Shooting - Prone or sticks?

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SJS

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Being of a certain age I’m not inclined towards lying down on the ground using a bipod anymore when out at night bunny bashing in case I get comfortable and fall asleep.
Therefore I use shooting sticks and stand, but, I do feel that my aim isn’t as good as it would be if I assumed the prone position.
Am I at a disadvantage using sticks is prone any better a trajectory for quarry at ground level using 177? It’s something that has puzzled me for a while because I’ve had so many misses, so much so that I’ve invested in a Zulus V2 with ballistics but have yet to use it in earnest.
May be I should just sell the guns and put the money into a care home fund and find a nice one where they’ll let me ping a bell or something out of my room window.
 
Maybe try your sticks from a seated position if they lower that far?
I bought sticks recently Primos gen 3 and they will allow you to kneel or use a seat and still use them. My aim isn’t that great either standing up with sticks but I will keep practicing 👍🏻you might have to except doing your shooting from a hide, where you can set it up to cater for whatever works best for you. Getting old is a bummer!😂
 
SJS said:
Being of a certain age I’m not inclined towards lying down on the ground using a bipod anymore when out at night bunny bashing in case I get comfortable and fall asleep.
Therefore I use shooting sticks and stand, but, I do feel that my aim isn’t as good as it would be if I assumed the prone position.
Am I at a disadvantage using sticks is prone any better a trajectory for quarry at ground level using 177? It’s something that has puzzled me for a while because I’ve had so many misses, so much so that I’ve invested in a Zulus V2 with ballistics but have yet to use it in earnest.
May be I should just sell the guns and put the money into a care home fund and find a nice one where they’ll let me ping a bell or something out of my room window.
Click to expand...
If you stand, sit or go prone ..... Trajectory of a pellet on its way is governed by the same drop . The only difference in this is wind drift as the wind . Contours, cut throughs etc etc can effect wind drift but shooting at say 35 yards it will be negligible unless your in high winds Sorry if i mistake your issue correctly .
Learning to buck the wind well takes time to learn, practice . and stalking in closer does mean the shots are easier than anything
 
I use a monopod style shooting stick, it saves on weight and it's steady enough for close range rat work without having to worry about the space of opening a tripod setup out
 
SJS said:
Being of a certain age I’m not inclined towards lying down on the ground using a bipod anymore when out at night bunny bashing in case I get comfortable and fall asleep.
Therefore I use shooting sticks and stand, but, I do feel that my aim isn’t as good as it would be if I assumed the prone position.
Am I at a disadvantage using sticks is prone any better a trajectory for quarry at ground level using 177? It’s something that has puzzled me for a while because I’ve had so many misses, so much so that I’ve invested in a Zulus V2 with ballistics but have yet to use it in earnest.
May be I should just sell the guns and put the money into a care home fund and find a nice one where they’ll let me ping a bell or something out of my room window.
Click to expand...
I'd no more shoot ( unnecessarily) off my belly as I'd take a lick in the ' nads with an axe handle...not a fan of stix either. Shoot FT style off your knee.👍 Three point contact for stability & keep you up outta the grass, to boot.
 
Shooting sticks aren't as steady as prone position shooting so accuracy might suffer until you've mastered the sticks. There's no shortcut to practicing.
I find a good tripod with a good ballhead steadier than sticks but not as mobile or quick to deploy.
 
I have to admit I'm rather surprised that given the prevalence of PCP use for hunting, that no one uses a proper shooting sling instead of all the other encumbrances...
A model 1907, " looped up" is pretty dang stable & hangs yer gun off a shoulder whilst opening gates & such, too. I can, with near zero effort, be " looped up" with an ' 07, attached to my ' 03 Springfield & with only my off hand, keep a shoulder contact & hold a ~ 9 lb. rifle on point " all day" with no effort...
 
All our HFT bods are using sticks, and the scores have gradually improved over the last three months or so.

They take some getting used to, and are better with a ball head and "U" clamp on the top.

I played around with the leg position,(one or two to the front etc,), my leg position, (some good videos on YouTube), hand position and breathing / relaxing cycle.

I also have the trigger set VERY light.

I am now not far off as accurate with them as I would be sitting at a bench and using a bag to rest on.

Great bit of kit, which without it we would not have such an active HFT group.
 
I think if you’re still getting a clean dispatch, who cares? If that is in doubt then it’s just an excuse for more practise!!!
 
I have a nice sit down on a chair and shoot off an old camera tripod with an ebay gun clamp on it.

I've not missed a squirrel this year. (approx 20)
 
Some good replies there chaps - thanks.
I should also add that I’m a recent convert from traditional ‘lamping’ to night vision scope. Used to have good results in the traditional way using a red lens. The Alpex 4 adds a lot of weight to my Vixen, maybe that’s got something to do with it too. Hopefully the Zulus might work better. I’m also thinking about using the HW100 instead of the Vixen in case it’s to do with the bottle stock and shroud arrangement of the Vixen not being my thing. May have to set the new V2 Zulus up on the 100KT 177
and see how it goes, in fact that is definitely my plan. Soldiering on!
 
The main problem people have with sticks when standing is the lateral instability (wobble) of the shooter, rather than the intersection of the rifle/sticks. Lateral instability can be overcome but it takes practice and adjusting your position until you find something that works for you.

Canting of the rifle can also be an issue affecting your poi.

If you are still struggling with wobble then I would suggest purchasing a decent pair of Quad sticks. They are the most stable as the butt support helps to take out this lateral instability so only the vertical placement is at play. I have the Viper-flex quad sticks with the additional clip on 5th leg so I regular use them as a tripod setup to practice the lateral instability, but for hunting I sometimes employ the quad support for ultimate stability.

I would also recommend you to practice standing offhand shooting as it is a very similar stance to behind the sticks. Just a five/ten minute session on a regular basis will help to strengthen your body and can even be done at home as a dry fire exercise. Chris @chouchin66 is a big advocate for this and is something that has helped my stick shooting.
 
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Battery said:
Shooting sticks aren't as steady as prone position shooting so accuracy might suffer until you've mastered the sticks. There's no shortcut to practicing.
I find a good tripod with a good ballhead steadier than sticks but not as mobile or quick to deploy.
Click to expand...
If your permission does not require too much moving around I agree a decent solid tripod with a good ball head is much more stable. I have found that unless the ground and vegetation is favourable you go through the faff of lying down only to find the target is no longer visible.
 
When using my tripod I leave the gun attached via the arca rail, rest the gun on my shoulder and hold the legs in my hand to walk around. Nice and quick if you need to set ready for a shot. It feels quicker than sticks, whether it is or not I don't know.
 
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As I’m stuck in my wheelchair prone is no no, but love my Primos Gen III sticks👍🤓
 
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All good info lads thanks. I must say I’ve not practised the standing shot as much as I probably should have nor using the stick so I’ll work on that. The mention of gun cant or angle is another good point and problem I may indeed not have been conscious of. DNT Zulus has a row of lights along the bottom when looking through it and tells you what angle the setup is at so that’s a useful feature which might also help. Work in progress!
 
just started using Bushwear quad sticks, really stable, have primos trigger stick, but find quad sticks much better (once you practice ), also use the "footstring" in place of 5th leg
 
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