SmallCaliberCentral

I notice most of you fellers shoot from a bench in the field. I only shoot from sticks as does my shooting buddy. We are exclusive to the Kalifornia ground squirrel and since those guys don't like sittin still for any appreciable period of time, it makes me wonder how you track your prey when out shooting from a bench? Does it help you with keeping your sight pic when shooting from a bench?

I also shoot off sticks and/or off hand, depending on the type of animal I am hunting. As for the bench and/or off the hood of the jeep. I mostly shoot N.E. California and ground squirrels in the meadows and fields. It does not take much to shift slightly and get on target, they do hand around, come up and down and settle down whereby I can make a hit. Never in a hurry, so it really does not matter. That is my take and style any way. Bill K

I prefer to shoot off of bi-pods. A little raised ground makes for a perfect vantage point to shoot in all directions....We move around to much to lug benches everywhere.

Zeus wrote:I prefer to shoot off of bi-pods. A little raised ground makes for a perfect vantage point to shoot in all directions....We move around to much to lug benches everywhere.

I shoot off a bi-pod too. After a while my neck starts to hurt. So I got this bench. It's great. I can pack all my stuff everywhere and then set up shop for a while. Shooting and moving is very easy.

That's a nice set up you have there! Where did you get it?

It's the Voyager model by Shooters Ridge. I bought it at a local outdoors store. I'm sure you could track one down on the world wide web. I've enjoyed shooting off it. Getting antsy for the upcoming sage rat season!

If the primary varmint is the PD or ground squirrel, shooting from a rotating bench is the only way to go. If you get tired of shooting from the bench, stick on your bipod and go for a 'walkabout'.

Shooting from a portable bench (mine are 'vehicle served') gets you up off the ground and gives a much better view of downrange and if shooting in alfalfa, lets you see the little buggers in the foilage. The hot setup is a rotating bench, as it allows you to get on the target no matter the angle from your rifle. Once you shoot from one, you'll never, ever go back to the stiff neck gained from laying on your belly all day. The degree of long range precision that can be gained from sitting at a bench rivals that of any shooting range. Add the ability of being able to acquire your target with rock-solid steadyness from virtually any angle almost immediately is icing on the cake.

Lucky for us, we set up our benches in the morning and usually never move....the shooting is that good. But it's always nice to put on the bipod and take a walkabout to explore 'over the hill' or visit fellow shooters.

There are many field benches, but I'm a bit biased towards the BR Pivot, here it's the BR Pivot Lite. Resting atop is my Cooper M38 VR in .20 VarTarg...pure venomous death to Skippy and his pals, all the way out to the 500 yard marker (but there's always a 20R resting nearby):



I shot from a bipod for many years until I got purty dang tired of a stiff neck for days after the shoot. As I spend up to 60 days a year shooting squirrels, I'd be paralyzed by now if I was still laying on the ground shooting these little critters.

In the end, it's what you can come up with or afford, but even shooting from bags across the hood of the truck beats laying on the ground all day. Besides, have you ever noticed the huge amount of territory you can see when you stand up after laying down for a few hours? I may put on my bipod and take a walkabout, but if you're shooting colony rodents such as squirrels or PD's, you'll end up with a bench eventually, your neck will be the determining factor.

My setup is the result of a 40+ year passion of accurate rifles and the ground squirrel; it may not be the panacea of rat shooting, but to me at least, it comes close.

(I'm not even going into shooting PD's laying prone and dealing with cactus spines, rattlesnakes, red ants, etc.)

Plus one for what RIO says. For a lot of years, we would shoot out the windows of the truck, or off the hood. I really got tired of the 22 rim fire empties rattling around in my defrost vents. Anyone who has shot out the pickup window, with a 10-22, knows what I am talking about. Before I got hooked up with RIO, I bought a 360* pivot bench from Cabelas. Been using that bench for over 12 yrs now, and it has served me very well over the years. I did put a new top on the bench about 3 yrs ago, designed by myself, for more comfortable shooting. If I had known about the bench that Rick was making and selling at the time, now the Bench Rest pivot, I would have bought the BR pivot from him

I would also add that I don't really surf the web for products very often, so I didn't know about, or hear about the BR Pivot. I met RIO here on the forum about 6 or 7 years ago, and met him in person a couple years after.

Here's how my buddy and I shoot. I reckon we're still a bit redneck.

Here's a couple of the critters we got that day using sticks.

I shoot mostly as I posted prior. But I must add, that I use a bipod and walk about alot, especially for rabbit busting. I also got tired of the prone ground position, for many of the listed reasons. So a bench is the best overall. But, I like all of you, will shoot however the situation requires along with time limits, etc. No one will or can fault what ever you use. We all enjoy our sport, watching those varmints explode/fly and do ariel events....smile.. Bill K

jrwoitalla wrote:Here's how my buddy and I shoot. I reckon we're still a bit redneck.

Thats what I did last year because the weather was so crappy, setting up a bench was futile. So, we "walkabout" with 17 HMR's and 22 LR's. Kinda neat but distance shots are pretty hard, just too much movement, IMO.

HTH

My last Praire Dog shoot (2010),I used A flolding bench (The Great Bench),no longer made,but it is not as handy as a Pivoting bench would be.This year ,my shooting parterner and I, will be shooting from SxS carts with a portable shooting table on the right side seat.Mine is a Club Car electric with a lift kit,large Mud tires and small PU box in the rear.I installed a bar across the front roof supports to level a 20" x 4'(tapered) board with a wide foot on the aft end,setting on the seat.Can't post pics,but can email some, to anyone interested.
jmo45acp@gmail.com

Joked about taking my bass boat out from which to shoot. While up on the trailer, we'd sit 5ft up, on nice comfy, swivel seats, a cooler and carpeting at our feet. When we're done shootin for the day, just put everything in the lockboxes, and we're good to go. Heck, if we're in the mood, just keep a goin on up the hill and back er into the lake. What more could a feller ask for out of a day? Caint git no more redneck than that there

I was lucky enough to purchase one of the original BR Pivot Lite benches when RIO was still making them. Also got the Ox bags to stow the parts. I love the bench, BUT you definitely need a good supply of wiling targets to make it worth the setup or at the very least easy drive up access. Unfortunately, the PD shooting hasn't been the best the past couple of trips, but we are looking to change that this year.

I've also contemplated building a trailer with post receptacles in it so a guy could pop in a BR pivot post and not mess with legs etc. This would be a pretty sweet setup if I could run my Polaris Ranger out in the killing fileds...