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Craig Boddington's Adventure Blog

African Shooting Sticks
Learn to use them before you go on safari.

Most hunting techniques developed for good reason. For instance, baiting is the most common technique for leopards because it greatly increases the opportunity to see these mostly nocturnal predators. Sitatunga are usually hunted from elevated platforms—machans—because this is the best way to see down into their watery haunts. In Africa the most common shooting technique is to shoot standing, rested across three sticks joined at the top to form a tripod.

A tripod is generally steadier than a bipod, although the farther you get from the ground the less steady you are. However, in the African bush the standing tripod or “shooting sticks” works extremely well. It was developed over time, and is in almost universal use among African professional hunters today. Like most techniques, it developed for good reasons. Primary is the typical African bush. The closer you can get to the ground you the steadier you are, but in Africa you usually need a bit of height to shoot over the grass and low bush. I have taken many animals in many lands while shooting lying down, either a classic prone position with a hasty sling, or prone with my rifle over a daypack or a handy rock or fallen log. In all the time I’ve spent hunting in Africa, an aggregate of several years, I can readily recall only one instance when I took a shot from a prone position.

There have been other times when I’ve used “standard” field positions such as sitting, kneeling, and standing; and many times when I’ve taken a rest against something handy and solid, like a tree or rock or termite mound. The number of times I’ve used these positions probably exceeds the number of times I’ve used shooting sticks—but I’m sure the sticks have been the single most-used shooting position. Again, they allow you to see over grass and low bush. Even if the ground cover allows a lower position, almost everything in Africa has thorns, and there are bugs (and worse) that bite. You have to look carefully before plopping yourself down.

Shooting sticks are also very fast, and especially so in the African context. You and me as the hunting clients are almost always hunting with a tracker and a professional hunter. Typically the lead tracker will carry the shooting sticks, and if you and your PH go forward alone to complete a stalk he will usually take the sticks. When game is spotted within range the sticks are set up by merely spreading the legs apart and ground the tips. The man carrying them steps to the side, and all you need to do is step forward and rest your rifle across the top.

It really is as easy as it sounds, and it can be very steady. Except, like all shooting techniques, practice is required and there are pitfalls. The primary consideration is getting the height correct for you. I like the juncture of the sticks to be just below throat level, so that I can spread my feet and lean slightly forward into the sticks. If they are set up too high then you must stand tippy-toed and you lose all stability. Too low and you must hunch over the rifle unnaturally.

The other primary consideration is how you employ your supporting hand. Many people simply rest the fore-end (never the barrel!) across the sticks, then grasp the fore-end. This works, but I think the best technique is to learn how to grasp the top of the tripod—perhaps just one leg, depending on the size of your hands—with two or three fingers, then grasp the fore-end with just your thumb and fore-finger. Now you are part of the tripod, not just resting over it. Your legs become the fourth and fifth legs of a very steady platform, and as you lean slightly into the rifle your weight adds more stability.

It takes time to learn the proper height and how to best use your supporting hand, and even more time to become comfortable with the whole mess. The standard procedure in Africa is to spend the first morning or afternoon in camp “sighting in” the rifles. Do not think for one moment that this is really about checking zero. Most African professional hunters are not “gun guys,” and they could care less if your rifle is an inch or three off after the long journey. That sight-in session is a good old military qualification day, and its real purpose is for the professional hunter to evaluate your shooting and, equally important, your safe gun handling.

This is not the day for you to learn how to use shooting sticks! Do that at home, and make them part of your regular practice sessions. You can easily make a set from bamboo poles or grape stakes, tying them maybe three inches from the top with a rubber strip cut from an inner tube, just like they do in Africa. Or you can obtain one of several commercial models readily available. Two sources for traditional African shooting sticks are Long Grass LLC and Sporting Wood LLC. Both companies offer takedown versions, which is absolutely the way to go. Once you’ve gotten comfortable with your sticks you should never leave home without them! Just put them in your gun case.

A new, sort of high-tech version is the RLD3 tripod from a new company, H2H Gear. The legs telescope and then screw into position, so this one is readily used in conjunction with sitting and kneeling positions as well as standing. The leg extensions are marked, so once you know the correct height you can set it up the same every time.

This is the “RLD3” from H2H Gear, sort of a high-tech version of traditional shooting sticks. Made of aluminum tubing, it’s strong and light, with adjustable height. The telescoping legs are marked so once you know the proper height you can set it the same way every time.

Whatever you choose, make it a standard part of your range gear and your practice regimen. Then, on “qual day” your primary mission really is to check your zero, and to demonstrate to your PH that you know what you’re doing. One more important thing on that critical day: This is the time for you show not just the PH, but also the trackers who might carry the sticks, exactly what height is correct for you. My fiancé, Donna Grey, practices religiously with her Long Grass sticks and shoots brilliantly over them—but she’s a few inches shorter than the average male client. On our first day in Mozambique we failed to properly demonstrate the correct height, and she lost a wonderful opportunity at a big reedbuck because she had to stretch way on tiptoes to reach the sticks.

One more trick. At short and medium range shooting sticks are fast and plenty steady, especially with practice. As distance increases degree of stability can be inadequate. Just where that happens is different for all of us, but 200 yards is a long shot over sticks. The good news is that on longer shots you often have a bit more time. Teach your PH to grasp the sticks on your strong side (right for right-handers, left for lefties) and lean into them. His weight will increase stability, but here’s the real secret I learned from Namibian PH Dirk de Bod: As he is leaning over and grasping the sticks, you adjust your stance slightly so that you can rest the elbow of your shooting arm against his back or shoulder. Practice this on your range, and you’ll be amazed at the added stability. You shouldn’t need this for the standard African shot, which is 150 yards and under, but show your PH this trick on “qual day.” If you have an animal standing out there a ways and you can’t get closer, this may make the difference.

That’s Namibian PH Dirk de Bod on the right, employing a really smart trick. To enhance stability he grasps the legs of the tripod, then offers his back or shoulder for an elbow rest. It is amazing what a difference this can make!