deerhunter1224

When you are back home sighting in your gun you usually have something to rest your gun on. When up in tree stand you dont have anything to rest your gun on. All my stands are hang-on stands I dont have railing around my stand. What do you rest your gun on so your gun will be steady?

Champlain Islander

I either lean against a tree or use the sling as an aid by wrapping it around my elbow. I always site in on a rest but still practice off hand to get a sence of my real potential to hit a target.

KYFRED

If I am hunting a stand that will require a long shot, I try to cut a small tree limb with a V in it. I rest it on my leg or on the seat and put the "V" behind the strap. It is cheap and easy

zekeskar

good ideas so far and I'm looking forward to more that people add. Bottom line is you have to figure out how you'll actually be shooting from the stand - leaning on knee, using branch, using sling to brace etc.... then actually practice at the range in the same way. Then you'll find out how good a shot you'll be in the stand and how far away you'll be able to shoot accurately. Practicing from field positions is the big "DUH" that a lot of people don't actually do at the range. I know when I sit or lay in the dirt, or use the shelter post to mimic a tree trunk, I'm the only one at our range that I see doing this stuff. Almost everyone just sits at the bench and shoots.

DoctorDeath

Hard to do when using a scope ..or for me it is ... open sights are a lot easier for me to free hand shoot.... I just about need some kind of rest with a scope ..

Roll Tide
DD

krub6b

If you have the room and the extra stand set one up in your yard and shoot out of it til ur comfortable with what u have to use for rests. If you live in a city try going out to where u hunt, find a secluded corner of the farm that u don't hunt and try it.

jkolberg

Check out Cabela's on line. I purschased a shooting stick there for $20 last week. I have learned the hard way when hunting out of a treestand that didn't have a rail on it. (Missed the buck). You can use the shooting stick just as if you were on the ground, rest it on the stand itself. However, save your pennies and buy a climber that has a shooting rail on it. I have a treestand I use for bow, (loggy bayou) gun stand with a rail (api grand slam supreme). Both serve the purpose very well for the weapon of choice. If you can't afford it, just purchase the stick... Good luck....

nchawkeye

I always use a rest...That's why I don't own a Summit climber...don't like their rest...I have 2 APIs...both have the padded shooting rail and I have added a PCV shooting stick on the left side of the stand that is for deer that are far to the left...I grew up squirrel hunting...head shots only...you learn to only shoot a rifle with a rest...Hunting the bean fields in eastern NC you could easily have a 300 yard shot...None of us are good enough to pull that off without a rest...

A few weeks back I was in Dicks Sporting Goods in Greensboro..another guy was looking at the ladder stands that were on sale...they were cheap...and didn't have a shooting rail...We got to talking and I mentioned that the stands had no shooting rail....He said that he never used a rest...always shot offhand....I asked if he ever hunted down east over beans...he said all the time...I asked how far he shot...he said "up to 300 yards"...I then asked how many deer had he killed over 100 yards...he said none...I didn't want to ask how many he had shot at...I had heard enough...

jerseyhunter

This might sound stupid but I took a pressure treated 2x4 and cut a notch to fit my stand, then I bent a piece of heavy aluminum into a flat bottom u shape and fastened to the other end with a brass screw and washers on both sides so it swivels, added some foam, drilled a hole and ran a cord through to hang it by. I leave them hanging in the trees till the season ends. Total cost, free as I had all the material at hand.