A monopod shooting stick gives you a quick and steady shot.

A monopod is the best shooting stick for a fast setup. Without multiple stick legs to adjust and balance, you can steady your shot in no time.

Wood or Aluminum Monopod

An aluminum monopod is adjustable, which makes it more flexible for use on uneven terrain or by more than one hunter. The downside to aluminum is that if knocked against a tree or rifle stock, it can spook your quarry with a ‘ting’ noise. Be careful not to hit anything with the monopod while you are walking to your stand.

Wood is natural material, which is fairly quiet if knocked against a tree or other object. It’s not adjustable or collapsible, which makes it less convenient than an aluminum monopod, but it provides a sturdy support.

How to Use a Monopod

Hold the monopod in your non-shooting hand. Grab it near the top with fingers two, three, and four. The rifle fore end should rest in the pocket between your thumb and forefinger. Keep a firm grasp on the rifle and monopod, allowing the rifle to rest on your hand and not on the stick.

New! KillZone Hunting Blaze Orange Vest

New from KillZone Hunting! Keep safe in the field with a blaze orange hunting vest made from durable knit material. This lightweight vest slips easily over your jacket or hunting clothes. The elastic side straps adjust to fit most hunters. The vest packs down into a compact zippered pouch for convenient storage. The storage bag is attached to the vest, which keeps you from losing it, and the bag acts as a pocket for your keys, cell phone, and other small items.

Features:

• Durable knit material
• Integrated storage pouch
• One size fits most

KillZone shooting sticks come with rubber and carbon tapered tips for use on different types of surfaces.

Shooting sticks give you a steadier shot, especially over long distances. Gripping the shooting sticks takes a little practice, but once you’re comfortable shooting with sticks, you may wonder how you ever got along without them.

Rubber and Conical Tips

You may notice that the tips of most shooting sticks are either pointed (conical) or rubber. Some also come with snow or mud discs. The rubber tip works best when shooting off concrete (such as at a shooting range) or other impenetrable surface.

The conical tip lets you dig in to the ground for more stability when shooting out in the field. With the leg tips firmly in place, you won’t need to worry about the legs splaying out under the force of the recoil.

Snow and mud discs act like snowshoes for your shooting sticks. They prevent the legs from sinking too deep into the snow or mud.

How to Grip Shooting Sticks

It seems even the experts vary slightly on how to grip the shooting sticks. Some say to grasp only the rifle and place your hand or wrist in the “V” with the rifle resting in the palm of your hand. Some say to grasp both the sticks and the rifle together, with the rifle resting on thumb and index finger as a buffer between the sticks and the rifle.

Grasping both the rifle and the sticks together can make it easier to adjust their positioning, but do whatever feels comfortable for you. Either way, the rifle should not rest directly on the gun rest. Resting the gun directly on a hard surface can throw your shots off and cause the gun to recoil differently. A soft and somewhat yielding support (such as your hand or sandbags) will give you a more accurate shot.

Also, make sure the fore-end of the rifle (and not the barrel) is resting in the “V” section. This will give you a steadier shot.

Need some help finding the right hunting gift for the outdoor sportsman in your life? This gift guide from KillZone Hunting will help you get started with your holiday shopping. Each product comes highly recommended by hunters all across the nation. Take a look at our product reviews to learn more about what other hunters have to say about our high quality, low priced products and our superior customer service.

1. Portable Ground Blind


Blind


A ground blind can boost hunting success with safety, comfort, portability, and concealment. Portable blinds are light enough to carry long distances, warm enough to keep you out in the cold and rain when other hunters are calling it quits, and versatile enough to use in almost any terrain, season, and location.

Here are some of the types of ground blinds available from KillZone:

• Pop Up Blinds – Quick setup and takedown with spring steel tent frame
• Hub Blinds – Taller profile and roomier than most pop up blinds
• 360 Blinds – Maximum visibility all the way around the blind
• Chair Blinds – Integrated ground blind and hunting chair, all in one
• Layout Blinds – For duck hunting, goose hunting, and other wildfowl
2. Shooting Sticks


Sticks


A steady shot means a cleaner kill. Monopods serve double duty as walking sticks, while tripods offer the sturdiest support. Shooting sticks can also be used to hold spotting scopes, cameras, and video equipment.
3. Deer Dragger / Rib Spreader


Dreader


After the thrill of shooting a trophy buck comes the time for field dressing and transporting the deer back to your vehicle. The Dreader 3-in-1 hunting tool works as a field dressing aid, game dragger, and rib cage spreader.
4. Gun Case


Gun Case


Proper storage will keep your rifle or shotgun in top condition. A soft-sided gun case protects your gun, provides convenient storage for ammunition, ear protection, and shooting glasses, and is lightweight and easy to carry to the shooting range or into the field.
5. Gun Cleaning Kit


Gun Kit


Proper storage also means cleaning your gun after use. With rods, wire brushes, mops, adapters, slotted ends, cleaning swabs, and an aluminum case to hold it all, the KillZone gun kit includes everything you need to keep your rifle, shotgun, or pistol in pristine condition.
6. Ice Fishing Shelter


Ice Tent


Most hunters enjoy ice fishing as well as hunting. With a portable ice shelter, they’ll enjoy it even more. The KillZone Igloo© shelter is available as a two-man shanty or a four-man shanty. The blackout interior offers superior fishing vision, and the thick 600D poly shell insulates you from the wind and cold.

Hunting monopods are lightweight and fast to set up.

There are plenty of shooting sticks available on the market. Which one is best? That depends on which features are most important to you. Here are some of the main differences between types of shooting sticks, including monopods, bipods, and tripods.

Hunting Monopods

Monopods are the lightest weight shooting sticks available. Their biggest attraction is for hunters who hike in to remote spots. Since it doubles as a walking stick, the monopod is not just another piece of equipment to carry on your back but it makes the hike easier, whether you’re headed to your favorite hunting spot or just enjoying a day hike in the woods. Because the monopod has only one leg, it’s fast to set up for quick shots, and there’s no need to adjust leg length to compensate for uneven or unstable terrain.

A hunting tripod offers the most stability.

Hunting Bipods

A bipod offers more stability than a monopod and often adjusts to a shorter height than most monopods. These types of shooting sticks are preferred for crouched or prone positions and bench shooting. The legs can be adjusted for use on uneven ground. Bipods are somewhat of a compromise between a monopod and a tripod. A bipod is lighter in weight and less cumbersome than a tripod, but having two legs gives it more stability than a monopod.

Hunting Tripods

Tripods offer the most stability of all three types of shooting sticks. They give you the steadiest shot in windy conditions, and they offer the most support for your firearm. Tripods take a little more time to set up, but with practice, you’ll be ready for the shot in no time. Another bonus for tripods is their freestanding capability. Monopods and bipods require you to hold them up, but tripods can stand up on their own three feet.

A hunting tripod is the most stable type of shooting stick.

With three legs, a hunting tripod is the most stable of all the types of shooting sticks. Yet in windy conditions or with the legs fully extended, your tripod might not be as stable as you’d like.

The shorter you set the tripod, the more stable it will be. Thicker legs mean less wobble. Notice how the tripod extensions become thinner as you lengthen the legs. These extensions make the tripod taller, but they also make it less stable. Depending on the distance and size of the target, the amount of stability lost by fully extending the tripod legs may not affect your shot.

For the steadiest shot when using a hunting tripod, consider the following tips:

1. Use the tripod in a sitting position.

Shooting from a sitting position gives you more stability than shooting from a standing position. Sitting also reduces the chances that you’ll be spotted. Kneeling is not as steady as sitting—or as comfortable for long periods of time. Lying prone provides a stable shooting position, but it often limits your field of view, especially in areas with tall vegetation.

2. Use a sandbag to steady the tripod.

If you hang a sandbag or other weight from the center of the tripod where the three legs meet, the extra weight will stabilize the legs and steady your shot. Another idea is to place a sandbag or weight on top of each tripod leg to hold it in place.

3. Get comfortable.

The more comfortable you are, the more relaxed your body will be and the steadier your shot will be. If you are waiting out in the field for long periods of time, sitting is usually the most comfortable position, whether in a hunting blind, tree stand, or on the ground. Using a hunting blind is the most versatile choice, because it allows you to stand, stretch, and walk around inside the blind without giving away your position.

Related Posts:

• How to Use Shooting Sticks

Place the forearm of the rifle over the cradle of the tripod.

How to Properly Use a Tripod, Bipod, or Monopod:

Place the forearm of the rifle over the cradle of the shooting sticks. Don’t balance the rifle at its center; instead, place the gun over the cradle at a point well forward on the forearm.

The experts at Rifle Shooting magazine recommend that the best way to use a shooting stick is not to let the rifle rest directly on the cradle. Instead, using your non-shooting arm, wrap your hand around the shooting sticks where they intersect and allow the rifle to rest on your hand rather than the cradle. Your forward hand should be holding both the shooting sticks and the gun. This position is more natural and stable than simply grabbing on to the leg of the shooting sticks and letting the rifle rest directly on the cradle.

Make sure the shooting sticks are set at the right height. If you are standing, the intersection of the tripod legs should fall just below your shoulders when your feet are in a wide stance. The rifle should be level when pressed into your shoulder. Lean into the rifle with your body, and pull back on the shooting sticks with your forward hand.

Spotting scope with 60mm objective lens and anti-glare lens coating

What are the differences between a large and small objective lens?

• Larger lens = More detail, better image quality at higher magnifications, larger field of view
• Smaller lens = Smaller, more compact scope, lighter weight, more affordable

But the quality of your spotting scope depends on more than just the size of the objective lens. A large lens does not automatically trump a smaller lens. The quality of the objective lens also depends on the quality of the glass used to make the lens. A small objective lens with high performance glass (such as ED, APO, HD, or Fluorite) can deliver a higher quality image than a large objective lens with standard glass.

The higher the magnification, the more important it is to have a high quality objective lens for sharper image quality and detail. At lower magnifications, a smaller and more affordable objective lens should suit your needs just fine.

The quality of the objective lens can also be improved by special coatings added to the glass. For example, the anti-glare lens coating used on the KillZone scope reduces distortion and focuses the light rays for a crisper, brighter image. Special coatings ensure a quality image in less-than-ideal light conditions. Keep in mind that the use of high performance glass and lens coatings will increase the cost of the spotting scope.

Use a tripod to steady the spotting scope.

1. Choose a good spotting location where you can get a good view of your surroundings. Make sure the view is unobstructed in the direction you will be looking.
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2. Set up the tripod and scope on as level ground as possible. Adjust the tripod legs as needed. The use of a tripod is necessary because of the high magnification settings of a scope. Binoculars you can hold steady in your hand, but with the higher magnification power of a scope, you will need a stable base (tripod) in order to view a steady, focused image through the eyepiece. With a spotting scope, even small movements (such as the barely noticeable shakiness in your hands) will cause you to lose the focus on your target.
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3. Adjust the magnification power to the power you need. Generally, you want to start at the lowest power setting to locate your target and then increase the magnification as needed. The lower the magnification setting, the larger your field of view will be.
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4. Locate your target through the scope. Use binoculars to help you find your target, if needed. Once you have zeroed in on your target, make any fine tune adjustments to the scope to see the image clearly and at the correct magnification.
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5. Rest your eyes often. Looking through the eyepiece of the scope for long periods of time can quickly tire out your eyes. Take regular breaks from looking through the scope to give your eyes a rest.

This KillZone Spotting Scope has a
magnification of 20x to 60x.

Spotting scopes allow hunters, bird watchers, and others to view wildlife at a higher magnification range than most binoculars will allow. The scope is mounted on a stand for steady viewing at these higher magnifications.

The magnification of a spotting scope is limited by two things: the atmosphere and the optical system.

1. Atmosphere and Spotting Scopes

The range of viewing during the daytime is smaller than at night. Telescopes are built to much higher specifications than spotting scopes, yet telescopes are too powerful for daytime use. The heat waves, dust, humidity, glare, wind, and air currents during the daytime limit the image quality of distant objects.

In ideal conditions, a spotting scope may return a clear image at up to 80x magnification, but rarely do they work well over a magnification of 60, and rarely do hunters need that much power and image quality.

Don’t make the mistake of purchasing a scope with magnifications over 60 times to 80 times just to find out that these magnifications are not practical for daytime use. A scope with up to 60x magnification is all the power you need.

The less ideal that atmospheric conditions are, the lower the image quality will be. Some days, it will be difficult to see anything over 30x magnification. On clear, calm days, you may be able to see clearly up to 60x.

High altitudes and dry climates are more favorable for higher magnification ranges. Humid, low-altitude climates are less favorable. Atmosphere also affects the amount of detail you are able to decipher at great distances.

2. Optical Systems and Spotting Scopes

The optical system also affects the magnification and clarity of a spotting scope. The higher the magnification is, the lower the image quality will be. A premium quality scope will retain the most image quality at higher magnifications. Low quality scopes lose image quality quickly as the magnification power increases. Very few spotting scopes can retain the same image quality at 60x as they do at 20x, and these scopes come at a high price.

Fortunately, most spotting is done in the lower ranges of magnification and does not demand the quality of a premium scope. All good quality, affordable spotting scope will perform accurately for your hunting or wildlife spotting needs without breaking your budget.