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Gun hunt

DooleyVT

Member
Joined
May 29, 2022
Messages
76
I plan on gun hunting out of my saddle for the first time towards the end of this week. Anybody have any tips, tricks, advice, that may be different than hunting with my bow? Should I hang my gun from my bow holder? Gun pull-up rope or a sling over my back? Setups? Anything that may shorten my learning curve!
 
I plan on gun hunting out of my saddle for the first time towards the end of this week. Anybody have any tips, tricks, advice, that may be different than hunting with my bow? Should I hang my gun from my bow holder? Gun pull-up rope or a sling over my back? Setups? Anything that may shorten my learning curve!
I do everything the same as bow except I take an adjustable monopod up in the tree with me. I had enough off hand opportunities where I couldn't use the tree to brace my shots that I started doing this. And it works perfect. Ill just set the foot of the mono on my boot and I can swivel and shoot 360 degrees with pretty good accuracy. GL man.
 
I do everything the same as bow except I take an adjustable monopod up in the tree with me. I had enough off hand opportunities where I couldn't use the tree to brace my shots that I started doing this. And it works perfect. Ill just set the foot of the mono on my boot and I can swivel and shoot 360 degrees with pretty good accuracy. GL man.
Not a bad idea at all. Taking this into consideration for next year.
 
Obviously don’t climb or haul it up while loaded. Yeah that should be common sense but read the news lately.
@philsanchez76 had a good idea. Only thing I’d add is you really need to make sure you’re set/anchored/braced before you shoot otherwise depending on caliber the recoil may be enough to knock you off balance. Also before you go I’d recommend sitting in your saddle while ground level so you can get a feel for how a firearm feels, how you’re gonna interact with your lines, etc. Make sure your weapon hanger can support the weight of long gun if that’s what you’re using.
 
In bow season I use my dynaglyde pull down rope for my bow pull up. However I don't like it for a rifle so I use a Doyle's for my rifle. Basically I can't grip the dynaglyde when I'm wearing gloves and the rifle is much heavier so when I used the dynaglyde I had it slip.

only other thing I change is I don't bring a range finder unless I'm hunting the edge of a field.
 
Rifle gets hung on the opposite side from where I hang my bow. Squirrel steps on my gear strap to hold my pack and rifle set at a level and position where I can lay the rifle across them for shot support. Other than that nothing changes.
 
Rifle gets hung on the opposite side from where I hang my bow. Squirrel steps on my gear strap to hold my pack and rifle set at a level and position where I can lay the rifle across them for shot support. Other than that nothing changes.
^^^^this, I’m right handed & bow is typically hanging left with the top cam chest high. For gun season I put it on the right side so I can raise it up over the bridge. I put a small accessory cord loop on my top swivel of the sling so it’s pretty silent taking it off the hanger…..
 
I find it easier but I hate laying my gun down in the snow, rain, mud etc. Make sure you have a muzzle guard (I just use high quality electrical tape, I put one piece up down, the other piece sideways like a "+" over the muzzle and then wrap around those with one or two wraps on the barrel. It stays and does not impact accuracy whatsoever. You could also have a gunbearer pack type system and have it come up with you as you climb but some trees have branches and other cover in my setups and the gun can get caught up which becomes a real noisy pain. I hang mine sling on the hero clip and that works fine too. If possible, adjust your sling so you can wrap it a little tighter for longer distance shots. Depending on the angle the bridge can be a decent shooting platform. Please, unload your firearm before hauling it up! Be sure to haul it muzzle down (hence the muzzle guard suggestion) and do not place your pull up rope anywhere in or around the trigger or trigger housing or trigger guard. I like to loop my Doyle's around the buttstock sling swivel it picks the gun up from the butstock but remember, you want something covering the muzzle so dirt and debris do not enter the muzzle of the firearm which can cause a super dangerous barrel obstruction.
 
I find it easier but I hate laying my gun down in the snow, rain, mud etc. Make sure you have a muzzle guard (I just use high quality electrical tape, I put one piece up down, the other piece sideways like a "+" over the muzzle and then wrap around those with one or two wraps on the barrel. It stays and does not impact accuracy whatsoever. You could also have a gunbearer pack type system and have it come up with you as you climb but some trees have branches and other cover in my setups and the gun can get caught up which becomes a real noisy pain. I hang mine sling on the hero clip and that works fine too. If possible, adjust your sling so you can wrap it a little tighter for longer distance shots. Depending on the angle the bridge can be a decent shooting platform. Please, unload your firearm before hauling it up! Be sure to haul it muzzle down (hence the muzzle guard suggestion) and do not place your pull up rope anywhere in or around the trigger or trigger housing or trigger guard. I like to loop my Doyle's around the buttstock sling swivel it picks the gun up from the butstock but remember, you want something covering the muzzle so dirt and debris do not enter the muzzle of the firearm which can cause a super dangerous barrel obstruction.
Good stuff that seems obvious but glad you brought it up because I hadn't really thought about it enough.
 
It’s silly, but remember that you’re rifle hunting. I’ve seen a few folks post how they’re so in the bow hunting mindset in their saddle that they forget they can reach out and touch a deer with their rifle/shotgun that would be out of bow range.
 
I set my tether higher and my bridge longer with a rifle so I can use the bridge as a support for the gun or my elbows depending on the direction and angle. If I set up this way with a bow the bridge gets in the way of the bow when drawn.

This ^

I run a short bridge in bow season, I adjust it longer for gun season. Just filled a doe tag this past weekend using my bridge as a rest. Knees to tree, gun to shoulder, left hand holding stock to bridge. Bingo Bango...

Screenshot_20221130-124600.png
 
Only time I hang my gun up is when im doing something that requires me to take hands off my gun. Else it rides across my bridge.

Bow holder,i use a hero clip holder, can function as a gun rest for straight on shots.

However, learn to shoot free hand. Unless you've got the shakes, you really should be able to shoot without a rest
 
I find it easier but I hate laying my gun down in the snow, rain, mud etc. Make sure you have a muzzle guard (I just use high quality electrical tape, I put one piece up down, the other piece sideways like a "+" over the muzzle and then wrap around those with one or two wraps on the barrel. It stays and does not impact accuracy whatsoever. You could also have a gunbearer pack type system and have it come up with you as you climb but some trees have branches and other cover in my setups and the gun can get caught up which becomes a real noisy pain. I hang mine sling on the hero clip and that works fine too. If possible, adjust your sling so you can wrap it a little tighter for longer distance shots. Depending on the angle the bridge can be a decent shooting platform. Please, unload your firearm before hauling it up! Be sure to haul it muzzle down (hence the muzzle guard suggestion) and do not place your pull up rope anywhere in or around the trigger or trigger housing or trigger guard. I like to loop my Doyle's around the buttstock sling swivel it picks the gun up from the butstock but remember, you want something covering the muzzle so dirt and debris do not enter the muzzle of the firearm which can cause a super dangerous barrel obstruction.
Good points to cover muzzle. I got snow down the barrel on my muzzle loader once. Sounded like a pop gun going off. Blew the shot. I just put a condom over the end of the barrel now. Works great. No comments!!
 
Good points to cover muzzle. I got snow down the barrel on my muzzle loader once. Sounded like a pop gun going off. Blew the shot. I just put a condom over the end of the barrel now. Works great. No comments!!

So THAT'S why you were buying MAGNUMS the other day.... For your 300 Win MAG with bull barrel. Makes a lot more sense now... :p
 
Ribbed Magnums was NOT what I expected when I asked SH for advice… but at least I’ll have a good alibi when she finds them in my pack.
 
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