shooting stix revisited (aka being a cheap skate)

[foxhunter]

here is a picture of my latest shooting stix, they were made from the bottom half of a pair of graphite spinning fishing rods. picked up the rod ends from the repair shop at bass pro shop for 2.50 each.
http://i9.tinypic.com/2hckolt.jpg

stripped the eyes, seat and cork off is relatively easy using a Dremel tool equipped with a cutting wheel, take care not to cut to deep or you will cut into the rod.

the rod butt comes with a rubber plug, this plug is quite a bit larger than the blank and got the grind down treatment. keeping the plug in helps astatically as well as preventing the rod end from getting crushed.
http://i9.tinypic.com/2uo41vp.jpg

after stripping and light sanding the rods received a coat of Napa 4004 stone chip guard in black, gave it a great pebble like texture and cut way down on the glare.

the small end of each leg received a tight fitting headless nail, the nail is epoxied in with 1" sticking out. the ends of the nails were ground round rather than left sharp, the nails still grip the ground but you are less likely to impale your self with them.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/bobd/gun%20things/oc15_008.jpg

a trip to the local ranch supply store netted 4 castration bands for sheep. they are used to hold the stix together, they are tough little cookies and should give many years of service and if they don't , they are only 6 cents a
peace.


black suede leather was purchased from hobby lobby along with matching black leather string. the leather was cut 1.5" wide and 12" long strip, .175" holes were punched ever 1/2 inch on both sides except for the middle 2". the tool for punching the hole was a 17 viper case with a loose primer pocket. the mouth was chamfered to a razor sharp edge using a deburing tool ( I told you I was cheap)


starting at the top each side of the leather was laced around the rod just like you would your shoes. this leaves a 2" flap connecting both sides. makes a great cradle for the rifle to set on and the suede protects the rifles finish.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/bobd/gun%20things/oc15_005.jpg
project summary;
rod ends $5.00
leather $4.75
leather string $.79
castration bands $.24
paint left over from gunstock
nails left over from building a deck
steadiness achieved in the field, priceless.
total investment $10.81

[Ladobe]

Nice write up and pictures for a very serviceable set of sticks.

Very much like a set I made in the late 60's out of some fiberglass arrow shafts I had on hand from my archery gear to replace the hardwood dowel set I had been using. Then I remember buying an old tent for $2 at a garage sale in the mid 70's and making a shock corded set from its poles to break down and carry in a belt bag made from some of the tents material. Still have that set someplace I think, a couple of other folding sets with improvements I've made since, a nice set a gent in Idaho made for me and some Verne Howey's. I guess just like with the firearms you just can't have too many sticks. LOL

L.

[foxhunter]

i'll take that as a compliment , hope it helps somebody.

bob

[DittoHead]

Nice job on the sticks. Have you ever tried a tripod?

[Larry in VA]

:cool: Do you mind if I employ one or two of your ideas on my hard wood dowel shooting sticks?:D
Larry

[foxhunter]

larry that's why it's posted here, to help fellow hunter/shooters. just give us an update with pictures if you can.

tripod, hummm, no, sure haven't. reason being, a lot of the critters i shoot at simply won't stand still, they are at a dead run. the bipod allows me to change the way i am shooting by leaning into or away from the bipod the critter, as well as picking them up and quickly moving them to a new direction. often this is done on rocky and uneven terrain, have enough trouble placing two legs on the ground quickly much less three. let me add shooting big game at long distances would be a different matter.

by the way the stix were painted a flat chocolate brown last night, absolutely no glare or reflection.

[vic10]

I went to the local farm supply store and bought two elec. fence post they are fiberglass cut to length then purchased a bag of casteration bands used on hogs. painted camo and your ready to go.

[georgeld]

Dandy job Bob:

I've run old broom handles on the table saw to cut one edge flat so they'll fit together nice.

Round end up, point the bottom tips after cutting to the length desired.
Drill a 1/4" hole about 4-6" down from the top for a bolt and double nut, or self locking type. Cheap, easy and quick to make with a table saw.

Bob:
I know you kill many times as many fox as I've ever seen. BUT, on coyotes when they are running, whether coming in to the call, or even after one or more have been shot. You can bark at them and they'll stop instantly. IF you're ready to fire when you bark, you'll have a standing dead still shot. But, they won't stay more than about five seconds, so dont' bark til they are in the perfect spot you want and you're ready to fire.

Try it, you'll be amazed if you've never tried it before. I've been told it works on fox, antelope and deer too.
But, have never done it except on coyotes and it sure works there. Couple triples coming in, killed one, took off, barked, stopped and looked back, killed a second, the third no way in H he'd stop. Another time we did the same thing and got all three of them one at a time. Another time we had seven coming in and killed a double when both of us fired about the same instant. Three stopped right after that when we barked, got one. Then they got over the hump and out of sight. Saw them still running full tilt half mile up the valley.

Down by Rattlesnake Butte one time, a Denver knee doc I was seeing said there was a nasty threatening Rottweiler leading a pack and stood in his gate and wouldn't let him in the property. Asked me to kill him. When I got there, they were out in the pasture a couple hundred yards. When I got out they headed toward me at a trot. I got out of the trk ready, the other guy messed around. When they were about 75 yds away I barked and they stopped. I did a head shot on him over the hood. Mailed the collar to the doc. No name tag, but, did have a rabies tag on it. Sure made him happy!
Didn't even put a note in with it, don't think I even put my return address on the envelope for orneryness. Figured he'd know what it meant.

How many dogs you seen running with them? We've killed quite a few over the years. Vast majority have been females, some cross bred pups too. Idiot city people dumping their pets in the country, should be shot themselves. IMO.

[foxhunter]

as you would expect garys ranch rules were shoot stray dogs on sight, of course ya had to make sure they weren't his german short hairs.

when i hunted the corlitos ranch in n.m. the rules were different, you tried to call the dog first. if it waged it's tail and came to you, you checked for a collar, if it acted with any type of aggression it became target practice for your always present small caliber.
over the years we returned a bunch of bird dogs to their owners and fertilized the grass with a bunch more.
shot 2 doberman ,1 german shepard and three mixed mutts one morning, they had chewed the tail and ears of a calf despite the best efforts of the mother cow.

went hunting with a seasoned veteran a few years back, the man had made a living trapping and calling in arizona. we called in three coyotes , popped the first one in the middle of the chest, my hunting partner missed the second one with a shot between his front legs and the third had smoke rolling off his paws an he beat a hasty retreat. started barking like a dog and even though he had just been shot at he stopped and looked back, and that was the last look he took.
switched the sound to a female coyote in distress and the coyote turned around and came back to see what was kicking the coyotes butts. you know what he found? yip, a sako in a 17 mach 4 that took him in the front of his chest.

my hunting partner said "i have never seen anything like that" guess ya can teach an old dog new tricks, in this case how to bark and whine
bob