Outdoors With Kevin Fox: The Necessity of Shooting Sticks

The buck suddenly appeared on the path that ran below me along a dry creek bed. Sometimes that’s what deer do — one minute there’s nothing to see, and the next there’s a deer standing there. If the buck continued on the way he was walking, he would come to within more than 50 yards of me. If I had been using a different gun, I would have already taken the shot.

However, I wasn’t using just any rifle. Lying across my lap was my Thompson/ Center Hawken black‑powder rifle, loaded with 60 grains of fffg powder topped by a 220‑grain T.C. Maxi‑Ball. The rifle was equipped with an aftermarket classic buckhorn rear sight and a gold bead front sight.

The buck was no monster, but I was still nervous as it continued toward me. I slowly raised the rifle to my shoulder and set the rear target trigger. Prior to doing this, I had set the forearm of the gun and its heavy octagon barrel into the fork of a set of homemade shooting sticks I had made a month or so before.

When the deer walked into the open from behind a tree, it paused — for who knew what reason — and my rifle and sights were steady on the buck’s shoulder. I touched the set trigger. The buck disappeared behind a veil of smoke but made a circle that would have taken it back to where it was standing when I pulled the trigger. Or at least it would have, if it had made it that far. In fact, the farther it ran, the lower it got, and it piled up perhaps 20 yards from where it had been standing.

Could I have made the shot offhand? Probably. There was a time when I was fairly accurate with the setup. But with the shooting sticks, I was very steady, and when the buck stopped, I knew it was in serious trouble. This may have been my first experience with shooting sticks, but it was far from my last.

A Second Use on a

Squirrel Hunt

I ended up using those same shooting sticks on a squirrel stalk a couple of weeks later. Normally I rest my Browning BLR .22 against the nearest tree, but with the sticks, I simply spread the legs open and rested the rifle’s forearm for a steady rest instead of sneaking to the nearest tree.

The shooting sticks were easy to make. I cut two straight hickory saplings about six feet long. I drilled a hole about a foot down from the top of each and bolted them together with a wing nut. That’s how I carried them — like a walking stick. Once in the woods and putting the sneak on a squirrel, I loosened the wing nut just enough so I could spread the legs apart to make a solid base — but not so loose that they were “loosey‑goosey.”

If you want a set of shooting sticks that don’t look as though Fred Flintstone made them, there are countless factory‑made models. Any sporting goods store, or any store with a sporting goods department, will have them for sale.

Old Ways, New Tools

There was a time before deer‑hunting condos — of which I have one so I can tell on myself — when it was customary to sit on the ground or on a bucket with your back to a tree. It wasn’t as much fun as sitting in a lawn chair or office chair, but we felt a little closer to the game animals. During those times, I used anything I could find to steady my rifle: fence posts, gates, even a deck railing on my hunting cabin.

My grandson’s first turkey came off a set of H.S. Strut shooting sticks, as well as resting his gun on my forearm. I remember watching the end of his shotgun barrel weaving back and forth from nerves and cold.

In the corner of my garage, I have a birch limb with a fork at one end. I was hunting black bear in Saskatchewan with a female guide who took me out to put up a new stand for the evening hunt. When she got the stand up, she realized the shooting rail was back at the lodge. She was a contestant on a survival series and, without a doubt, the toughest guide that week. She cursed her forgetfulness, took her axe and cut off the limb, then cut the fork out that I would rest my rifle in. I climbed up in the stand, and with wire, she fastened the shooting stick to the proper height. It worked great — so well, in fact, that when I came home, that shooting stick came home with me.

In my backpack, I now carry a set of collapsible shooting sticks that came in a small pouch. They take up very little room, so I have no excuse to leave them at home.

Of course, when you’re hunting out of a deer shack, you can rest your rifle on the window frame if you choose. Still, shooting sticks are inexpensive, and I normally have a set under the truck seat that I say are for my grandson — but I use them as well.

Another African Story

As I said, over the years I’ve used just about anything imaginable to steady my rifle. Once in Africa I was hunting with my daughter for an impala. We had driven a way when, suddenly behind us among the “wait‑a‑minute” thorns, a nice impala stood up. There was no time to grab the shooting sticks.

My professional hunter confirmed it was a good old impala and that I should take him. A fellow hunter, Gabe, who was riding with us — along with his wife, Sarah — jumped out of the back of the truck. I rested my rifle over his shoulder. He told me he would take a couple of deep breaths and hold it steady. It worked perfectly. Although it was my longest shot of the week at about 130 yards — and impala are not very big — thanks to Gabe, I took my final trophy of the week.

Back to Africa … and Shooting Sticks

Speaking of Africa — I seem to be thinking about it a lot lately — a professional hunter there really only has two things he will not leave the lodge without: quality binoculars around his neck and shooting sticks in the truck. Most African shooting sticks have three legs, with one leg extending forward for support as you lean into your rifle. They work great, and it takes very little practice to become proficient with them.

Lately, at least for the professional hunters with African Trophy Pursuit, beside the shooting fork there is another forked leg that leans back toward the hunter so they can rest the back of the rifle in that fork. This makes it even steadier.

This weekend I will be cutting a couple more hickory legs to make a new set of shooting sticks in preparation for a trip to the dark continent later this year.