All right gents, I am making my first dedicated foray into revolver hunting. Im picking up my 4 5\8 .41 mag blackhawk from the gunsmith Monday, where it iz getting a trigger job. I have a burris fastfire iii installed on the little rascal and want to know what support techniques i can use to get the most out of it. I have taken about 35 deer with my contender but the blackhawk doesn't sit the same on a sandbag. Should i try shooting sticks? What are ya'll using to get rock steady holds with your single actions? I know this isnt a single shot but i like to learn to use every firearm i own to its full potential. Thank you for your input!

Will you be hunting from tree stand, ground bling, still hunting or sitting on ground? Or all the above?

I mostly hunt from ground blinds, or spot and stalk in west Texas brush country.

I always unless I forget them in the truck have a set of sticks. Practice shooting off hand. there will be one that you bust out of his bed and only get a couple seconds to make the shot if he stops to look back.

I mostly hunt from ground blinds, or spot and stalk in west Texas brush country.

Most of my revolver hunting is done on foot in the woods so never been to concerned with being rock steady. Seldom is there time to fiddle with shooting sticks and the like. Learn to shoot well off-hand, and lean up against whatever is handy if you can. In a tree stand rest your forearms on the rail. If sitting on the ground rest your forearms just behind your raised knees. With short barreled single action revolvers the key to consistancy is in the way you hold the gun. If you normally shoot with a firm two hand hold on the gun and then use one of those hands to hold sitcks your POI will change. Revolver shooting is zen-like, may the force be with you ;-)

^What he said. With sticks I find if I can get my back against something and get the gun supported on the frame instead of barrel then I get my wrists on my knees I can get as steady if not more steady than with a rest.

I think one of the marks of successful hunters is their ability to use effectively what is available to assist them in steadying their firearm and making a good shot. My Contender is a MOA handgun off a bench and sandbags; my Ruger SBBH will do 2 inches at 50 yards with the right load off a bench if I do my part. Problem is I don.t have a bench rest and sandbags in my deer stands. When get on a stand I will initially practice my holds to see what I have to do and use to what is available to get as steady as possible. Sometimes the positions are a bit strange, but they work. If I am still hunting I work from one rest to another and plot my stalk that way.

Once you know what use to steady your firearm, shooting techniques are critical. Typically shooting from a stand will not be any where near as steady as off the bags at a bench; this will frequently cause a shooter to try to "grab" or jerk that shot when it looks right frequently causing a bad shot. At this point holding and squeezing, breath control and watching that front sight are critical.

So my best bet is just to pick a grip that works for me, hold the gun exactly the same way every time, and toss 100 lbs of lead downrange paying very close attention to what is happening each and every trigger pull? Why, that sounds as simple as eating when you are hungry, sleeping when you are tired and admitting when you are wrong! I suppose a new game comes with new rules :-) and i do love excuses to go plinking. I'm still open to any suggestions if any one has had success with something in the past don't be shy.

Weasel, there's a couple aids I always have with me: one is a shoot'n stick of some type; the other is a welding glove. With these two items I can usually get a good rest. The glove can be rolled to be used like a sand bag, but much lighter. It can be left open and lay across your knees, as a blast shield, in a sitting position (my favorite shooting position). It can be used as a blast shield on your pack or rolled on the pack and used as a sand bag. I can go on and on of situations to use the welding glove.

If you haven't read Gary's article "Field shooting positions that work", you need to. It's on the home page. I use all those, and more, while hunting; most in conjunction with my welding glove.

When heading into the woods I always carry a set of shooting sticks with me.
I prefer a set of sticks I made out of a couple of bamboo plant stakes to anything I can buy commercially. They are light, sturdy and cheap to make. When folded, they are about 5 feet tall. Deployed I can adjust the height from about 4 1/2 feet to about 3 1/2 feet (they do start to get a bit wobbly when spread out that wide).

During the stalk, they work well as a walking staff, giving me an additional point of contact with the ground and allowing me to move slower and more quietly.
If I happen to come across something, that needs shootin', I can either set the sticks up in the traditional method (legs spread like an "A" frame) or keep them together and hold them as a monopod, near the grip, with my other hand.

In either configuration I find them more stable than shooting offhand.

If hunting from a stand or ground blind, I always have a set of sticks with me, albeit a much shorter pair.

Very well said.

I also carry shooting sticks.

You already got some fantastic advice, on our forum hunt last January I got to use a set of Stoney point shooting sticks(tripod) in a box blind, since you mainly hunt from the ground I highly recommend them. they are light and relatively inexpensive compared to other brands.

Got me steady enough to blast a possum at 50 yards with iron sights and at night

n.w., After hunting with a handgun for a number of years I found,
over time, what best suits my needs for a portable rest. In the beginning I carried a small leather sand bag to rest on my knees. Then I had the tailor sew heavy canvas to my hunt pants to help with the cylinder blast. Then used a new rest made of nylon and filled with plastic particles that blew up from the blast and sent the plastic into my eyes. This was on a hunt in Texas shooting my 454. For me, the best so far is Bog-Pods tripod with their handgun/crossbow attachment. This is rock steady. Used it in Alaska on brown bear hunt. I will show a picture below. The best advice I can give is to see what feels good for you when hunting...Good luck and good hunting. PS- on brown bear watch over a track filled salmon stream

BINGO! Well put!

James, that is awesome! Not just the set up but the whole scenario in your pic. I snuck out to an indoor range right around the corner from work at lunch today. I didn't think to get any pics but 2 inch off hand groups at 25 yards became commonplace fairly quickly. To date that is my best shooting with this particular revolver. I will try again Thursday after work, and maybe sneak in some field shooting at distance on Saturday. I think I may be able to stretch the legs on this shorty quite a ways if I keep experimenting. Not that that is the intent I have other platforms for that.

You know Weasel; I think I have got this figured out now! You had some excellent advice but it just wasn't easy enough for you if I am reading your response correctly; imagine you having to practice and send 100 pounds of lead down range, what a waste of your time and perfectly good lead, power and primers. I think most of the posters really thought you wanted to become competent at handgun hunting; how totally stupid of everyone who posted some excellent information. Why didn't you ask what you really wanted to know, "Does anyone have plans for a portable bench rest that I can take to the field because I am not worth a crap as a handgun shooter and I am too lazy and cheap to spent the time or money to practice sufficiently to become proficient, but the macho BS in me wants to kill a deer with a handgun so I can impress all the guys down at the bar where I hang out". Nuclearweasel is the perfect name for you as you certainly displayed the ethics of a first class weasel in your post.

I had a 4 5/8" .41 that I should have never got rid of. It had hogue mono grips and a trigger job. Before my eyes went south it was no problem to hit drink cans at 100 yards offhand. You have a great shooting iron to start with. reflex264

Tuner gets cranky when he can't get to the range! I'm sorry if my remarks seemed flipant, the key to building any skill is lots of practice, but more importantly the right kind of practice. Once you learn what a tool can do you can begin learning what you can do with that tool. I asked a specific question in relation to measuring my new hunting tool of choice.Tuner, you posted a wise, well rehearsed generalization about hunting. While I agree with that post wholeheartedly, it was not the information I was looking for so I dismissed it from my train of thought. It appears that by not stopping to pat you on the back for not folowing along, you decided to make remarks about my work ethic, my hunting ethic, my committment to personal improvement, my drinking habits and my personality, directly after a post in which I was complimentary of other peoples advice and mention three range sessions in one weeks time, one of which was on my lunch break which implies i'd rather shoot than eat. Just keep responding to whatever you like rather than what's there Tuner, I don't know you personaly and don't pretend to, but you sure seem to know a lot about me. Happy shooting all, and thank you for the relevant advice.

Hope it helped.

I never thought for a moment you were flipant nor disrespectful.

Welding Glove.. I like it! That just might keep my revolvers from burning holes in my shooting bags. Thanks.