A review of the deer stalking quad sticks from Southwick shooting supplies.
Southwick Quad Deer Stalking Sticks Review
For those of you that read my blogs you will be aware that in late July this year a regular client of mine arrived sporting a newly purchased set of shooting sticks. As chance has it that evening we went on to put them to good use in grassing a first class Roe Buck.
The sticks in question came from 'Southwick Shooting Supplies' and were their version of the Quad Sticks design. Being impressed with the quality and stability they offered I contacted Southwick in order to request an opportunity to trial them in a little more detail.
The sticks arrived neatly packaged along with instructions as to their use. The instant impression was one of quality, this was no hastily assembled mass produced product. The smell, look and feel of the recently treated hard wood and leather trim was a pleasure to the senses.
Added to that each pair has a metal plaque with a unique number and your chosen name engraved. I loved this bit of detail it gives the sticks a real quality bespoke feel, and indeed has attracted a few remarks of admiration from my stalking guests.
So quality? Yes, yes, yes.... in bucket loads! But what are they like to use? You'll be aware that I have had my reservations about Quad sticks because of the time they take to deploy. There is no getting away from the fact that no matter how practiced you become with Quad sticks they will always take a fraction longer to set up than a simple bipod. So the question must be how much does this really matter? Well it all depends on your type of shooting.
If you are regularly looking your quarry dead in the eye as you stalk through dense woodland quad sticks will slow you up and might not be appropriate. However provided you have time to size up your beast then you have time to set up the sticks, and if you do you will undoubtedly benefit because they offer stability that is simply second to none.
I have used these sticks to settle my sights on a number of animals at various ranges out to 200 yards and have been able to hold the cross hairs steady at these distances with real confidence. This is not something I would achieve with a bipod where I might restrict my shooting to a little over 100 yards. There is no denying they offer a rock solid shooting platform.
So if you decide to get a set here are a few things that I found useful. Firstly get the right length sticks, if you get them too short you will lose horizontal movement as you will have to draw the legs closer together to gain height and in doing so will narrow the top 'V' s in which you set the rifle. As a result will not be able to move your rifle butt laterally across the back strap.
Secondly the sticks are great for vertical adjustments when aiming as they are able to rock back and forth on the stand however they lack the ease of horizontal movement which may be required if your animal moves from say left to right. So get accustomed to grasping the leg that is furthest from you with your fore hand raise that leg off the ground and pivot the device on the opposing leg. Practice this as you'll find it important in order to follow the deer as it moves.
Finally get slick with the deployment of the sticks and in placing your rifle into the 'V' s. In my view if you can master this movement you will find that these shooting sticks will become a well used and indispensable bit of your deer stalking kit.
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