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My Daughter and I are going to SD this Summer to shoot PD's, hopefully this won't fall through and we'll actually get to do it. I've got most everything we'll need except a bench or table. It was suggested I get a couple of the 6 ft. folding office tables but I'm wondering if they'll be sturdy enough. What say ye? Any suggestions on some of the portable benches out there? Any build-it-yourself benches that work well? Thanks | ||
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I made this one, years ago. Kevin  | |||
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I sent you an email with some do it yourself plans. Si tantum EGO eram dimidium ut bonus ut EGO memor | |||
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ironing board & collapsible chair. light and easy to carry | |||
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Got'em, Thanks!! | |||
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Aluminum ironing board and 5 gallon bucket with padded lid works for me. This pic was taken right after a 528 yd PD shot, killed two at 634 yd later the same day.   My shooting partners have plywood tables with fold up legs.   Dave | |||
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To each his own, but why would anyone use a bipod when shooting from a bench? Sand bags are much more conducive to accuracy. But back to the original question: If you are driving rather than flying, then that opens a lot of options up for you. I've used everything from a picnic table in the bed of a pickup to a trailer with built-in benches and jackstands, to a golf cart with a bench table rigged on its front roof supports. Each type of shooting platform has its advantages. Lots of dedicated prairie dog shooters carry something like a mover's quilt to spread on the ground and shoot from prone. This is a classic postion, but it is often handicapped by high grass or weeds. | |||
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I have one from this company. Mine is the $137 one and I really like it for how little room it takes up in my Pilot: http://www.inventivetechnology...cat=shooting_benches I weigh 240 lbs and have sat on it for 7 hrs in a day. Very comfortable and pivots effortlessly and smoothly on its big machined nylon bushing. If I were ordering again I'd probably order the $240 version to get the bigger top but when I'm travelling on a work trip the small size of the one I have is very nice.   | |||
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A better pic......Stoney would like the Sako. Also, gotta have a back rest. For Mr Duct Tape: Shade....important!! I always take three umbrellas......assuming at least one,or two, will get broken. Rangefinder/Binocs: I've combined the two, and mounted so they will never be dropped. Cooler....argueably the MOST important....must be well stocked with Dr.Pepper, with plenty in reserve. Kevin  | |||
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Kevin: Shooting at prairie dogs with Sakos is just not sporting. It's kinda like fishing with a telephone magneto -- just too easy. If you want a real challenge you should use a Savage or a Remington -- propped up on a tripod  . | |||
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Thanks for this thread. I'm getting started with PD hunting. Other than benches - other recommended items? Spotting scope vs binos. Cooler? Shade tent? | |||
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I use a folding table similar to a Black and Decker workmate. Harbor Freight brand. I sit on one of the folding camp chairs that stuff into a sack. Its a compact rig that doesn't take much room to store, sets up easy and is plenty stable. I use sandbags on the table. DW | |||
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Duct Tape, See revised post above. StoneMan, Who needs a magneto, when ya got dynamite??....."You gonna talk....or FISH?"  Kevin | |||
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Kevin: Just noticed the binos on the tripod in your photo. Are those rangefinding binos? Yeah, I thought so, caught you cheating again! Good advice on the cooler! Not only can you used it for necessary beverages, but you can also put the prairie dogs you shoot in it to keep them cool until you can get around to dressing them. | |||
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 Wow! If yer having a good day I guess you have to take more than one ..... ? Crushed ice or Cool Paks? Cheers, Number 10 | |||
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StoneGuy, Cheating??.....Who?...Me??!! Those are my old Leica Geovid 7x42's, that are on my "turret monopod"...anchored through the table. As you can see below....I've taken "cheating" to a whole new level. Kevin Got these a couple of years ago.....cause I can't have any furry rodents over-running my position.  | |||
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These are, by far, the stoutest and steadiest benches I have used:http://www.topratedadventures.com/Mfg/CoyoteJakes.htm | |||
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Sometimes we have to hire a crew just to do the skinning. Then other times when we're not meat hunting we practice envoronmentally friendly "shoot and release". | |||
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I have the medium Inventive Technologies bench, and it is great if you are going to be sitting somewhere for a while. I have found that a simple plastic folding 6-foot tanble (folds in half in the middle) is faster to set up and take down, and is a lot lighter. I made a simple wooden frame for my bull bag to raise it up a few inches, abnd the added size of the table is abonus. A simple floding chair workjs just fine with it. | |||
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check out the bench at www.horstguns.com I have made three of them the past two years. They get borrowed by friends, who have troubles returning them. On the other hand, they shell out enough $$$ apiece to build two more. Rich It rides in the back of my Dodge Cummins. | |||
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Kevin, You sure drop some quid on rangefinders... I have the old style Geovid as well and love it; few rangefinders have such a narrow beam divergence. How do you like the Vectors? I thought about them, but knowing the range isn't my problem: it is holding for the wind. No rangefinder in the world helps with that, although I bet in the future someone will figure out how to look at phase shifts or something to measure wind. | |||
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AzWriter, You raise a good point, about the old Geovid's beam divergence. At 0.3 milliradians vertical, by 1.5 milliradians horizontal....it's the most narrow beam divergence of a commercially available unit, that I'm aware of. Interesting, in that it's been out for more than a few years. I've only been to the PD fields a couple of times with the Vectors, so far. The old Geovids are fully their equal with respect to rangefinding. The Vector 1500 GMD just has more functions, such as measuring to 0.5 yard, meter, or foot.....plus stuff, such as FOS (Fall-Of-Shot), a polar compass, and inclinometer. As for quid........let's just say that I received a SUPER deal. Besides....if you look at it as one of those "lifetime investments"......well...... And as for WIND!!......I learned more about windage in one morning of shooting PD's on the high plains of Texas.....than I did in years of reading about it. Then there's MIRAGE!!! Kevin | |||
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And sometimes the wind and mirage can actually be moving opposite directions! One time a guy spotting for me said that I hit exactly where the PD was sitting, but that the mirage made it look like he jumped over the approaching bullet! Doping wind is simple compared to aiming down a hallway lined with trick mirrors. | |||
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Kevin: I kind of specialize in writing about rangefinders, although I haven't written about them in a while. The next breakthrough will be using laser phase shifts to detect wind speeds. It is already in use in competitive sailing, but the units are extremely expensive and heavy (18 lbs). I knew it was possible in theory, but had no idea they existed until I googled it. I am contacting some of the companies to see if they would be interesting in bringing out a unit small enough to measure wind. I am guessing shooter would pay up to $4k for such a unit; I know I would. | |||
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Stonecreek: Mirage moves with wind. It is impossible for it not to. But to your point, it does displace the target. You can prove it by clamping a scope to a solid table. Aim it a spot on someone's roof in the morning. Check on the spot later in the day and see if doesn't move. Another reason I hate to see 1000 yard shots on deer... | |||
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Mirage typically moves with the wind. The main problem is that the wind doesn't move homogeneously between you and a target 300 or 400 yards away -- as bench shooters are keenly aware. The wind -- and the mirage -- can shift a couple of times in a few hundred yards, particularly if the terrain, or the cover on the terrain, varies significantly in a way that causes the sunlight striking it to be absorbed or reflected differently. Perhaps the most insidious mirage is that which you experience in dead calm air. That stuff dances and sways in a way that defies a shooter's most sophisticated aiming methods. Also, mirage will give the appearance of undulating up and down. Even though that prairie dog is obviously sitting still, he looks like he's bouncing between the stadia on your ranging reticle. The old standard advice to "hold into the mirage" is good advice as far as it goes, but mirage is even more variable than the wind which influences it; and while wind will greatly affect the path of the bullet, it is at least transparent and in the absence of mirage doesn't mess with the sight picture itself. | |||
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Okay, I agree. what you were saying is that the wind at your spot was blowing one way and the mirage was blowing another - indicating the wind was different downrange. Mirage may be a pain, but it does give you a "composite picture" of the wind. In AZ it is often difficult to see. I shot today at 750, 700, and 600 yards. I could barely see mirage; it was drifting to the right. My anemometer said 2-5 mph (it never blows steady like on Best of the West). I shot once at 750 yards with 6 clicks of wind; I hit about 8 inches to the right (not enough). I then moved to 700. Dialed in 6 clicks again (I was pretty sure that was the right hold) and hit just below the 3 inch circle i was aiming at. I then waited until it blew a bit harder, took out my windage, and used my mil-dot; held one dot into the wind, which is about 1 1/2 MOA on my scope when dialed up to 20X. I hit just to the left of my circle (missed by about 2 inches). I then moved to 600. The wind was blowing harder, or so I thought, so I dialed in 7 clicks. Hit 5 inches left of where I wanted (too much windage). All my shots were sitting with a bipod and shooting sling. | |||
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