over in 23 days for plains game and I made a set of african style sticks to practice out of from 3 tar op replacement handles and a bike innertube cut into a strip and wrapping it all together.

I have some Stoney point sticks. They are light and fold up into a small pkg. I find them stable enough for good shooting.

I should have said this before. I have all 3 of the above. Bog Pod is the best. Primos is the worst for this type of hunting.

bog pod, nothing else is even close.

I like my Stoney Point and disliked my Bog Pod enough to sell it.

I found that the legs felt "floppy" with the top on it. The yoke with the front leg attached to another leg is what I prefer. I also found that the Bog Pod top needed to be straight (level) and that was a chore.

Make sure that whatever you get is long enough.

If you see how Larry and I differed in opinion you realise that it is a bit of personal preference. Try out what you buy in the store on someone else's set before you buy.

Othwise make a set from sufficiently strong dowels or light brooksticks and inner tube. If you are just using them to practice you won't need to carry them, so weight is not a big deal.

I've used a BogPod for several years, in Africa as well as US (just shot a few javelina off of it). Its a solid tripod that folds down for travel, fits in my Tuffpak take-down rifle case. I dion't leave home without it...

I prefer 2-legged sticks. I step back and then push into them to steady them up. 3 legs are too much to fiddle with.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
I prefer 2-legged sticks. I step back and then push into them to steady them up. 3 legs are too much to fiddle with.

Me too!

I really have grown to love the Bog- Pod sticks. The interchangeable heads are a real neat feature.
I like the locking leg version than the twist leg as it is faster to set and stronger in my opinion.

I've got the same ones and will be taking them with me in 2 weeks.

I prefer the 2 leg Bog Pod.

I've tried several of the 3 leg versions and they are simply to much of a hassle to deal with. One leg is always flying out. Also, setting up the 3 leg version is fine as long as you're on a flat surface. Try setting them up on a sidehill ... and keep all three legs anchored!

I like the Bog Pod, but had to replace the rifle rest because it broke.
There's a great thread on 24 hour campfire about making a set of shooting sticks from 5/8" oak dowels. I made a set very easily, and they work great.

+1 Bog Pod.

Bog pod... I've known Kim Hicks a long time and he stands behind his products.

Good equipment is always worth the money and a company who stands behind their products is very important to me.

Mike

am headed over in 23 days for plains game and I made a set of african style sticks to practice out of from 3 tar op replacement handles and a bike innertube cut into a strip and wrapping it all together.

This the way to go. You in all likely hood you will be using this set up in Africa . Practice how you are going to shoot and familiarize your self with their system and practice practice practice. You pay full trophy fees on non recovered wounded animal.

If the Triggerstick had a little more expanded width I would like it a little more. The quality of the Bog Pod is apparent but is more cumbersome to carry pre deployed. The traditional dowel and inner tube is very functional as well. We are going to give the a good side by side range test this weekend.

I used a 3-legged Trigger Stick in Africa and really enjoyed it enough to buy my own when I got home. The quick adjustability really worked for me and the tripod setup was wonderfully stable.

Bogs are good but I preferred the Trigger stick. Heavy bastard though.

Practice with three elongated chopsticks held together with broken rubber bands. And learn how to hit with them.

Or learn to shoot offhand.

Or ask RIP how to do it and be prepared for the worst, although maybe not to pay for your stupid mistakes.

Hold them firmly with the off hand at the crux. Make your off hand the support, aided and grounded by the sticks. You will never go wrong using that method.

Sticks vary in quality. Three are always better than two. But quality varies even with three. One thing to remember: whether two or three, this method is sound. Three being preferable, this method makes all three stick systems equal.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
Practice with three elongated chopsticks held together with broken rubber bands. And learn how to hit with them.

Or learn to shoot offhand.

Or ask RIP how to do it and be prepared for the worst, although maybe not to pay for your stupid mistakes.

Hold them firmly with the off hand at the crux. Make your off hand the support, aided and grounded by the sticks. You will never go wrong using that method.

Sticks vary in quality. Three are always better than two. But quality varies even with three. One thing to remember: whether two or three, this method is sound. Three being preferable, this method makes all three stick systems equal.

Mildly-MR says: Hold the sticks at the crux, instead of the forearm of the rifle, let fly, and may The Farce be with you. Accidents do happen.

There is much to be said for gripping the forearm of the rifle consistently whenever possible.

There also must be something to be said for the two-timbered affair that Roy, Alan and Saeed use.

Master that.

Can't wait for the next installment from Mildly-MR ... Will have to tie half my brain behind my back to get ready for that.

I haven't taken a set over yet and have used whatever was in camp. Last year was an adventure, as they were "springy" and on one occasion the innertube came unwrapped as I was trying to set up on a buffalo that was facing us. Rather comical actually as the tracker tried to bind he sticks back together while the buff looked on with curiousity. All worked out, but I may take my own this October.

quote:

Originally posted by mmassey338:
I like the Bog Pod, but had to replace the rifle rest because it broke.
There's a great thread on 24 hour campfire about making a set of shooting sticks from 5/8" oak dowels. I made a set very easily, and they work great.

same here with a bog pod. i like the rest but the top part broke( although i fixed it with JB Weld epoxy putty).

Wim, I will take the Bog Pod off your hands.

Cant get them down here in KZN, only trigger sticks which while they are lightning quick, dont give me a wide enough base to work on my hilly terrain and rocky ground.

quote:

Originally posted by AFRICAN LEADWOOD:
I like my Stoney Point and disliked my Bog Pod enough to sell it.

Sorry. Sold to a friend who likes them. Thanks for asking.

No stress Wim

I don't pretend to have even a small fraction of the experience that some of the posters here have, but I do use sticks a lot for both hunting and simple shooting practice. The sticks support my hand, which supports the gun...the gun itself never touches the sticks. I cannot fathom how anyone can justify packing a simple bipod or tripod halfway around the world when you can manufacture one in minutes from local materials...or, more likely, use the one that the tracker or guide has already manufactured. To me that makes about as much sense as taking your own pillow to Africa, or maybe your own silverware or towels. If I really thought that I couldn't find or make a shooting rest on the spot and absolutely needed to bring one with me, it would be one of the compact and superlightweight Stoney Point collapsible gizmos.

Ideally, I would take a couple feet of rubber tubing to bind three sticks together, along with two or three 8-inch pieces of rubber garden hose, split lengthwise, with which to pad the top of the sticks for comfort. Weight and space required: virtually zero.

I have sold them all and some I have had to warranty. I have had better luck by far with the Bog Pod tripod.
After my wild encounter with Buff last July in Zim I used them as walking staff to get me off the hillside in the dark with no flashlight. They don'take up that much room in your Tuffpak IF your PH does not have a set. Tripod anything is better than mono or bi anything IMO.
Better tomorrows!

I used the Bog Pod on a caribou hunt in Alaska. It made a good walking staff when crossing rivers, too, but the rubber tips don't last too long, so I bought an extra set of them. For practice at home & at the range, I use a set of African Sporting Creations, because they are similar to what is used in Africa. If you place the forend of your rifle well into the V of the sticks, grip it in the normal way, rest your forearm alongside the left stick, then let your upper body rest on the whole setup, the stability is excellent.

Two sticks of bamboo from Home Depot, a bicycle inner tube, and some electrical tape on the short ends of the sticks above the tape. Cost about $10 and works great.

I like the tripod Bog Pod, took it on two African trips and several here in the States. They are however heavy, slow to set up, noisy and a pain to carry all day every day. They do work well to shoot from however.

Bought a mono pod at SCI made by Ultrec Engineering Products, mainly as a walking stick. It came with a real nice case and a quick attach/detach shooting V. Took it along to Argentina, shot a Buff and several other critters using it as a shooting stick. I have found that shooting off this while anchored on the Ph's shoulder with my right arm, accuracy is on par with my Bog Pod results.

This is the walking/shooting stick I will take to Moz next month. Folds down small, a lot lighter than the Bog. I will always have it with me (walking), and can set up for a shot in less than 30 seconds. The tracker will have a tripod of somekind and if time allows can shift to that if I choose.

Larry Sellers
SCI Life Member

The ones I practice with are made by Long Grass. They are well made.

It's a complete and utter myth (that should and must be be busted) to suggest that anything other than the sticks themselves, with the off hand firmly fixed at and grasping the crux below, are needed to support the rifle for the shot.

I have a trophy room full of animals that would testify otherwise, but for their demise, at my hands, using precisely that method.

RIP, I must, once again, advise as follows:

Smart people learn from the mistakes of others.

Stupid people are forced to learn from their own mistakes.

And the truly mentally impaired, apparently including yourself , are condemned to repeat their mistakes, over and over, eternally, without managing to learn the first, bloody, damned thing from them, ad infinitum (and to unfortunate by-standers, such as professional hunters, trackers and fellow hunters, ad nauseam).

I would retrieve the threads, to prove that you are too stupid (or stubborn? ) to learn, but life is too short, and I may be a hard ass, but I'm not a bully.

Some of us are condemned to live.

Have used the primos trigger sticks...agree with others that it doesn't expand enough thus, is not very stable. But use only for practice.

If I had my druthers I would shoot sitting with either a bipod or short tripod. Very stable.

from the "Heartland of Wyoming"

quote:

Originally posted by tendrams:
Two sticks of bamboo from Home Depot, a bicycle inner tube, and some electrical tape on the short ends of the sticks above the tape. Cost about $10 and works great.

Me too.

quote:

Originally posted by jwm:
I don't pretend to have even a small fraction of the experience that some of the posters here have, but I do use sticks a lot for both hunting and simple shooting practice. The sticks support my hand, which supports the gun...the gun itself never touches the sticks. I cannot fathom how anyone can justify packing a simple bipod or tripod halfway around the world when you can manufacture one in minutes from local materials...or, more likely, use the one that the tracker or guide has already manufactured. To me that makes about as much sense as taking your own pillow to Africa, or maybe your own silverware or towels. If I really thought that I couldn't find or make a shooting rest on the spot and absolutely needed to bring one with me, it would be one of the compact and superlightweight Stoney Point collapsible gizmos.

Ideally, I would take a couple feet of rubber tubing to bind three sticks together, along with two or three 8-inch pieces of rubber garden hose, split lengthwise, with which to pad the top of the sticks for comfort. Weight and space required: virtually zero.

Agree with jwm.
I would rather shoot from a sit with triceps on knees,
or from the side of a tree whenever possible.
At close range the setting up of sticks is just harrassment of the tourist hunter.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
The ones I practice with are made by Long Grass. They are well made.

It's a complete and utter myth (that should and must be be busted) to suggest that anything other than the sticks themselves, with the off hand firmly fixed at and grasping the crux below, are needed to support the rifle for the shot.

I have a trophy room full of animals that would testify otherwise, but for their demise, at my hands, using precisely that method.

RIP, I must, once again, advise as follows:

Smart people learn from the mistakes of others.

Stupid people are forced to learn from their own mistakes.

And the truly mentally impaired, apparently including yourself , are condemned to repeat their mistakes, over and over, eternally, without managing to learn the first, bloody, damned thing from them, ad infinitum (and to unfortunate by-standers, such as professional hunters, trackers and fellow hunters, ad nauseam).

I would retrieve the threads, to prove that you are too stupid (or stubborn? ) to learn, but life is too short, and I may be a hard ass, but I'm not a bully.

Some of us are condemned to live.

Now we know, MR is not just mildly MR, he is insane!!!

I have resolved that Saeed and the Vincents have the best system. Even Saeed can benefit from sticks at long range, when time allows.
The bipod affair of two heavy sticks (oak boards of about 2" x 1" and 6 feet long, hinged on a through-bolt near one end of the pair,
is the speediest and least fussy to set up, and get the shot off quickly.
The lesser stability of a bipod versus a tripod is of lesser advantage than the streamlined activation of the bipod.
Get used to it with practice.

I like the Bogpod bipod, but even their advertising photo recommends a hold as for a ratgun,
free re-coil, no forend grip, like for a benchrest varmint rifle: That is wrong for a big game rifle.
One must hold onto the forend of a double rifle to get it to shoot where it is aimed, regulated for 100 yards.
Same for a bolt rifle, especially at longer ranges.

Not like this with .375 H&H and up:



More like this with, with any rifle off the sticks:



I was flawless with that technique in Botswana in 2001.
So I had a booboo in 2010 Tanzania with one shot. It happens.
I was not at my best form then, having had major surgery 2 months before, laid up for almost a month before I began to work again one month before that trip.
Excused.
I am well now.

I thought about hanging a baboon paw from the bipod as a reminder to MR of proper technique, but did not want to cut up the full-body skin.
So here is a deer skin glove muti, the bamboo poles and tomato sticks (rubber vaccuum cleaner drive belts hold them together) are 6 feet long, the Bogpod is longer:




















Grip the forend, live long and prosper:

Yes this is the most user friendly way to use the bog-pod. The yoke is a perfectly comfortable fit for the wrist and the stability is increased substantially.

What if the recoil breaks your wrist while you have it confined in the yoke? Just asking?

Larry Sellers
SCI Life Member

I find that the slight muzzle rise in recoil takes care of that.

I have the long grass safari tripod sticks and am very pleased. Very Stable and easy to set up. I taught my boys 10 and 12 to shoot off of them before we went to SA recently. They did great. Taking my new 500 NE out this afternoon with them for some practice