Shooting positions when shooting from ground chairs

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SwiftyP

New member
I'm trying to use this summer to get better at shooting. I was very good growing up in the country shootin all the time, but now it's a production. Gathering everything up and going to my deer spot and all that..

Have yal seen videos about sitting positions or have you come up with little things that get ya more steady in the seats we all use. Care to share what you've identified that has tightened up your groups on longer shots?

I'm shooting off a Swagger that I've cut the springs out of.


Appreciate it.
 
If I set up sitting rather than standing using the tripod, I use a turkey chair. Very low profile, slighty reclining position. I rest the back of my left hand on top of left knee, is very steady.
 
If I'm shooting at one spot or at least a small area with little need for a radical position change a low turkey chair, two leg adjustable leg non-attached bipod, with great trigger. For me this is used shooting collony varmints

If I expect radical direction changes, coyote coming from an unexpected direction , 16-18" tall three leg stool, no back and cross-sticks. Predator hunting.
 
AWS said:
If I'm shooting at one spot or at least a small area with little need for a radical position change a low turkey chair, two leg adjustable leg non-attached bipod, with great trigger. For me this is used shooting collony varmints

If I expect radical direction changes, coyote coming from an unexpected direction , 16-18" tall three leg stool, no back and cross-sticks. Predator hunting.
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I'm typically in a SlyDog style foam seat on the ground with the back reclined at probably around 60 degrees. We hunt a lot of Kansas grass we need to get up above, but not much for obvious reasons.

I'm definitely going to spend the summer/fall shootin out of that. Maybe play with putting a little weight forward into the bipod or the inverse.
 
I use sticks for sitting or standing.
Grasp rifle sling and sticks in left hand (w/bolt gun) while pulling rifle snugly into shoulder with both hands provides an extremely solid platform.
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Cross sticks from standing not quite as solid windage wise as sitting due to the possibility of slight side to side movement of the body from offhand, but same technique of grasping sling and pulling sticks/rifle snugly toward shoulder, while leaning into the sticks slightly.
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I use a very low kid's camp chair sitting. With bolt gun grasp sling/sticks while pulling to rear, the same as offhand, but with an AR, I loop (all) my slings on sticks and let the rifle float on the sticks while pulling sticks and rifle firmly into shoulder w/both hands on pistol grip. Low chair (sitting on ground would work the same as the chair) allows placement of both elbows on knees, providing almost as stable position as bench rest.
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Sling loop all the more necessary on AR to prevent sticks from sliding out from under rifle.
 
SwiftyP
I’m sorry to hear you cut the springs off your swagger. I use a QD 42 swagger on all my hunting rifles, and in my opinion,the best system out there. Easily & quick to adjust. And very steady.
Use your off hand to pull back against your shoulder, like the manufacturer suggested, and they become rock solid.
I use them at the range standing with them on the bench to practice South Texas style shooting off sticks. I also use them sitting on every coyote stand I make. Don’t give up on the swaggers, a great product with a little practice.
 
bohunr said:
what ever position people choose, try not to rest your elbows on your knees. your bony elbow on top of your bony knee will just wobble :)
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Absolutely; proper position is a bit harder to describe, but elbo point just inside and a bit forward of the knee is best description I can come up with. Elbo bone contacting knee cap is not very stable due to loose skin on both the elbo and the knee cap.
This old, fat boy with a bit of middle age spread is finding the proper sitting position a lot harder than it was in my youth ;). The picture is about the closest I can manage at this point, fortunately the heavy winter coat tends to dampen the movement a bit 😂😂.
 
nothing wrong in that photo. i've used the same position and sticks to knock deer and groundhogs flat with my 30-06
 
Low turkey chairs or foam seats work great—keep your elbows just inside your knees, not directly on them. Load your bipod forward while pulling the stock into your shoulder to steady things up. Adding a rear support like a soft bag or rolled jacket can help tighten groups. Practicing from your actual hunting setup is key.
 
the guys have all given you great pointers for stability! I hunt at night and at this point in life I use either a swivel stool or swivel chair. I'm hunting over open fields giving me a range of further than I can accurately shoot. The swivel stool lets me pivot from around 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock (180 degrees). I've had many a coyote come in behind me as everyone knows. I'll pick up the tripod with left hand pivot, reset, and shoot. The swivel seat works great for both scanning and shooting. Or shoot in the standing position and kick back in the chair for a break, I hunt out East and my sets are longer.
 
ElkTracker38 said:
Low turkey chairs or foam seats work great—keep your elbows just inside your knees, not directly on them. Load your bipod forward while pulling the stock into your shoulder to steady things up. Adding a rear support like a soft bag or rolled jacket can help tighten groups. Practicing from your actual hunting setup is key
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Better description of position than I could muster. (y)
Adding a rear support
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A rear support makes position much more stable, no doubt when shooting off a table, but not very practical for (mobile) coyote hunting. I experimented with what I called "compound" sticks to provide a rear rest. My first attempt using 1/2" electrical conduit, as I recall was semi successful, but had to be careful of the "pinch points".:oops:
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Then, a PM member shared his results using para chord & driveway stakes. Can't find the thread, but I do have some pictures.
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They would be great, semi portable, sticks for shooting colony critters. I made a set using garden stakes, but they were a bit short and not quite stout enough to suit me. They really tightened groups, the short time I worked with them; held windage as good as a bench rest. A good back rest to prevent forward/back movement or learning to put more of a load on the sticks would have overcome that problem. They were great when hunting narrow openings, such as pipelines & senderos, but they were not easy to shift quickly in wide open area, so I went back to the old sticks.
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then my son ran across the commercial version an African outfitter is selling and gave me a set for Christmas.
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They were, heavier built and quickly adjustable, so of course even more stable than the home-made , custom (sounds better) sticks, but still takes a bit more time to swing and reposition than the old simple shooting sticks. Here's a 5 shot100 yard group w/BAR off short stool.

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Believe I could learn to control vertical stringing w/practice, but the fact that they were too slow to reposition in the field decided to dance w/the gal what brung me and went back to simple set of sticks.
 
Ya know, sitting here looking at those sticks, I had an epiphany💡. The solution to vertical stringing would be to add yet another set of sticks which pivot at the top, rather than the bottom, and reach forward to form another set of ground contacts. Side view would be: \/\ ;)😂😂
Mmmmm.....bench rest solid, but purty near impossible to shift for windage. 😂
 
my tripod i use for coyote hunting is solid and can also be used from a sitting position

here is a photo of my 30-06 snuggled into a bog pod deathgrip tripod, its not my coyote rig but one i sometimes use for deer.

IMG_2845.JPG
 
Gsjcky said:
SwiftyP
I’m sorry to hear you cut the springs off your swagger. I use a QD 42 swagger on all my hunting rifles, and in my opinion,the best system out there. Easily & quick to adjust. And very steady.
Use your off hand to pull back against your shoulder, like the manufacturer suggested, and they become rock solid.
I use them at the range standing with them on the bench to practice South Texas style shooting off sticks. I also use them sitting on every coyote stand I make. Don’t give up on the swaggers, a great product with a little practice.
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I have a couple of em should I wanna revert. The pendulum effect when I had to move to freehand was bothering me as well. It's all what works for the user. I will try their method you suggested. Might have to switch back.

Appreciate your response man!
 


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