Here' s my take on the subject. Bi-pod are very stable and always attached to the rifle, so they won' t get lost. Bi-pods don' t pivot very far very well. Shooting sticks can be made for cheap, allow good stability, allow the rifle to pivot freely, easily height adjustable, just by spreading the legs. If you need to stand to take a shot at a target, the shooting sticks fall free of the rifle and the bi-pod will be left swinging under the rifle, which makes it very difficult to shoot accurately off hand. I put my shooting sticks just infront of the trigger guard which allows me to follow the game as it is coming in to the call, because of the pivot point being back on the rifle I have more pivot than the bi-pod can even come close to. I use two aluminum arrows with two castraction bands to hold them together and put mole skin at the rifle contact point. I have a tall Harris bi-pod for sell if someone wants one! It works great for shooting prairie dogs!