Predator Rifle Setups

[Chamacat]

OK...I'm hooked...I'm having a blast literally...I been shoot em with 12 gauge shotguns loaded down with #4 Buckshot..when they are in my face..I'm really surprised that there is not that much fur damage...OK....BUT...When I have dogs out from 150 yards and under...I want to ask of you guys about how your rifles are set up as far as bipods/tripods/shooting sticks..and what not..I have been using stony point shooting sticks and they kinda are a hassle..If i got to change direction a bit to make the shot..I have to move the rifle AND hold the sticks...So I'm keeping a eye on the dog and the shooting sticks sometimes split apart and the rifle then becomes not at the elevation they were before the screams...But it's what i got now...then if I don't use the sticks and the dog comes in and i shoot in the kneeling position I can see me crosshairs moving on a standing dog at 75 yards and it takes all I have to hold on the coyote...I want to ask of you guys does all of your varmit rifles have bipods?what brand? what's best for you? If you use bipods what kind of sitting arrangement do you do? Do you sit on the ground or do you sit on a stool?..If you do use a bipod..what is the height of rifle in your shootin position...I bought a book by Gerry Blair called "Predator Calling" 2nd edition...And have learned some..but the field has taught me alot already...So in a nutshell..I'm asking how you are set up with your rifle and your body..before the scream...Carl

[SteveCraig]

Carl,
I hate bi-pods. I went to a mono-pod from Cabellas and have never looked back. Due to the length of my Lion calling stands, and Clients not wanting to sit still for an hour, I also went to those little folding chairs from Wally world. The ones without the arms on them, but still have 4 legs. Now I will not hunt without one. They will sit on the level or on a hillside with no problem. Keep you a little higher off the ground for seeing critters, and you sit confortable, which means sitting STILL.I use the mono-pod with them and can hit comfortably out to 300 yards. For an even steadier shot, I simply lean the mono-pod against one leg and it then acts as a bi-pod allowing me even further shooting. It also allows for easy shooting in any direction with little movement. I have used this setup now for over 15 years. Only wore out one mono-pod this past season.
Give it a try
Steve

[trappincoyotes39]

Harris bi pod swivel model much more steady than a mono pod IMO. I don't pack chairs, I use the ground to lay on when possible or heavy shooting sticks and sitting, but a prone positon is preffered when ever possible, lower siloutte and a more steady shot. I can lay on the ground for quite awhile. I pick spots I can see the furthest from that stand location and use shadows when possible if I need to sit on stand.

[lb]

A cure for the urge to lie on the ground in the desert is anything from cactus spines, ants, scorpions, rattle snakes etc. No thanks.

[trappincoyotes39]

LB we have cactus, rattlers and ants just no scorpions LOL. We have black widows as well, just need to look before you lay down LOL. I have been hit with the ants and cactus been lucky to avoid the rattlers to this point!

[JHughes]

Prone won't work on 90% of my stands due to terrain. I wouldn't be able to see 20 feet, even if I were being pickey on stand selection. And I'm with leonard on the prickley stuff. Not all of us have open prairie to lay down in. Must be nice. Shooting sticks for me. In seated position.

[trappincoyotes39]

Yes having a wide view can be nice but can be a disadvantage as the coyotes can see further to.

[garman]

I have not predator hunted for a few years and most of the time spot and stalk, but I always liked laying down the best and could shoot the best from that position, but I can shoot fair out to about 150 yds sitting. Just prefer laying down with harris swiveling bipods.

[lb]

Me and Joel have probably tried lying prone a time or two, but it is amazing how innocent looking sand can contain a lot of shed cactus spines, far from the source. They stay sharp and hidden and wicked; especially teddybear cholla. Just clearing a spot to sit can get you a little souvenir in your finger that can last all day. That is the biggest risk, the creepy crawlies are not all that bad, except the ants, of course! No, I stay off the ground, if at all possible. But, I can't argue with prone; as a shooting position, it's the best.

Good hunting. LB

[borderbandit]

The few times Ive been prone on a stand, it's not the pokey things that get me, it's the kink in my neck, worst possible position I can think of for coyote hunting. I finally tossed the sticks, this winter Im back to elbows on knees, and Im back to wacking them like I used to. The sticks cost me more coyotes than they bought me, for I mentally could not toss them when getting on a mover,and them get twisted up in the shot, I do just fine with elbows. Always a stool, I don't sit on the ground but about one out of a hundred stands, much more comfortable and allows one not to fidget from being uncomfortable.

[trappincoyotes39]

I have shot on a nice set of stiff sticks to 420 or so and killled coyotes but laying down is rock solid add a accu pod and you have a very solid setup.

[lb]

Different places. Down by Vic, excuse me, borderbandit! There is not a lot of cactus, and it's usually flat, basically. A chair really helps. But many places in CA and NV, there is always a hill and a nice rock to sit on, you don't need a chair, at all. I used to carry a rolled up piece of plastic to sit on when those rocks were cold and/or wet.

Also, I have shot off my knees and elbows forever, but the past three years, I have been using three different shooting sticks. I can't say that I am really comfortable with them, either.

I can see where a Harris bipod would be better than my shaky sticks, but that added weight is a nonstarter, for me.

Good hunting. LB

[17HMR]

I went from the harris swiveled back to my home made sticks, I think its all what you get used to.

[SteveCraig]

"but laying down is rock solid add a accu pod and you have a very solid setup. "

TC...
You have obviously never hunted in AZ. I can only think of a couple places I could lay down( and I have) here. The other 99.9% you would be hard pressed to see 5 feet, if that far. The grass, cactus, brush, rocks is simply too high to see over. My average shot distance is only 50 yards for most stands. A 300 yard shot is really a rarity. Heck 200 yarders are few and far between.
I, like Vic ,shoot off my knees and elbows, with the chair, and if in an area where a longer shot might be taken, then i use the mono-pod as I described above.
The chair is not a burden to carry, as most of the time I am only walkiing a few yards from the truck. Even for lion stands. If I am in a more tight situation with heavy brush, then I use a shotgun and I prefer to stand up anyway, and leave the chair in the truck.
I can see why you can lay down in your area, and I would do the same if in that habitat. Kansas type stuff, would be the same I would think, depending on what part of Kansas you were in.
FWIW

[mostinterestingmanintheworld]

I can't hardly imagine laying down in my country. Sitting on a chair is almost as hard. I'm 6'3" and already stick up above a lot of the brush.

I used Bill Ilchiks old bipod made out of dowels this fall on an elk hunt and think I'll go back to that. I hate the clink clank of metal bipods. Wood is nice. Maybe a wood mono pod?

[lb]

What we have here, is different stuff requires different methods.

A short story. Down at the end of this road was a small pond and a pile of gravel. I climbed to the top of the gravel with the pond right below me, lying prone and facing west while the sun was rising behind me. My machine was on the far side and the end of the pond to my right, but still not more than fifty yards away. There were some mud flats for another fifty yards and then very heavy brush, mostly mesquite. I could have laid in that comfortable position all day long, but as luck would have it, I didn't need to.

From my left, about ten o'clock, a coyote trotted out of the brushline and headed straight towards the speaker. Perhaps I'm not as good as I thought I was or I was distracted by the single file line of coyotes behind this first guy, so by the time I woke up and got on the lead coyote, I rushed the shot and missed him clean. After that, it was a shooting gallery. Nine coyotes milling around like the keystone cops, chinese firedrill, pinball machine, whatever?

I don't think they knew where to run, all of them watching each other, more like a bunch of cows? After I missed the first one, I had more rounds in the magazine, but I used them up and thereafter, I was digging cartridges out of my pocket one at a time. Wound up killing six of the nine and I think the first one was also the last, as he was sneaking away far to my right at the base of a good size Palo Verde. Actually, my son killed one of them that came around to his side, but we really mopped them up that morning.

Never did that well before or since. I have seen (oh) five coyotes single file a number of times, and I have seen more than that on a stand, spaced out and coming from different directions before, and I have killed four on a stand a few times, but that particular stand was the highwater mark, for me. And, it was done prone, with no sticks or bipods.

I told this story on the old Shade Tree and a well known trapper from NY said I was full of it, coyotes don't act that way. He has relocated and frequents this board. I wonder if he still doubts my story? I asked my son about it, once; hey remember that stand at the gravel pit? His response was...."I thought there was ten?"

Good hunting. LB

[lb]

I meant to comment on what Vic said about shooting prone, especially on level ground. It does irritate the neck, in most cases, sometimes a lot. I have a bad neck from an old whiplash and it is never comfortable for me. LB

[trappincoyotes39]

I have called timber and I know laying down bad idea, I'm glad here we can lay down and lower the profile due to the pressure applied, it does help that and good camo and using the "shade" makes things fun and many times close, even thought you can see for 2 miles in spots.

Just stating long range shots and prone is the best bet where applicable. I don't worry about the creepy crawlys much, rattlers don't bother me unless I don't know their there until the buzzing starts then I get a little jumpy LOL.

[FWS]

Anybody ever use a tripod ? The full sized variety, but lightweight.

Very useful as a rest to shoot from whilst complying with state regs on using lights, which must be handheld or worn on the head. Allows you to hold the light, while holding some part of the tripod and rest the rifle on your wrist. You can turn, twist, move up or down.

Practicing with your rifle from various positions is probably the most important factor. I do 'sporting clays' kinda version of practicing with rifles for field shooting.

With gray fox and bobcat silhouettes cut out of sheet metal, like an old dryer, and made into swingers or screwed to wood grade stakes. Set at various ranges, uphill, downhill, etc.

Sitting, kneeling, offhand, rested, standing up and turning............

[Furhvstr]

I am seeing a trend here... Older, wiser and maybe rounder are using stools/chairs. Maybe I will try one in 10-15 yrs.

Carl- Over time you will become better at setting up ready to shoot in the direction most likely for a critter to approach and consequently you will need less range of motion from your set up.

I sit on my butt and either wrap the rifle sling around my arm military style or I use an unattatched bipod with telescoping legs(forget the make and model). Just fine for me on 10-15 min. coyote stands. I have a sitting pad for cold wet stuff.

ML