Shooting sticks

[outdoor ran]

Anyone have any ideas for homemade shooting sticks. Really don't want to go buy one. Camera tripod would be a little heavy and bulky Thanks for the advice.

[TrophyEyes]

You can get shooting sticks for pretty cheep. I always just rest my gun on my stand, tree or backpack. I hate carrying them. Small collapsible tent poles would work tied together.

[picksbigwagon]

do the usual internet searches, I know there are a lot of do it yourself hunting projects out there on line

[Boar]

I do like a camera tri pod, I made my own cradle to mount, in place of the camera, a piece of 2" metel pipe cut length wise, about a third of the circumference, It's about 4 inches long, I welded a nut that fits the base that you attach to the camera an it slips into the tripod. Now I sit in my pop up, my gun sits nicely in the cradle I can adjust the hieght an pivot very smoothly side to side. I attach a sling to carry it back an forth to stand. Very handy. Boar

[mechanictim]

Cheapest and yet still functunal shootingsticks I have seen were made from a 10' piece of 1/2" emt conduit cut in half, with an O-ring to held them together. Spray painted any flat color the total cost is less than $5.00, if you spend <$2.50 on the paint. Make sure the O-ring is slightly tensioned when sliding over the two pieces of conduit and just slide the O-ring to whatever height is needed.

If you are worried about scratching the finish on a wood foreend for your rifle just slip an old piece of camo t-shirt sleeve over the forend of the rifle to keep the wood from rubbing the sticks.

[Eye Slayer]

I know you said you don't want to buy one, but Cabela's, Gander, etc have a monopod for around $15-20 if you look for them. I prefer a monopod because it is much easier to find flat ground for one anchor point than it is for 2. And you don't lose any stability because your legs or your body is the second or third anchor point providing the necessary stability.

The other value in the purchased monopods vs. homemade is that the purcahsed onse are telescopic so you can adjust the height to fit your stand, ground blind, or other hunting position.

Good luck - the monopod is probably one of the top 5 most valuable things I have ever purchased for deer hunting - the additional stability gives me confidence that my shot will be well placed and offer a humane kill.