I am going Caribou hunting in Alaska this fall. I would like thoughts about and suggestions regarding shooting sticks and/or bipods attached to my rifle.
Thanks

You won't really need them unless you are used to them, I would not put a bipod on the rifle you'll be on the tundra, and mostly tussoks which is soft anyway, if anything go with some light weight "Pole Cats" it also depends on what position your comfortable shooting, I've never had a problem finding a way to brace myself.

Agree, every caribou I shot has been from a prone ambush position with tussocks or backpack as a rest

The stoney point ,safari sticks work great in the collaspible style ,they come with a belt strap and are lightweight. they also work great for a walking stick,when needed, good luck

You my find this Link to the European Forum useful

i usually tell my clients not to bring them, its never funny when they set them up and the animal moves, so they pick them up to move as well and they stick i the ground and pull apart, do it all the time in the tundra.
use the backpack...or whatever else is handy. not worth the extra hastle in my experience.

I've used a bipod, for Pronghorn. I've used shooting sticks in Africa. In your application, I would use neither.

If you look carefully midway across the antlers you can see a pair of home made shooting sticks laying on the ground. Took 2 48 inch long dowels and tied them together 6 inches from the end with some para cord. Works well in the short brush for a sitting or kneeling shot when prone won't work.

clamp on bipods make rifles heavy and as most have pointed out are usually un-necessary. I have discovered that the lightweight stony point collapsable shooting sticks often are worth their weight and have had numerous clients use them to take game that they otherwise probably wouldn't have.

Another vote for Stoney Point. I like the tripod type.

Had a hunt pal get disgusted with the SLing Stix type shooting sticks he brought on our SE AK blackie hunt. Walking a game trail (brush, alders & devils club) to a big meadow, his sticks kept falling out of the sling storage pocket. After the 3rd day of hangups, he took care of the issue by fist administering some verbal thrashing to the sticks, then proceeded to ripping them out of the pocket and chucking them in the trees. (he picked em' up on the way back to camp in the pm & ended up chucking em' in the camp trash pile.)

These collapsible type sticks may have some use in open caribou terrain.

Look great on the old outdoor channel, no fuss, no muss... not that great in the thick stuff.

p.e. n' sitka

I've never used shooting sticks but I can certainly see where they could come in handy, like Africa or open plains hunting in the lower 48. If your hunting open tundra which is generally where you find caribou, they could come in handy if you don't mind carrying them around plus they could make good walking sticks when in the tussocks.

I'm with m70-nut on this. To me, nothing speaks of "nimrod" like somebody with a purchased walking stick or a bipod attatched to their rifle. I'm directing my comments solely to Alaskan hunting here. I DO highly recommend a walking stick in the open country and have never had a problem finding some type in the bush that will suffice. When we hunt open country, I attach my rifle across my packboard with quick release nylon straps and use my walking stick. You would be quite surprised at how fast you can be at throwing off your pack and unsnapping the straps to get at your rifle. The last time we hunted the North Slope, I cut 2 saplings from in front of my house & we took them with us. I've still got them and we'll take 'em next time we go north.
Just my experiences. Bear in Fairbanks

I personally never leave home on a hunt without my walking / shooting stick.
Its nothing fancy, just an eye high piece of hickory with a rubber cane end stuck on the end.
I have used this as a rest to shoot a lot of game, as well as helping my torn up knees down a mountainside.
It is amazing how useful a shooting aid a simple walking stick can be.
It is fantastic for a sitting or kneeling shot, and works darn well even for a standing shot.
Someones comments about a stick sinking into tundra though made me wonder how a ski pole tip would work on the end of one for that country.

If you have the luxury of an animal coming to you or have time with a completely unaware animal they are great. But if you try to use them everytime they will be a nuisance and a few easy shots will be messed up. This year I used a BOG pod a bit more for glassing than anything else.

I use Cabelas monopod I keep it extended and use it as a walking stick