When deer and turkey hunting, Joyce and I are usually configured so we have some sort of shooting rest; either the side of tree to lean against, a good stout limb in front of us, etc.
In the event we need something more, a homemade bipod fabricated from two pieces of lumber bolted together so that it opens up into an “X” pattern always has filled the bill.
Height always was a bit of an issue, as she is much shorter than I, so we had two sets of homemade shooting sticks — one short and one long.
Yes, height could be compensated for by widening or shortening the stance of our homemade sticks, but by the time we got it low enough for her, the legs looked like those of a giraffe sprawling itself out to get a drink.
Last year, I got more serious about the sport of predator calling, a sport in which a good gun rest is worth its weight in gold (or fur in this case.)
I had looked at numerous commercially made shooting sticks but was unwilling to part with the money for what I felt I was getting in return.
In short, the old homemade sticks were looking better all the time.
In October, at the annual Kansas Fur Harvesters convention, Joyce and I had gone different directions for awhile, and when we met again, she said she’d found something I needed to see.
I followed her to a small booth where I looked at the GBP Shooting Bipod made by Vanguard USA.
The design caught my eye immediately. Having been a welder and fabricator for 30 years, I think I’m a pretty good judge of construction, and this thing seemed really well put together.
The three-section telescoping legs are made from heavy gauge, light weight aluminum alloy, and lock and unlock with a simple twist.
They extend from two feet to five feet, making it useable for standing shots, sitting shots and anything in between. It’s topped with a solid rubber yoke that swivels 360 degrees, and solidly cradles any firearm or camera.
The legs attach to the bottom of the yoke with two Allen head bolts, making for a very solid joint.
The only drawback for me was the price; about $70. We walked away, but by the end of the day I’d decided it warranted a try.
When calling predators, I always sit on a thick rubber cushion against a tree or post, and hook the sling on my rifle over the yoke of the shooting stick while cradling the stock of the rifle in the yoke.
The way Vanguard’s shooting bipod is built, that allows me to lay the butt of the rifle in my lap, freeing my hands to work the caller.
The real beauty of the GBP Bipod is the way in which the legs adjust independently. Seldom is the ground around me exactly level, so it allows me to choose the best spot to sit, knowing that the bipod will compensate to give me a good steady gun rest.
Most of the ground I hunt is farm ground, and a few fields are heavily terraced. A couple fields have big concrete structures in the middle of some terraces to drain water away from them.
The closing sales pitch for the Vanguard Bipod came one afternoon while calling coyotes in one of those fields.
Because of the wind direction, the best spot for me was at the base of one of those concrete structures, but that left me nowhere to sit.
My only real choice was to stand and lean against a concrete wall of the structure, but the ground at my feet was all over the map with different heights.
I extended the legs of the shooting stick all the way open, then keep tweaking each until they held the bipod exactly where I needed it to securely rest my rifle. Because of the terrain, one leg ended up over a foot longer than the other, but the yoke of the bipod was level in front of me, right where I needed it to be.
I’m a born skeptic, and I rarely stick my neck out to tout any one product over another, but the Vanguard GBP line of shooting bipods are worth a look.
They’re well constructed, and they’re user friendly, but I still think they are a bit pricey. I never dreamed I’d pay that much for a shooting stick, but I feel I got everything I paid for and then some. Check out their complete product line at www.vanguardworld.com.
Steve Gilliland can be contacted by e-mail at stevegilliland@idkcom.net.
NEWTON —
