Shooting off of brush

TaperPin

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Positions that don’t get talked about much, but are used once in a while in big sagebrush and other brushy country is how to gain elevation and steadiness using the bush, rather than just trying to shoot around it. Wyoming and Colorado foothills are full of draws looking just like this with waste high or higher brush down in the bottoms and open country up the sides.

What unique ways have you guys learned to use them?




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Formidilosus

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Positions that don’t get talked about much, but are used once in a while in big sagebrush and other brushy country is how to gain elevation and steadiness using the bush, rather than just trying to shoot around it. Wyoming and Colorado foothills are full of draws looking just like this with waste high or higher brush down in the bottoms and open country up the sides.

What unique ways have you guys learned to use them?




View attachment 637185


“Grab grass”
 
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Wrench

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I carry a silky saw and have cleared shot lanes and made positions. I have taken para cord and choked a tree and slipped the rifle in the loop while supporting the stock. (This is not something that works on pencil tubes nor rubber stocks).

As form said, hit the dirt and make a lane in the first choice.
 
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TaperPin

TaperPin

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I’ve only shot two animals using brush, but it seemed to work better than sitting. I put the pack on top and let the rifle and upper body weight push the big sage brush down and away with knees and feet on the ground - kind of like shooting prone, but strangely suspended 18” off the dirt and there’s no support under the left elbow. It sure felt weird and was much less than comfortable, but worked when the only other option was a sitting shot. It was two big sage brushes next to each other, or it wouldn’t have worked like it did.

The other time we actually had fairly tall bipods - you know, the ones too tall for prone and too short for sitting. We duck walked and crawled towards a big group of antelope after the rut, with a little high spot of thick 16” tall brush between us and them. We could see the antelope through the brush and it was either extend the bipods and work the legs into the brush for a sitting shot, or lay on top and carefully shoot through a gap. My wife took the biggest buck and a second later I took the next. Neither of us had packs, but it would have been nice to put them down. 🙂
 

rclouse79

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I have not shot off brush, but I did start carrying a bog pod shooting stick after seeing a monster mule deer in the sage flats. I didn’t have a deer tag, but it made me start thinking about how I would have shot him if I did have a tag.
 

Wrench

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I always have trekking poles if I am hunting heavy stuff. I take the straps from each pole and place it over the top of the other and cross the handles.....makes a solid pod in a few seconds.

It's important to me to have 12 ways to skin the cat.
 
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TaperPin

TaperPin

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I carry a silky saw and have cleared shot lanes and made positions. I have taken para cord and choked a tree and slipped the rifle in the loop while supporting the stock. (This is not something that works on pencil tubes nor rubber stocks).

As form said, hit the dirt and make a lane in the first choice.
I can see that if you’re sitting and waiting - although sage is something I’ve cut by hand once and it is very dense and hard to cut. I‘ve only hunted draws like this by walking and glassing - it goes without saying get prone is more stable, but that’s often not possible with brushy ground cover.
 

kpk

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I've not been required to do this yet, but I sure like having the option to do so if needed.

Rifle.jpg
 

Encore4me

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Don’t know if this counts but I use trees all the time to help shoot squirrels.


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Rich M

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Jun 14, 2017
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I usually carry a shooting stick - can put it up and grab and handful of brush when grabbing stick...
 
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